Kildare playground repairs costing €300k a year

Kildare County Council is spending an estimated €300,000 annually on repairs to municipal playgrounds.

This came to light following a motion from cllr Pat Balfe at the most recent Kildare-Newbridge Municipal District meeting.

He had asked the council to provide reports “related to the monitoring, repairing, and maintenance of Kildare County Council playgrounds in the Kildare-Newbridge Municipal District on a quarterly basis and that a helpline or dedicated email address be established to report damage or dangerous equipment”.

The acting senior parks and landscape officer for the county Simon Wallace fielded the formal reply.

“This year we have completed an annual independent inspection, and one inspection carried out by our own staff,” he said. “Approximately €80,000 is spent in this municipal district annually on maintenance and repairs, and €300,000 is all spent.

“We had to put in two new swing sets in Kildare town; there’s only so much we can do,” he said. “In addition to these inspections, all the playgrounds receive a weekly visit or have basic maintenance carried out to them via local arrangements.

“People putting up comments that the Monasterevin playground is a death trap, and we even had one elected member in Monasterevin saying Kildare County Council is not doing its job. Comments like this boil my blood,” he said, before leaving details for reporting such damages.

“Any issues related to damage or dangerous equipment can be reported to customercare@kildarecoco.ie or parks@kildarecoco.ie or phone the Parks Section at 045 980553.”