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Hide the cotton wool... when it comes to the rough and tumble of playtime, it's a concrete jungle for youngsters living in Teignbridge. A £200,000 state-of-the-art concrete bowl skate park, plus acoustic noise barrier at Decoy Country Park, has made the Teignbridge district one of the first in the country to combine a concrete bowl, dirt jumps and BMX racing facilities. And, although hard to believe, it's all been RoSPA inspected too. The latest concerns about local authorities being subject to the stranglehold of over-zealous health and safety can also be the stuff of fantasy. While there is now a shift towards a more healthy balance between safe and challenging play areas, local authorities such as Teignbridge have been designing in ‘managed risk' for some time. So, our newer play areas don't just meet Disability Discrimination Act guidelines, they also challenge them. After all, why assume a child's wheelchair play track requires supervision? In our latest project, the available track is being designed with children with disabilities in mind – who also love a challenge – and that means tackling ramps and inclines independently. Services are for the public, not the provider, so we keep reminding ourselves to think like a customer. When the customers are local young people and their parents, we try to avoid patronising them and instead give them the freedom to let go and learn. We found it works to pay special attention to providing challenging play areas and chill-out zones which suit particular age-groups, and their parents too. If mum and dad are satisfied the zip wire has a safety buckle, that the climbing frame stands on approved flooring materials, and the tree house has been made strongly enough to hold an entire class, then we can all go for it. A cotton wool culture hampers the physical, mental and emotional development of tomorrow's grown-ups. Everyone needs a few bumps and grazes to learn valuable life skills for later on. Of course, it would be good to avoid the need to saw off one's own frost-bitten extremities, but without an adventurous growing-up environment, pensioner Sir Ranulph Fiennes probably would not have reached the North and South Poles, and conquered Mount Everest at the third attempt – and after a heart attack. Our world needs its fair share of intrepid explorers and adventurers, and must nurture their growth. So, perhaps the answer is getting the balance right and trusting young people. After all, if our play parks were all softball areas how would any of them ever be able to play hardball? Nicola Bulbeck is chief executive of Teignbridge DC

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WHITEHALL

District View: No cotton wool for the kids of Teignbridge

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