A playground equipment manufacturer in Burnley has published research showing how a lack of outdoor play provision can be detrimental to children's mental and physical health.
ESP Play, based in Eastham Place in the town, gathered figures from across the country and asked a nationally recognised expert in child psychology to contribute to the report.
The report found only one council in the North West, Greater Manchester, was among the top 10 falls in spending on playgrounds in the last five years.
The North West as a whole was also found to have the ninth-biggest average annual spend on playgrounds at £202,405.
The report concluded the lack of outdoor play equipment affects childrens’ mental and physical health and that government, councils, and developers need to do more to ensure that safe, high quality playgrounds are available for children.
Andrew Wood, managing director of ESP Play, said: “Ensuring equitable access to quality play spaces is crucial for nurturing healthy, resilient communities.
"We have long campaigned for more funding for play spaces as we know how vital they are for the health and development of children.
“We are calling on the government, local authorities, and property developers to pay more attention to this essential part of the lives of our young people and to commit to making comparatively small changes to make a huge difference to the lives of children.”
Professor Helen Dodd, a children’s mental health expert from the University of Exeter and a trustee of Play England, added: “Children who spend more time playing, especially outdoors and adventurously, have better mental health and are more physically active.
“Children’s play opportunities are affected by the environments around them, with some environments facilitating active, adventurous, engaged play, and others discouraging play.
“It is therefore really important that children have access to places that support their play, such as playgrounds.”
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