Ramsbury Drive play park in Hungerford is set to move from West Berkshire Council (WBC) to Hungerford Town Council.
It is a small children play area that needs some capital work to bring items up to modern standards, though routine annual maintenance is minimal.
WBC says one-off repairs and maintenance run at about £500 a year, and Hungerford has asked for £13,000 that WBC previously identified as needed for key upgrades as part of the transfer.
Hungerford Town Council has agreed draft heads of terms and will take on all future maintenance of the site.
The equipment is more than 10 years old and will need replacing before the typical 20 to 25-year lifespan; maintenance costs generally rise as kit ages.
WBC says the move supports its devolution agenda and places the asset at the local level so it can be maintained to meet community needs.
The district council also has a legal duty to keep play areas as safe as reasonably practicable and to meet the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and the Disability Equality Duty 2006. With tightening budgets, maintaining and investing in playgrounds is getting harder: the Association of Play Industries says councils in England closed 214 playgrounds between 2014/15 and 2015/16.
Niki Hinman, Local Democracy Reporter
