Tree swings guidance
8 July 2010
London Play had been advised by play safety inspectors that tree swings were not to be encouraged, but then we saw the Forestry Commission advice to their staff to leave tree swings in place after safety testing them in their county parks, so we thought it best to engage with the issue. The downloadable guide at the end of this page is the result.
This guidance was developed by Monkey-Do a team of professional tree surgeons who are also experts in climbing, swinging and playing in trees. Thanks also to Natural England who provided some of the funding to make it possible.
London Play advises all playworkers or housing or parks managers and others concerned with managing public spaces for play to ensure they can do their own risk/benefit assessment of tree swings. For a full discussion of this process, a worked example and a blank form for you to use, see another of our web pages here: link
There are separate discussions of both public space play facilities and staffed play provision such as adventure playgrounds, as these should be able to offer more risky play opportunities, where supervising adults can assess risk and benefit in a similar way to a sports coach in risky sports such as boxing, canoeing or rock climbing. Use whichever of the two is most appropriate to your work.
It is important to ensure ownership of tree swings in public space in urban areas, so if you have set it up; it is your responsibility to ensure it stays safe. Check out the guide for ways of fixing a swing from a branch without having to climb up the tree, so it can be safely removed at the end of a play ranger session.
Seminars
London Play has held two successful seminars in 2011 to show play rangers, playworkers and park rangers how to do it in a practical way, contact Alan Sutton email if you would like a bespoke seminar in your local area.
Update July 2011 - Alternative design for a tree swing to be left permanently fixed in public space
The downloadable briefing below is suitable for a quick “put it up then take it down at the end of the play session” style of tree swing. PLAYLINK is a leading play and public spaces consultancy, strategy and design organisation. They have pushed boundaries to create a number of permanent tree swing installations at least one with Adventure Playground Engineering Services. See link for contact details of both organisations.
To download a risk/benefit assessment of this PLAYLINK design and implementation scheme, go to this link.
Downloads
