A housing association has revealed its play areas will not reopen until October.

​Optivo, which looks after eight parks on Sheppey and in Sittingbourne , has said it will allow children back in next month.

The timeline has been called into question by Swale Cllr Richard Palmer (Independents Alliance, Hartlip, Newington and Upchurch) who has put pressure on the firm to open earlier.

Swale council brought its 80 outdoor play areas back into use from July 4.

Cllr Palmer said: “During this pandemic the community spirit among residents throughout Swale has come to the forefront of many issues.

“The youth and their parents have shown commitment to keeping other residents safe.

“This has been achieved by using good hygiene, common sense and a determination to follow government guidelines to stop the spread of Covid-19.

“With these facts in mind and a desire to get back to some normality for young people, I cannot understand why Optivo has failed to reopen the parks to our residents.

“I see no reason why residents, who would use the parks, cannot be trusted to continue using the precautions that have been in place for the past six months.

“As far as I am aware the local councils have reopened parks under their jurisdiction and in my opinion Optivo should be doing the same without further delay.”

An Optivo spokesman said it was working to see what could be done to open some play areas sooner.

He said: “We’re following Government guidelines which include carrying out risk assessments.

“We’re working really hard to carry out this important work. It takes time. We’ll look at some of these that we’ll be able to open sooner.”

“We recognise some residents are keen to use these areas and we’re working as quickly as we can.

“The health and safety of those who use these areas remains our number one priority."

Optivo looks after Briton Court and Nore Close parks in Sheerness, Plover Road and Lapwing Close in Minster,Liege Close in Kemsley, Tylden House in Milton, Wild Ash Croft in Murston and Bull Lane in Newington.

Swale has asked people using its parks to clean the play equipment themselves after use using sanitiser and wipes.

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