An investigation has been launched into a frequently flooded children’s playground after a rejected petition was taken to appeal.

In a meeting last night of Redbridge council’s Overview Committee at the town hall in Ilford, it was agreed that a working group will be set up to look into issues at a park playground, opposite Churchfields Infant and Junior School in South Woodford

A petition, started by mother-of-two Nicola Wyndham, 43, of Abbotsford Garden in Woodford Green, and signed by around 800 people, was handed in at the full council meeting in November.

But Redbridge council only took a few days to reject claims that it was neglected, saying an inspection had found the site was “fully safe and fit for purpose”. 

It said the area was vulnerable to waterlogging due to the natural incline in the landscape but it would not be possible to fund any extra drainage.

Last night at the meeting, Ms Wyndham made a call for the council to look again at the state of the playground.

She said: “Please reconsider because there is a poor drainage which means that the park is unusable for a considerable part of the year, this needs to be addressed.

“I don’t want my children to get their school shoes and uniform covered in mud.

“It is the council’s responsibility to make sure the only playground to the west of the Central line in Redbridge is maintained as it is neglected.”

The playground was last refurbished in 2009 with £80K invested but equipment and surfaces have since fallen into disrepair with potholes and cracked paint. 

Cabinet member for finance, Cllr Kam Rai, defended the decision to reject the petition.

He said: “Playgrounds all over the borough are in the same position but six years ago we invested £1.3m external funding into them.

“This investment was supposed to have a lifespan of 25 years and we should not be replacing something considered safe.

“The biggest concern is with drainage so we need to investigate how this can be solved before we use funding we don’t have.”

Conservative councillor Paul Canal, chairing the meeting, agreed to set up a working group of councillors and officers to investigate the issue.

He said: “I had a look at the playground recently and it is in a particularly poor state.

“This has always been the case as I remember being at a charity fundraiser there and squelching my way to buy raffle tickets.

“We need an investigation into the drainage issue because this is about healthy play for young children.

“We owe it to parents to make it less horrendous than what it is currently.”