Newnham Avenue play area in Woodbridge has reopened with a 25-metre zip wire, 30 play features for ages 3 to 12, and wheelchair-accessible kit. What's there.

The rebuilt play area at Newnham Avenue in Woodbridge is open. It has 30 new play features for children aged 3 to 12, including a 25-metre zip wire and a large multiplay tower.

East Suffolk Council announced the opening on 12 October. The district council led the project, and families chose the design in a public vote in the spring.

What is there now

According to the council, the new play area has:

  • 30 play features for ages 3 to 12
  • a 25-metre zip wire
  • a large multiplay tower
  • pieces themed on Woodbridge’s history and the River Deben
  • a wheelchair-accessible jumper, a communication panel and accessible seating
  • new surfacing at the goals on the existing football pitch
  • a “surprise goal” game, where children throw a ball into a raised target and guess where it will drop

The pitch work came from local feedback, the council said. Some parts of the old play area were reused, and many of the new pieces are made from recycled materials.

Cllr Sarah Whitelock, the council’s cabinet member for communities, leisure and tourism, said families were already using it. “As a free facility for the community, it’s a popular place for children and families to come together,” she said.

Why Newnham Avenue was picked

East Suffolk has 280 play areas, and the district council owns and maintains 63 of them. An independent review by Knight, Kavanagh and Page looked at how each was used and what state it was in. That review fed the council’s Play Strategy 2023 to 2027.

The review found the equipment at Newnham Avenue “limited, dated, with some damage to seating and surface areas”, the council said when it consulted in December 2025. The same was true of Dale End in Gisleham and Staplehurst Close in Carlton Colville, both near Lowestoft, about 40 miles north.

How it got built

The project ran for ten months from first survey to opening:

When What happened
December 2025 Residents and groups surveyed on what they wanted
31 March to 17 April 2026 Public vote on 13 design proposals across the three sites
July 2026 Kompan’s designs confirmed as the favourite at all three sites
17 August 2026 Work started at Newnham Avenue, due to finish at the end of September
12 October 2026 Opening announced

The council started Woodbridge last of the three, late in the summer holidays. That let families use the old equipment for most of the break and kept disruption to the neighbouring school down, it said in July.

What it cost

The council has not published a figure for Newnham Avenue on its own. Its July release said more than £500,000 had been committed to five play areas. Those are the three built this year and two still at design stage. The money came from the district council with Carlton Colville Town Council, Gisleham Parish Council and Felixstowe Town Council.

Across the whole district, the council and its partners have spent more than £1 million on play areas since the strategy was adopted in 2023.

Felixstowe is next

The next coastal site is Cavendish Park in Felixstowe, alongside Darby Park in Beccles. Residents gave their ideas over the summer. The council says the public will soon be asked to vote on designs, and work is expected to start in 2027. We will report the vote when it opens.

What it means for you

  • It is free and open now. The council describes it as a free facility for the community.
  • It is built for ages 3 to 12. The zip wire and tower are aimed at the older end of that range.
  • Children who use wheelchairs can play here too. The accessible jumper and seating are part of the main layout, not a separate corner.
  • Felixstowe families get a say next. Watch for the Cavendish Park design vote on the council’s consultations page.

For more things to do with children around the town, see our things to do in Woodbridge page, and for half term events, our October half term guide.