Moray communities in line for new play parks
Moray council has been allocated nearly £1 million from the Scottish Government to upgrade the region’s play parks over the next three years.
The Council will spend £188,000 this year creating three new play areas – one in Buckie and another two in Forres and Tomnavoulin, near Glenlivet.
Some of the money will also be used to make surfacing repairs and replacements at other parks.
Next year, £282,000 will be spent on play park renewals, and £469,000 will be spent the following year.
Letterfourie Park in Buckie, Mannachie Park in Forres, and the play area at Allt Na Coire at Tomnavoulin, have been identified for new play parks this year.
They were chosen through an independent condition-scoring exercise and the same scoring method will determine where future money should be spent.
Residents work with council officers to decide how money should be spent in their community and the final design is decided by a community vote.
The design of the parks will be identified through Moray Council’s participatory budgeting initiative.
Participatory budgeting allows local people to shape spend to best meet local need, in this case through informing the design and influencing what’s included in the play park.
The Council aims to allocate 1% of its annual budget to participatory projects.
Cllr Marc Macrae, Chair of Moray Council’s Economic Development & Infrastructure Services Committee, said: “Our new and improved play areas are being designed hand in hand with local communities who had much valued input into the design and funding of these projects.
“While we would love to upgrade all play parks, and the budget is considerably larger than any one we have had before, it is still not enough to improve them all, but we will stretch it as far as it will go.”
The funding grant, worth £939,000, has come from the Scottish Government’s Local Authority Play Park Renewal Programme, which also covers capital costs for surfacing repairs and replacements.
The Council is committed to upgrading at least two play park renewal projects each year.
It takes around 18 months to consult on, design, purchase and build the elements of the park.