Council to engage with 'stakeholders' on county Longford playground

At the December meeting of the local authority Cllr Mark Casey called on Longford County Council to use €55,000 allocated for new playgrounds in the budget to provide a new playground in Ardagh.

“It's important that that money is ring-fenced for these projects,” Cllr Casey said at the December meeting of the local authority. Cllr Casey said the Ardagh playground has been high on the list for a long time.

In their reply the Executive committed to engaging with the relevant stakeholders in Ardagh to plan and develop a new playground: “Longford County Council and community groups avail of a number of different funding opportunities to provide, refurbish, upgrade and maintain playgrounds in communities.

“Longford County Council can assist the community in making an application for CLÁR funding or, alternatively, the Council can make an application for funding to DCEDIY in 2023 for a new playground in Ardagh. Matched funding from the Council’s capital account will be required for both options,” the reply to Cllr Casey's motion read.

The Executive identified funding available under the CLÁR programme, where funding is available for the development of community facilities and amenities.

This funding for projects which contribute to the enhancement of existing, and/or the development of new, accessible Community Recreation Facilities and includes playgrounds.

They will also target the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth's Capital Grant Scheme for Play and Recreation. Longford County Council's 2023 Revenue Budget covers the costs associated with ensuring playgrounds are maintained to a high standard, identifying opportunities to improve existing playgrounds and respond to the needs of children using our playgrounds and increasing accessibility of playgrounds for children with disabilities .

Other areas identified include the maintenance, repair and upgrade of existing playground equipment, inspections and plan of works individual Municipal Districts.

The budget will also work to provide new communication boards in all playgrounds and provide quiet areas for children with autism.

Cllr Casey said he was happy with the response he got to the motion, which was seconded by Cllr Gerry Warnock and supported by Cllr Colm Murray and Cllr Mick Cahill.

Barbara Heslin, Director of Services for Community and Enterprise Areas, explained that the focus for developments rotates from each MD on a yearly basis: “We make our applications on a yearly basis based on that policy. Last year Newtownforbes was the playground we focused on. That money was spent and the work went ahead.”