New playground safety standards will put more pressure on financially struggling early childhood centres, says Early Childhood Council chief executive Sue Thorne.
The council has rejected an American model, designed for children aged from 2 to 12 in unsupervised public playgrounds, being considered for adoption here because the standards were
not tailored to New Zealand conditions.
The council, the Kindergarten Association and the Playcentre Federation have vowed to come up with their own set of playground safety standards before the July deadline next year, when a Standards New Zealand committee will review feedback and decide whether to adopt, revise or reject the American specifications.
Mrs Thorne said the groups did not want to compromise safety but were concerned about the extra cost to early childhood care providers.
"The way the American standards are, you will not be able to build anything."
