COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

South Dublin County Council Crest

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, June 08, 2015

MOTION NO.13

MOTION: Councillor D. O'Donovan

That the Chief Executive halves the number of proposed playspaces within the County and instead uses the money saved to maintain the existing playspaces.  One of the biggest issues when consulting with members of the public in relation to getting a playspace in place, is lack of maintenance.  The money saved would employ two staff members who would be dedicated to the full-time maintenance of the playspaces.   

REPLY

Health and Wellbeing is one of the major challenges faced by all public and private organisations. Healthy minds and bodies are essential to enjoying complete physical, mental and social wellbeing. Local authorities play a critical role in protecting and promoting wellbeing at local level

To this end the Council is proposing to build predominantly natural play spaces as part of its play construction programme in local areas. Natural Play can be defined as, ‘The freedom to access, explore and engage with the natural environment with the primary purpose of having fun’. A natural play space is an area where children can play with natural elements such as sand, water, rocks, wood and living plants. There may also be some formal play items.

Today, many children lack the time and opportunity to engage in natural unstructured play. Planned, adult-coordinated activities during and after school, as well as electronic games and television, limit a child's ability to engage in exploration and free expression. Research indicates that this ability, along with access to natural settings, is critical to children's development in every major way: intellectually, emotionally, socially and physically. Benefits of increased unstructured free play and access to natural areas include improved concentration & impulse control, emotional coping & stress reduction, stimulation of creativity, reduced symptoms ADD and ADHD, and improved motor coordination.

The proposed Five Year Play Space Programme for the County was initially agreed by the Elected Members in 2013, and the Chief Executive outlined proposals at Budget 2014 for the development of a comprehensive programme of community playspace provision over the coming 5 years.  Subject to agreement on locations, it is intended to provide circa. 40 playgrounds over a 5 year period.

In this context €1,780,000 has been identified for the Playground Programme in the 3 Year Capital Programme 2015 -2017.  

We are continuing with implementation of the 5 year programme with 5play spaces already completed, and significant progress now being made in relation to the 15 proposed sites on the 2015 Programme.  All these projects are now at either design or consultation stage.

There is annual provision in the Revenue Budget for the operation and maintenance of these facilites.  Public Realm is currently working through development of a programme to ensure routine inspections and maintenance of existing and future facilities, and increased operation and maintenance costs associated with the enhanced range of facilities will be considered in the context of the annual budget process.