Bródno residents protest city’s budget allocation as a $115,000 (approx) playground design is dubbed a dog track.
Project Overview
The Bródnowski Park playground project, selected by local voters in the 2025 Citizen’s Budget, aims to modernize the existing play area and build a new natural playground next to it on Wyszogrodzka Street.
Budget Allocation
The total cost is 800,000 zlotys. 500,000 zlotys are earmarked for the playground’s construction—enclosures, benches, trash cans, signage and marketing—while 300,000 zlotys fund tree, shrub, herb and bulb planting and park signage.
Design Innovations
Planned features include trunk‑based play structures, wooden and stone paths, fallen branches, rope slides, a hanging bridge and a mound slide. The site is surrounded by a perennial hedge and connected to the park by a constructed mineral path.
Public Response
Voters praised the project’s ecological claim, yet many residents bemoan that the design resembles a dog run more than a children’s playground and that it merely adds another surface to Bródnowski Park rather than upgrading the existing temporary area in the nearby Wiecha Park.
Community Concerns
Discontent centers on the perceived loss of greenery, the dismissal of the existing park’s needs, and worries that the “natural” features may not serve children of all ages or meet expectations of park users.
Official Commentary
District officials stated the playground cost approximately 340,000 zlotys, with remaining funds for paths and planting. They confirmed that the contractor was chosen through a tender and all works comply with regulations and respect local greenery.