PLAY equipment at a children’s play area in Llanbadarn would put youngsters at risk if used, the community council has said, forcing its closure in the run-up to the school summer holidays.

It was reported in the Cambrian News last week that parents were left angered after signs were put up barring entry to the play area on the Cae Ceredig estate just a week before children were let out of school for the summer.

The community council has said that, until defective equipment can be replaced, the play area will not re-open, and confirmed it will remain closed all summer.

In 2015 Ceredigion County Council informed Llanbadarn Fawr Community Council that the play area faced closure due to financial constraints on the county council’s budget.

To avoid closure, the community council agreed to take over the site and it was leased to the community council in April last year.

Ceredigion council said that issues with the handover caused the closure, but Llanbadarn Fawr Community Council chairman Martin Davies told the Cambrian News that “concerns” were identified following its annual safety audit.

“In the interests of public safety, and as required by law, and as a condition of maintaining its public liability insurance, the community council commissions an annual safety audit of the two public play areas within Llanbadarn Fawr,” Cllr Davies said.

“A report identified a number of concerns with the play equipment at the Clos Gerallt play area which risked injury to users and which risked invalidating the public liability insurance cover for the site."

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