From sad to bad: Hundreds of neglected Vic playgrounds a safety risk
Broken swings and climbing frames, exposed metal and cracked surfaces are just some of the major safety hazards plaguing the state’s playgrounds. Is this the best councils can do?
Victoria
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Playgrounds across Victoria are being “neglected”, with residents making thousands of safety complaints to their councils over the past 12 months.
The reports were made via the Snap Send Solve app which allows people to directly send a photo of an issue to the responsible council or authority.
Safety incidents reported by local residents include broken swings, exposed metal pieces, damaged climbing frames and cracked surfaces, all of which can lead to injuries.
Overall, there were 3894 safety issues involving playgrounds sent to the app this year – an increase of 12 per cent compared to the previous year.
There were 499 reports of vandalism, which increased by 80 per cent compared to 2023.
Snap Send Solve chief executive Danny Gorog said playground deterioration and vandalism was particularly concerning in shared community spaces designed for children’s safety.
“When hazards are spotted, the children in our communities are better protected when authorities can proactively ensure parking compliance in areas of concern,” Mr Gorog said.
“Timely maintenance is key to addressing these issues before they escalate. Small issues that go unresolved can become bigger issues over time.
“Around 93 per cent of reports via Snap Send Solve include an image and a geolocation, making it easy for the responsible authority to understand the issue and take appropriate actions, the first time, to resolve the issue.”
Council Watch president Dean Hurlston said councils needed to prioritise and invest more into maintaining, cleaning and the safety of playgrounds.
“One of the most important things councils can do is upgrade playgrounds to ensure kids have access to really good open space, and they are set up to thrive,” he said.
“We’ve seen many councils defer their spending on playgrounds for big shiny new buildings and neglect the playgrounds that our children really need.”
Mr Hurlston also called for councils to have an online database showing when playgrounds were last upgraded and when maintenance will be conducted.
Simon Johnson, who runs the South East Community Forum and regularly uses the Snap Send Solve app, said some playgrounds in his local area had been “neglected” for more than a decade.
“Some of them have been left to rot until the community gets so fed up with the state of them and safety issues,” Mr Johnson said.
“If something is an urgent issue and puts a child at risk, then councils need to attend on the day reports are made.”
Earlier this year, the Herald Sun revealed tens of thousands of complaints were made to the app concerning waste, which soared by 32 per cent from 87,764 in the 12 months to February 2023, to 116,193 in the 12 months to February 2024.
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