Buckie play park fears grow as more brand new equipment found to be falling apart
Further concerns over safety at a brand new play park have been raised.
Buckie councillor Sonya Warren recently voiced fears over the state of the play equipment at Letterfourie play park in Buckpool in the town, which only opened just before the school summer holidays.
Her attention had first been called to an incident on the zip line when a chain link had opened causing children on the ride to fall to the ground. Later, splits in the protective covering on chains on a rotating swing were noticed. In both cases, vandalism or tampering were ruled out by the council.
However, yet another piece of equipment is showing signs of fraying and wear and tear just three scant months after being installed.
A trampoline in a section catering for smaller kids - funded by the Buckie Common Good Fund to the tune of £10,000 - is showing fraying on some of the straps.
Councillor Warren noted that as the feature aims to be inclusive and accommodate users in buggies and wheelchairs it should therefore should be designed to be robust.
She said: “The park is only three months old, you don’t expect to be seeing wear like that on the trampoline or, for that matter, the other equipment at the park.
“It was specified that the trampoline was meant to be inclusive - it’s there to be used by kids in wheelchairs and with mobility issues so you’d assume it would be constructed to a very robust standard. The coating shouldn’t be coming off after 12 weeks or so.”
Councillor Warren went on to describe this latest development at Letterfourie play park as “very concerning”.
She continued: “This is now the third piece of equipment at the park that’s showing wear and tear problems and I find that very concerning, in fact I think we’re at the stage where it’s becoming alarming.
“What makes it more worrying in a way is that this isn’t happening in the other play parks in Buckie which have been refurbished in recent years. Sure, Letterfourie has been heavily used but so have the other parks and we haven’t seen anything like this, which is one of the most concerning things of all.
“The council do inspect play parks regularly but we shouldn’t have to be doing maintenance this soon into the life of a brand new play park. We shouldn’t have to be replacing things simply due to wear and tear. The budget we have for play park maintenance is very small, it’s not something we can easily afford.
“As I’ve said before, you wouldn’t expect to have an extended warranty for something like wear and tear but you’d like to think there’d be something in place to cover equipment that’s barely three months old.
“Another major worry is what piece of play equipment is going to show signs of problems at Letterfourie and how seriously. It’s a worry I can well understand parents and carers having, I take my granddaughter there.
“People would be forgiven for thinking ‘What next?’.”
A spokesperson for Moray Council said: “We are aware of the issues raised, and appropriate measures have been taken to address them.
“The equipment was installed to the required British standard, and to better understand the situation, both the council and supplier are meeting proactively to discuss any specific factors that may have contributed to the issues in question.”
The council stated that the equipment that has been installed meets the required British Standards BSEN 1176 and 1177. The spokesman went on to say that local authority has been in contact with the supplier, and they have offered to meet on site, as there is a mutual desire for all parties to review and understand the issues that have arisen.
The spokesperson noted that the play equipment at Letterfourie was considered safe to use.
The equipment was installed by Proludic, which has used on a number of occasions by the council. They are an approved supplier on the Outdoor Play Equipment and Safety Surfacing Framework (Scotland Excel).
The play park is part of a £188,000 refurbishment programme undertaken by Moray Council encompassing three play parks, the others being in Forres and Glenlivet.
It forms part of a wider £1 million upgrade grant from the Scottish Government’s Local Authority Play Park Renewal Programme.
Alongside an extensive community consultation last year kids at Cluny Primary School were asked to present their ideas as to how the redesigned play park should look.