The condition of a playpark in Plean has come under fire as Stirling Council launches a call for feedback on facilities following a funding pledge.
The Bruce Street park was one of several in Stirling supported by the Scottish Government’s Play Park Renewal Funding over the last five years. With ministers now seeking information on the state of facilities to inform future decisions, a local woman has criticised council chiefs over a half-finished revamp.
Resident's anger over half-finished works
Claire Davis, who visits family in the village regularly and has young children attending a local school, told the Observer: “When I was young growing up the village had four parks and it’s so sad and gets me so angry that Stirling Council think it’s OK to actually think they’ve done a decent job with the renovation of it.
“They replaced the roundabout maybe three weeks ago, but left a railing round it for the kids not to use it. For over a week, they were just lying all over the park. It’s the only park in the whole village and it’s quite frankly a mess compared to other villages within the area.”
Scottish Government funding announcement
The comments come as the Scottish Government announced £25 million of funding for local authorities to invest in the renewal of playparks across Scotland. The funding aims to improve the standard of existing play parks, ensuring children have access to safe environments to play and socialise.
Parks from inner-city areas and rural villages were among those to share support from Stirling Council over the previous five-year window.
Council defends upgrades
In response, a Stirling Council spokesman defended the upgrades at the Plean facility and said more would follow in the coming months. The spokesman said: “We are committed to providing high-quality and welcoming play areas that support active and healthy lifestyles and many other benefits for our children, families and communities.
“Significant investment has been put into upgrades at Plean playpark with new play equipment installed and more to follow this summer. Upgrades have also been made to safety matting and ground coverings. Further work on landscaping, seating and fencing will follow in the coming months and our officers will continue to carry out regular inspections to identify safety faults for repairs so children and families can continue to enjoy the park.”
