AN Inverness play park has seen an impressive jump in play hours following a £500,000 revamp.
Jupiter Play and Leisure Ltd led the transformation of Whin Park on behalf of the Highland Council, with work completing in April.
Designed to complement the family activities already available at Whin Park, the new play park features an interactive Nessie, legend seeker playship, swing area, climbing birds’ nest, adventure mound, scramble net, and an audio-based interactive arch designed to encourage kids to play outdoors more.
The interactive Nessie feature is proving to be particularly popular with children and recorded 234 hours of play in July and 200 hours in August. Children can play on the sculpture or jump into interactive games with the Sona Interactive Dance Arch which uses audio and gaming technology to encourage active play outdoors.
On average, children enjoy playing on Nessie for 11 hours on Saturdays and statistics from the Sona dashboard showed that more than 73,000 calories were burned in July. Out of approximately 55 Sona installations around the UK, Whin Park’s Nessie is already standing out as one of the most used, the local authority said.
Depute Leader of Inverness and area, councillor Chris Ballance, said, “The redevelopment of Whin Park has been fantastic, and I’m delighted to see such outstanding play hours already being recorded. Nessie has become a firm favourite in the playground thanks to her playful design and interactive features which bring children together and give them the chance to laugh and play with their peers whilst making new friends in the playground. It’s a simple but powerful way to build a more inclusive, connected community and allows children of all ages and abilities to enjoy the benefits of play.
“The improvements to the park were much needed and have resulted in a sustainable, inclusive play space that our communities can be proud of for years to come.”
