Delight as new play park due opens at Blackie Park

Residents and local councillors are celebrating the installation of new playground in Blackie Park in Sunderland’s Ford Estate which is due to open on Wednesday this week.

Local people in Ford Estate are celebrating the installation of a new playground on Blackie Park, five years after the old play park equipment had to be removed due to vandalism.

The new playground has been installed using Section 106 funding given to Gentoo who own Blackie Park.

Local Lib Dem city councillor Steve Donkin, alongside colleagues Martin Haswell and Julia Potts, had been pushing Gentoo to get the playground installed after missing their original planned install date of Winter 2024.

The new play park is now due to open on Wednesday 25 February.

Commenting, Liberal Democrat councillor for Pallion and Ford Estate Steve Donkin said:

“This new playground being installed is fantastic news for residents in Ford Estate. The old playground was very popular and it was a real blow to the area when it had to be removed following a spate of vandalism. Now that we finally have this new playground available for the community I am sure it will be busy and much loved by local families day in day out.”

Local Ford Estate resident and Chair of the Communities Together Sunderland West residents association in the area Emma Neale commented:

“It’s been a long road to get what we needed for our community, by communicating with families over social media and in person to ask what they wanted. They all asked for something that would be accessible for all and long lasting. We started consulting with Gentoo and Sunderland Council to make sure we achieved those goals.”