Cash boost will see Fife's playparks receive upgrades

The news comes after a Cowdenbeath councillor Alex Campbell asked the council’s chief executive to bring forward a detailed plan for renewing Fife’s playparks in line with the promise made by the SNP Government at the last election that every playpark in the country would be refurbished.

Councillor Campbell said: “Political parties make all these promises at election time when they want people's votes but it is important that they are held to them after the election has passed.

“If the pandemic has taught us anything, it is that we should value our outdoor space and that we should do all we can to ensure that children are able to enjoy the outdoors with play.

“It is my understanding that the Scottish Government are saying they are making £60 million available across Scotland for councils to invest in playparks and while this will not be enough to meet the promise they made at the election, it is certainly a start.

“I am asking the CEO in Fife to confirm what our share of that will be and to bring forward proposals on how that money is to be spent so that councillors can consider the proposals and the criteria around them in detail.

“It is good for children to play outdoors and in a time when obesity and all the ill health that follows is on the rise, we need to do more to promote healthy, physical activity, such as play.”

While no detailed plans were confirmed when approached, Fife Council did confirm that it will soon be receiving £344,000 which will be invested in Kingdom playparks.

Team manager Andy Maclellan said: “Fife Council is to receive Scottish Government funding of £344,000 to invest in our playparks.

“We welcome this news which will help us maintain some of our main playparks. Our first priority will be to replace swings that were removed from a number of playparks for health and safety reasons and take forward some projects that are fully designed with the majority of external/partnership funding already in place.”