Playground decision 'extremely disheartening'

Following the recent news that Kildare County Council will not be honouring their commitment to the Kilcullen Playground in long promised funding, the chairperson of the Playground Committee says it is 'extremely disheartening' to the volunteers on the committee who have spent the past three years working their way through several proposals until getting to the stage early this year where they have the local issues sorted.

The committee is meeting this Tuesday, 28th April, at 8.30pm in Fallons Bar. The meeting will now have as the main item on the agenda, a strategy to get this decision overturned.

"We will be looking for specific, precise information on the financial aspects of this decision," says chairperson Orla O'Neill.

The committee will be seeking clarification as to where has the development levies money gone that was collected for recreational activities over the past 10 years?

It also wants to know what budget was the Dept of Environment speaking about in their answer to Jack Wall's PQ, and why has the Council not drawn down the playground grant? Thirdly, those who have worked hard behind the project are asking precisely what is the basis for this decision if the playground budget is not coming from the Council's annual allocation?

"We will also be interested in your views and suggestions on the strategy for continuing with our quest to get a Community Playground," Orla O'Neill says in a communication to all of the local area councillors. "There is no evidence to us of a commitment from the Council to investing in community infrastructure despite the massive growth in residential housing which made a significant financial contribution to the Council over the past 7 years. The achievements to date of getting agreement from local stakeholders to a playground and associated works plan was done entirely on our own, with no support from Council leisure service officials."

Orla will propose to the Committee that it plan a campaign for public involvement on this issue. "Interest in the playground has remained high over the past three years, and significantly more interest has been expressed over the past eight months, as families look for more low-cost activities for their children and we moved towards the final stage. I expect there will be massive local disappointment about this decision."

The committee will also be seeking a meeting between the Playground Committee and relevant officials, including the Finance Officer to discuss their decision.