Our Plan for Playgrounds

Our playgrounds remain open but we ask you to pay close attention to the signs about social distancing and come back another time if they are too busy. The Government guidance allows us to close the playgrounds if they are not being used responsibly – continue reading for more guidance on how to play safe.

Our tennis courts, skateparks, outdoor gyms and multi-use games areas have all closed until 2 December. We continue to monitor Government advice regarding Covid-19 and access to sports facilities in outdoor spaces.

As of 21 November Priory Park play area, Reigate is now temporarily closed. Due to high visitor numbers and social distancing guidelines not being followed, for everyone’s safety, we have taken the difficult decision to close the playground. While we recognise this will be frustrating for many families with young children, we encourage them to play and take exercise in our parks and green spaces where social distancing will be easier to maintain. You can find a full list of parks, open spaces and alternative play areas here. We will continue to monitor Government guidance and hope to be able to re-open the playground soon.

We know that these spaces are hugely important to children and families living in Reigate & Banstead.The safety of all those using the facilities is our top priority so we’ll be introducing a range of new measures that all visitors will need to follow:

• If you or anyone in your household is experiencing symptoms of COVID-19, please DO NOT visit any of our parks, play areas or outdoors gyms. You must self-isolate and book a test at: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/
• Reminders about social distancing will be displayed. Please follow these and encourage your children to do so, too. We ask that only one parent/guardian accompanies their child/children during their visit to the play area.
• New maximum capacity recommendations will be displayed at the entrance to each play area and on some pieces of equipment. Please respect these capacity recommendations. They are there for your family’s safety and for the safety of other park users.
• Some pieces of equipment will unfortunately be out of action as social distancing is simply not possible when these are in use. These will be clearly marked. 
• We ask all visitors to continue regularly washing or sanitising their hands before, during and after their visit to the playground.
• For the safety of everyone, consumption of food or drink on play equipment or in the playground area is currently prohibited.  
• If you’re visiting one of our outdoor gyms, please follow the one-way system marked around the site. Please follow social distancing measures and continue with regular handwashing.

Cllr Natalie Bramhall, Executive Member for Neighbourhood Services said: “We’re really glad to be able to see these spaces begin to reopen as we know how much they’ve been missed by children in the borough. To make sure we can keep playgrounds open, we need everyone to play their part and stick to these new guidelines when using the spaces. We know this can be difficult with little ones, but we encourage everyone to play as safely and as considerately as possible.”

Please keep an eye on our website and social media feeds for further announcements about these spaces.

For more information on the new guidance, see our coronavirus section. For more details on play areas, see our parks and playgrounds page.