The Tumby Bay and Port Neill foreshore playgrounds will be updated before the end of the year, with students from the Tumby Bay Area School helping to design the new areas.

Tumby Bay Council CEO Rebecca Hayes said the upgrades had been a long time coming.

“We’ve always got a lot of projects, being small regional councils with small rate base, and some significant challenges ahead of us,” Hayes told InDaily.

“I would suggest probably all councils are in that boat. But our foreshore at Tumby Bay was looking a little bit sad.

“We had play equipment that we’d had to remove for safety reasons and safety concerns, and we knew that our local community and our visitors were looking for something to fill that space.”

The Tumby Bay equipment is being funded through a $100,000 grant from the Australian Government Local Roads and Community Infrastructure grant program, with $77,000 of council-allocated renewal funds going towards the Port Neill playground.

Students were engaged in a consultation process during the design of the new playgrounds, with Tumby Bay mayor Geoff Churchett saying the new equipment was a “reflection of what our young people want to see”.

Hayes said the children had given feedback on “colours, textures, what’s important to them, [and] what they have missed in their playgrounds”.

“We took a number of final designs to the kids and they gave us some really great feedback in regards to what they enjoy playing on,” Hayes said.

“They were a fabulous source of information…there’s a multitude of ages that you can consult with, and obviously having a playground the best people to provide you feedback are the ones that are using it.”

The designs will be the first time Tumby Bay’s playground includes inclusive junior play equipment.

Council project officer Mandy Shephard said it was “exciting” to be delivering the area’s first inclusive play space.

“As a community, it is important we promote inclusivity for our children of all ages and abilities,” she said.

The playgrounds will include a ramped interactive play system including sand play, slides and climbing features.

The council said work on the Tumby Bay playground is expected to begin in July and Port Neill in August, with construction expected to be complete in mid to late August 2024.