The Saltwell Park play area is getting a full overhaul this autumn, with a towering 9-metre centrepiece and a raft of ground-level activities set to transform one of the North East’s best-known green spaces.
Gateshead Council confirmed the investment earlier this week, sharing a CGI render of the finished design on social media. The new junior play area will be installed before the end of the year, giving families something concrete to look forward to as the school holidays wind down.
What the new Saltwell Park play area will include
The headline feature is a 9-metre tower designed, in the council’s own words, to encourage ‘more adventurous play’. Alongside it, the design includes plenty of ground-level activities aimed at younger children and those who want a less intense experience. There are also designated quieter zones, giving kids somewhere to step back from the busier parts of the park if they need it.
Gateshead Council described the ambition behind the project plainly in its Facebook post: the new play area should be ‘ambitious, adventurous and memorable’ for Gateshead, and a ‘true centrepiece’ for Saltwell Park. That is a high bar, but the design (judging by the CGI) looks built to meet it.
The council has been working with KOMPAN, a playground and outdoor fitness designer and manufacturer, to deliver the project. Funding has come through the UK Government’s Pride in Place Impact Fund, which has made the scale of the investment possible.
Why Saltwell Park matters to the region
Saltwell Park is not a park that needs much introduction to anyone who grew up in the North East. It is vast, well used, and carries a lot of history. Older visitors will remember the aeroplane that used to sit in the park (not a model, an actual aircraft) which drew in families for years before it was eventually removed. That kind of unusual, memorable attraction is exactly what the new play area is trying to recapture.
The park is also celebrating its centenary this year, which makes the timing of a major new investment all the more apt. A brand-new play area landing in the same year the park turns 100 is a decent way to mark the occasion.
Free to visit and easy to reach from across Gateshead and the wider region, Saltwell Park consistently ranks among the most popular parks in the North East. Parks across multiple boroughs picked up Green Flag status earlier this summer, and Saltwell is firmly in that top tier. The new play equipment will only add to its pull.
Free to use, open to all
That last point is worth spelling out. With soft play, swimming and bowling all carrying a price tag that adds up fast across a family, parks remain one of the few genuinely free options for a day out with children. The Saltwell Park play area upgrade keeps that free-access principle intact while significantly raising the quality of what is on offer.
For families in Gateshead and the surrounding areas, this autumn cannot come quickly enough. Gateshead Council’s Facebook post includes the CGI render so you can see exactly what is coming, worth a look before you plan your next visit.