Councillors say the ‘drip feed’ approach to play park funding won’t deliver for Highland communities.
The Scottish Government is dishing out £60 million across Scotland as part of its manifesto commitment to ensure all children can access play in their own community.
Last year, Highland Council received £234,000 for play parks and it expects to receive £245,000 in 2022/23.
However, the council operates 321 play parks and has a backlog of repairs topping £3.5 million.
At today’s communities and place committee, councillors welcomed the cash but said they need it quicker.
Councillors fear a generation could miss out
Councillor Alasdair Christie estimated that the Highlands would get about £3.5 million in the lifetime of this parliament.
Mr Christie said this is a “good news story” but pressed the administration to lobby for a faster release of cash.
“My concern on this is the drip feeding, which I don’t feel is helpful,” he said. “We’ve all seen the shortages of supply of equipment. Let’s imagine every authority in Scotland trying to get swings, roundabouts and slides at the same time.”
Highland Council officers said that the Scottish Government plans to give details of multi-year settlements by the end of 2022. This would at least give the council some idea of how much it will receive in the next three years.
However, Mr Christie wants the council to lobby for an acceleration.
Highlighting that a four-set swing costs £12,000 and a roundabout £8,000, Mr Christie said there was a real danger that old equipment would have to be taken away.
At the same time, Highland Council could find itself in a long queue for new replacements.
“For £243,000 you don’t get a lot of items, so we need to lobby to get the £60 million in bigger chunks,” he said.
“Otherwise the danger we run is that the five-year-old wants a swing, but by the time we get it in, he’s no longer interested in swings and we’ve missed the opportunity.”
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