The notorious tunnel slide at Boongaree Nature Play Park in Berry - which left numerous children injured in its short existence - will be removed and replaced with one with less "momentum".
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Just weeks after the risk-based play space opened last January, parents began reporting serious injuries on the fast, steep metal slide, including broken legs, arms, knocked out teeth and facial fractures.
Following a long review of the playground equipment, Shoalhaven Council has announced a replacement slide will be installed next week.
It said the new slide would keep within the style and play value of the popular climbing fort, but would include a "new curvature design to reduce momentum".
"While the original slide meets Australian playground safety standards, apprehension about the slide after reports of injuries when it was first installed last year led council to replace the slide with a design variation," the council said.
"Options for possible reuse of the original slide will be considered ensuring this resource is utilised appropriately."
One of the first children injured was then four-year-old India Greaves, who was riding down the slide with her dad, Ben Greaves, when her legs kicked up and got stuck on the roof of the slide
Wearing sandals, India's legs caught on the roof and got stuck, hyperextending so snapped both tibias, her mother Tisha Fleming said after the accident.
Ms Fleming made an effort to let parents know about the dangers at the new park, and contacted Shoalhaven council to ask for extra safety measures.
As dozens of parents came forward with horror stories, the slide was taped off and put under review by the council.
The incident kicked off widespread debate about how dangerous children's playgrounds should be, with some educators and parents coming forward to highlight the benefits of risky play in childhood.
With the removal of the slide now imminent, Ms Fleming told the ABC she was relieved but believed the process could have been dealt with better.
"I think the council did have a lot of educators on their side, pushing for rough play parks and trying to get children to set their boundaries and I think there's good merit in it," she said.
"I do understand where they're coming from but I just think it's not being delivered correctly."
She said she thought it took too long for the council to install signage at the park, and that more education was needed to advise that some playground equipment may not be safe for some children.
"As for the slide, it was something that even though I believe that children should push their boundaries a little bit and should kind of test their skills, we did kind of say it's got nothing to do with the child itself," she said.
"There seemed to be something really wrong with that slide and that, you know, the injuries that kept happening, kept on happening at the same spot. It wasn't kids being reckless."
"I'm really relieved that it's getting replaced because it was something that I just had to put out of my mind because I didn't like the idea of knowing and being contacted by other parents to say that there's been more injuries."
The closure is not the first time this sort of tunnel slide has had to be reviewed, with a giant tube slide complex in Adelaide closed only months after opening, after a spate of serious injuries such as compound knee fractures and dislocations were reported.
Then in 2018, a Sydney playground was closed after "horrific" injuries including broken legs were reported from parents and children using the new "giant tube slide".
Following India's accident a group of researchers Lisa Nicole Sharwood, Professor David Eager and Dr Ruth Barker wrote an article in the Conversation highlighting the risks of tube or tunnel slides.
They said there was a difference between "risk" - where children can recognise and evaluate a challenge and decide on a course of action - and "hazard", which is a source of harm that cannot be assessed by children (or in this case, even adults).
"Giant tube slides are making children (and their parents or carers) pay too high a price through no fault of their own," the researchers said.
"These hazardous items of playground equipment should either be removed or modified to ensure a simple trip down the slide doesn't result in broken legs."
To allow the replacement work at Berry to go ahead, the playground area will be closed for two days May 29 and 30, with a small section of the car park also closed for use by contractors while installation works are underway.
In addition to the replacement, educational signage has been installed at the playground so parents can make informed decisions about equipment use and ability-appropriate play.
The sports fields, learn-to-ride track, skate park, pump track, tennis and netball courts will remain open while this work is carried out.