Bovingdon Close Ball Court and Playground

Your Junction ward councillors, Cllr Janet Burgess, Cllr Sheila Chapman and Cllr James Potts, have teamed up with Groundwork to transform the old ball court at Bovingdon Close estate into an attractive community space with play equipment, planting and space for community gardening.

We want to ensure the improvements meet the needs and priorities of the community. With your help we can create an attractive space for you and your neighbours to enjoy. The project will be fully-funded via Thriving Neighbourhoods and Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) funding.

Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts with us. We are pleased to inform you that we now have an updated design for this space, based on the feedback you gave us during the engagement. The new space will include more greenery, biodiverse planting and seating. It will also have a natural boundary between the food growing area and play area. Please click this link to view the new design.

Feedback on the design:

• The play area entrance has been relocated closer to the estate making it feel more accessible with clear sightlines
• The appearance of the fence has been enhanced by lowering the existing wall and adding a full height fence making the space more attractive and welcoming
• The mural idea has been removed from the design as the wall will be demolished to improve sightlines
• In order to create a welcoming entrance to the play/food growing area we have removed the disabled bay creating a pedestrian friendly space
• A water butt will be installed by adding new guttering to the garage to manage water runoff from the roof

Food growing garden area

• New resin bound surfacing
• New raised planter
• New bench built into planter
• New food growing bed
• New storage shed and compost bins
• New water butt
• New gate
• Existing brick wall lowered with high railing mounted on top

Play area

• New colourful wetpour surfacing
• New colourful wetpour play mounds and tunnel
• New trampoline and basket swing
• New spinner
• New railings
• New raised planter with seating

Other Feedback – increase in Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) in the area

• The bench in the communal garden has been replaced
• The bollards in the underpasses leading to Hargrave have been replaced
• The Community Safety team is aware of the increase in ASB in the area and is incorporating it into the Enhanced Partnership Response in Archway to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour.
• The Community Safety Team will be writing to residents about measures being taken to reduce crime and ASB and information about how to report it
• The Community Safety team recently completed an Environmental Visual Audit on the estate and there have been increased police patrols supported by Parkguard officers.

Next Steps

Following the engagement, changes have been incorporated into the design. The updated design is included for your information.

We will now tender the project with a number of contractors and update you again once a contractor has been appointed and delivery dates have been confirmed. We are aiming to have this project onsite in spring / summer 2025.

If you are interested in getting involved in the community gardening or food growing, please get in touch as we are looking for volunteers to help support the community gardening.