Decision details

As part of the development at the Rail Heritage Quarter, a significant bespoke themed S&DR feature play park is being installed. Generally, this type of play park at other locations is a charged for facility and, on reflection, whilst the initial concept was to provide a free of charge play area, the scale and quality of the play area has significantly grown through the development into a play park. It is therefore believed to be appropriate to introduce a charge for this facility at the Rail Heritage Quarter.

Play Park Pay Model

• Child - Peak (School Holidays & Weekends) £5.00
• Child - Off Peak (Term Time Weekdays) £3.50
• Accompanying Adults FREE
• Under 2s FREE

The prices charged compare favourably with similar installations in the area, which range from £8.50 to £15 per child depending on the scale of the facility. They also charge for adults, from £9 to £17, however, at this time, there is not a proposal to charge adults at the Rail Heritage Quarter.

The play park will be a bookable facility and children will only be allowed into the play park if accompanied by an adult. The play park will only be available during the opening hours of the Rail Heritage Quarter.

To ensure Darlington children from low-income families can use this facility, any Darlington child on free school meals and looked after children will be allowed free access to the play park if accompanied by an adult. An annual membership scheme will be introduced at the Rail Heritage Quarter for anyone who wants to be a member; this will also enable the children on free school meals to have a pass, so they don’t have to prove eligibility on each visit.

The income generated from charging for the play park will support the financial business plan for the overall site.

Implementation date: June 2024

To introduce a pay model for the play park at the Rail Heritage Quarter.

Reason: The initial concept for a play area has grown considerably during the development phase into what is now a significant type of play park. Similar facilities in the area charge, therefore it is appropriate to introduce a charge at the Rail Heritage Quarter that is affordable and accessible to all.

The initial idea was to offer the play park free of charge, however, when looking at pay options, it was decided to introduce a charge, but to keep as affordable as possible for children. A charge for adults was also considered as most sites charge, however, for the Rail Heritage Quarter initially this is not believed to be appropriate. In addition, to ensure families on a low-income can have access, all Darlington children on free school meals can have free access to the play park.