Godolphin Road Open Space is the first of 95 H&F playgrounds finished under an £8.3m programme agreed a year ago. New climbing frame, accessible seesaw, porous surface.
The first playground in Hammersmith and Fulham’s £8.3 million replacement programme has been finished. It is Godolphin Road Open Space in Shepherds Bush, about two miles north of Fulham Broadway, and it cost £50,000.
The council announced the completion on 10 September. The play area sits between Godolphin Road and St Stephens Avenue, W12.
What the £50,000 bought
- the swing set refurbished, with new seats and chains and fresh colours
- the old multi-play unit replaced by an arched climbing ladder with seating, for children aged three and over
- two tactile, interactive play panels
- an accessible seesaw for children aged five and over
- frog-themed hopscotch artwork
- the rubber tiling replaced with a porous surface that drains rainwater to nearby trees
The council says the drainage change is meant to keep the play area free of puddles and to take pressure off the drains. It says the new layout was designed with help from residents who said what they wanted to see.
Cllr Bora Kwon, the cabinet member for the environment, arts and culture, said the council was “working to make them even better” after the borough’s parks took a record 26 Green Flag awards this year.
One down, 94 to go
The money behind this was agreed at cabinet on 15 September 2025. The council committed £8.3 million to its 95 playgrounds, in parks and on housing estates, and said at the time the work would run over three years. A later council statement puts the window at 2025 to 2028.
A year into that programme, this is the first play area completed. On the council’s own numbers 94 are still to come, and the £8.25 million left works out at about £88,000 each. That is our arithmetic, not the council’s, and the sum is not split evenly: the Ravenscourt Park water play area alone will take a large share of it.
Two other commitments were made with the money:
- Ravenscourt Park’s paddling pool is to be replaced with a water play area, on the model of the splashpad in Bishops Park
- a separate £1.1 million is going on other park features between 2025 and 2027, including footpaths, signage, recycling bins and bug houses
Named in the original announcement as sites in line for work were Hammersmith Park, Wormwood Scrubs, Margravine Gardens and Bishops Park. No schedule for the remaining playgrounds has been published.
The parks record behind it
The borough holds 26 Green Flag awards, which is its highest count. Lillie Road Recreation Ground in Fulham took the 26th in July. The awards are judged by Keep Britain Tidy against a national benchmark covering management, heritage and safety, and they are re-assessed every year.
Seven of the Green Flag sites are in SW6: Bishops Park, Eelbrook Common, Hurlingham Park, Parsons Green, South Park, Vicarage Gardens and William Parnell Park.
What it means for you
If you use Godolphin Road Open Space, the equipment is in and the surface has changed. The climbing structure is for ages three and up and the seesaw for ages five and up, so the play area now splits by age in a way it did not before.
If you use a different playground in the borough, nothing has changed yet, and the council has not said which is next. It runs a Parks Forum and a Play Forum of resident volunteers, and it is asking for views in a parks satisfaction survey. That is the route to arguing your local play area should be in the next tranche.
More places to take children locally are on our things to do in Fulham page. If you are driving north to Shepherds Bush, check our roadworks and travel page first, because Wood Lane and Uxbridge Road are both being dug up this month.
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