Urgent upgrade is sought for 'outdated' Mayo playground
Funding for playgrounds comes from the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht's CLÁR Programme.
One section of Ballinrobe's playground is "lovely" but the other is "horrendous", according to a local councillor.
Cllr Michael Burke is calling on Mayo County Council to install new equipment and carry out an upgrade of the amenity at Creagh. Speaking at the recent meeting of Claremorris-Swinford Municipal District, Cllr Burke noted that the council has substantial funding in place for playgrounds and asked for some of it to be spent in Ballinrobe.
“One part of the playground is lovely but the other is horrendous. The equipment is outdated. This amenity is hugely used and the location lends itself to people walking and going there with their children.”
Cllr Patsy O’Brien supported the call, saying: “It is really dated and needs to be upgraded. We lost out on the integration grants given when immigrants came into an area as we had not sufficient numbers, but Ballinrobe has now taken its share and this is the least we could do.”
Cllr Damien Ryan said Ballinrobe playground is probably one of the only ones in Mayo that hasn’t had a retrofit, adding: “We had a provisional grant, but it was never expended. In the budget there is provision to look after playgrounds with money ringfenced for retrofits and upgrades and certainly Ballinrobe has to have its place on that priority list. It’s 20 years since the playground was opened so it is completely outdated.”
District manager Padraig Flanagan explained that the CLÁR programme is the main funder for playgrounds.
"It will be a priority for us to look for funding for this in the next round, as it was back in 2006 when it first opened.”
- Published as part of the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.
