Athenry Playground

Greaney

Folks, the Athenry playground is closed due to needing serious repairs. It's a huge loss to the community and we need €10k minimum just to repair it to keep it open. So a group of community activists and parents have come together to try and raise this money. We'll be doing different events over the next few months (years even, as the upkeep is an issue). So if you'd like to support this, you can go to gofundme.com

And keep an eye on this thread, or our facebook page for more updates.

detoxkid

I'm moving to Athenry soon so will look this up. Is it supported by the council in terms of maintainance?

Greaney

Playgrounds are not supported by Galway County Council with regard to maintenance, though they are insured by them. When a community want a playground in their area, they usually have a committee who lobby for it, it's match funded (so the community come up with some of their own funds/land and then get a grant).

On completion, there is a handover and the committee have to sign this [URL="file:///C:/Users/maire/Downloads/PLAYGROUND%20AGREEMENT-SAMPLE%20(2).pdf"]document[/URL]

file:///C:/Users/maire/Downloads/PLAYGROUND%20AGREEMENT-SAMPLE%20(2).pdf


So the maintenance and management of the playground is the responsibility of the community. If there is any damage reported to the council (because most folk do, and don't know the community are responsible), they'll come out, inspect it, and if they think it's not up to safety standards, they'll close it. The community cannot open it till they fix it.

There's a new option I hear. If the community pay an annual fee (about €1k in maintenance costs) to the council, they won't have to worry about fixing it themselves.

detoxkid

Greaney wrote: »

Playgrounds are not supported by Galway County Council with regard to maintenance, though they are insured by them. When a community want a playground in their area, they usually have a committee who lobby for it, it's match funded (so the community come up with some of their own funds/land and then get a grant).

On completion, there is a handover and the committee have to sign this [URL="file:///C:/Users/maire/Downloads/PLAYGROUND%20AGREEMENT-SAMPLE%20(2).pdf"]document[/URL]

file:///C:/Users/maire/Downloads/PLAYGROUND%20AGREEMENT-SAMPLE%20(2).pdf


So the maintenance and management of the playground is the responsibility of the community. If there is any damage reported to the council (because most folk do, and don't know the community are responsible), they'll come out, inspect it, and if they think it's not up to safety standards, they'll close it. The community cannot open it till they fix it.

There's a new option I hear. If the community pay an annual fee (about €1k in maintenance costs) to the council, they won't have to worry about fixing it themselves.

Thanks for the info. I had no idea so much community support went into maintaining a playground but it's good to know. We have small kids so will definitely be contributing and helping once we move there