Council has ordered the Acacia Park and Maluka Park playgrounds to be “immediately removed”.

The small playgrounds, only one of them today has any play equipment, are victims to the community focus on the much bigger and popular Adventure Play Park.

A council spokeswoman said In 2010, it was agreed the centrally located Adventure Play Park would be built and other outlining playgrounds would be decommissioned over time.

One parent, who did not want to be named, expressed alarm at the closure today saying local parks were important to neighbourhoods, especially for older children.

The parent said children, even those older children, most often had to be driven to the bigger Adventure play park, which parents did not always have the time to do.

“Katherine Town Council has an agreement in place and is committed to maintaining the Adventure Play Park,” the council spokeswoman said.

“The Play Park attracts a high number of users as more play equipment is offered and is located adjacent to other recreational facilities and sporting venues.”

The council spokeswoman said as a result of earlier discussions, a playground safety audit was conducted in February 2017 of the 16 playgrounds within the municipality.

“Results of the audit found two playgrounds need to be immediately removed due to the age and safety conditions they pose,” the spokeswoman said.