Only one of the three new playground designs for Springfield Green is aimed at children over 10. Voting closes at midday on Friday 6 November; here is each one.
The children’s playground on Springfield Green is being replaced, and Chelmsford City Council is letting residents pick the new one. There are three designs. Voting closes at midday on Friday 6 November (Chelmsford City Council, City Life, 26 October 2026).
The council’s post shows the three designs and a short form, and little else. It does not say what the new play area will cost, when the old one comes out or when the new one opens. So we went through the three design sheets. They differ more than the pictures suggest at first glance, above all in who they are built for.
The three designs side by side
| Design | Ages shown | Size as stated | The centrepiece |
|---|---|---|---|
| Option 1 | 2 to 8 | 19 play features | "Tarzan's Jungle", a climbing unit with two slides, rope climbs and a hexagon tower |
| Option 2 | 1 to 10 | 25+ play features, 50+ users, labelled "inclusive play" | A wooden quad tower with a slide, plus a tree stump trail |
| Option 3 | 2 to 16+ | 23+ features, 40+ users | Two zones: a toddler area and a junior area with a "Tangle Trail" and "Wipe Out" |
The figures are the ones printed on each sheet. They come from the companies that drew the designs, and they count things in different ways, so treat them as a rough guide rather than a like-for-like comparison.
The one difference that matters most is age. Options 1 and 2 stop at 8 and 10. Option 3 is the only design aimed at older children and teenagers, and the only one split into separate toddler and junior areas.
Option 1: Tarzan’s Jungle, ages 2 to 8
The sheet labels the equipment as:
- Tarzan’s Jungle, a climbing frame with a Giant’s Slide, a Cosmic High Ramp, a Mystical Hexagon Tower, rope climbs, a disc crossing and a banister slider
- swings with a cradle seat and a flat seat, and a separate mini basket swing
- a Comet Roundabout, a Freddie Frog springer and a two-way cockerel seesaw
- a balance course of three boulders, stepping posts, a wobbly plank and a switchback run
- science, sensory and communication panels
Option 2: inclusive play, ages 1 to 10
This is the design with the youngest starting age and the biggest stated capacity. The sheet labels it “inclusive play” and says it “encourages children of all ages and abilities to play and learn together”. It shows:
- a quad tower with a yellow slide
- a tree stump trail of rope bridges and stepping stumps
- a two-seat swing with one flat and one cradle seat, and a mini spider swing
- a spinner bowl, a cloud climber, a dragon springer and a two-seat springer
- a communication panel
The sheet also says the maker recycles ocean plastic waste into its products. The council’s post does not mention it.
Option 3: toddler and junior areas, ages 2 to 16+
This design is laid out in two parts.
The toddler area has:
- a pull-up toddler climbing unit with a slide
- swings with a cradle seat and a bumper seat
- a Whirlybob roundabout, a sheep seesaw and a bee springer
- a sound flower, a flower explorer panel and a communication panel
The junior area has:
- a Tangle Trail of timber posts and balance beams
- a Wipe Out spinning disc
- climbing frames with monkey bars and a pivot seesaw
The sheet shows a wheelchair user at the toddler unit and carries an “inclusive” label, but it does not say which pieces are designed for disabled children.
How to vote
The vote is an online form on the council’s City Life post. It asks for:
- your first and last name and your postcode
- your favourite design, 1, 2 or 3
- your favourite piece of equipment
- an email address, only if you want a copy of your answer
The post does not say whether votes from outside Springfield count the same, or whether the most popular design is automatically the one built.
What it means for you
If you have children who use the Green, this is a real choice, and it is mostly a choice about age. A family with a toddler and a baby might lean to Option 2, which starts at one. A family whose children are 9 or older will find only Option 3 is drawn with them in mind. It takes a couple of minutes, and the deadline is midday, not midnight.
Elsewhere in the city’s parks, the Seymour Street Bridge in Central Park is still shut for repairs. For other things to do with children around the city, see our things to do in Chelmsford page.
What we do not know yet
- the cost, and whether the money is the council’s own or from developer contributions
- when the work happens, and how long the Green’s play area will be shut
- when the winner is announced
The design sheets carry suppliers’ quote dates from May 2025, so the plans have been in preparation for well over a year. We will add the result and the dates when the council publishes them.
Sources
- Chelmsford City Council, City Life: Choose a new design for the Springfield Green play area, 26 October 2026, for the replacement, the three designs, the form and the midday 6 November deadline, read 27 October 2026
- The three design sheets published with that post, for the ages, feature counts, equipment names and the May 2025 quote dates
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