The design for the DND playground (image courtesy of the City of Vernon)

By Liam Verster

Playground Safety

Vernon councillor concerned about child safety at new playground

Jun 12, 2024 | 2:45 PM

A City of Vernon councillor has expressed concern with parking at the site of DND’s new playground.

A new play structure is being installed at the park, but Coun. Akbal Mund says the parking situation around that area is a cause for concern.

“The area that [the playground] is going in gets used for a lot of parking, especially the people playing at [fields] one and two. During tournaments on the weekend, they’ll park there,” Mund stated at the regular council meeting Monday, June 10.

“My concern would be the playground is wide open. Unlike the one at Marshall Fields, which has a curb so you can’t actually drive up to the playground, this one I could see people parking right up to the edge of the playground just to watch their kids while maybe sitting in their car or something.”

He said the project is a good one, but was concerned about the safety of the kids in the playground.

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“Maybe a two-foot high snow fence or something with a small entrance [could be installed], because I can see kids running off there, I can see people parking right up to it, and that concerns me for the safety of the kids there,” Mund stated.

“I’ve spent 30 years up there and I can tell you people are going to park right next to it. Right now they park right there because it’s close to the bathrooms.”

City staff accepted Mund’s suggestion, stating they would pass the comments along to the design team.

The DND Playground Renewal project’s site preparation work is still being done. A playground structure design has been selected, and the plans include a shade structure and picnic tables.

An administrative update report to council stated the project is on budget and on schedule.

The city’s website says work to install the structure will begin in early July and be completed by the end of September.

The project is funded by the Growing Communities Fund, and is one of the initiatives to renew high-risk and high-priority park facilities in Vernon.