Shellharbour council says there are no plans to replace one of the tunnel slides at its new Reddall Reserve playground, which was labelled too fast and curvy by parents when it first opened last year.
Just days after the park opened last October, two-year-old Tailah Smith broke her tibia on one of the slides, with her parents speaking out over the incident.
On social media, others also voiced their concern, saying they had watched children of all ages struggle with the speed of the slide and they were tumbled about on the turns.
"We went the day after it opened and my son still has a burn mark on his back from the slide," Heidi Locke said at the time.
"My daughters aged 10 and 12 told me that the slide is extremely fast and they had to hold their hands out towards the walls to avoid hitting their heads," another parent wrote.
The incident had echos of what happened at Boongaree Nature Play Park in Berry - where a straight, stell tunnel slide left numerous children injured in its short existence.
Next week, that slide will be removed and replaced with one with less "momentum".
However, a Shellharbour council spokesperson said a safety review found the Reddall Reserve slide complied with the relevant standards and said there had been "no further reports" of injuries at the park.
Further south, Shoalhaven Council says its new slide will keep within the style and play value of the popular climbing fort at Boongaree, but will 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.
Both playgrounds have sparked 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.
However, other say there is 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.
"Giant tube slides are making children (and their parents or carers) pay too high a price through no fault of their own," a group of researchers said regarding the Berry slide.
"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."
Kate McIlwain
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
