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Daily Record
Daily Record
National
Ross Thomson

Lanarkshire parents urge council to provide better play facilities in their area

Parents of kids living in the Parkside area of Cleland have came together to call for better play facilities as soon as possible.

Council plans have been in place for a number of years for a new Multi Use Games Area (MUGA) and new swing park for some time.

However, the pandemic has stalled any progress being made.

Lizann Carroll has started a petition asking for better play facilities as soon as possible as well starting a Facebook group which now has dozens of members.

She told Lanarkshire Live : “This has been going for the past few years.

"We have been promised facilities since even before COVID, but we are hoping the council can look at this again and bring the proposals forward.

“The kids have got nothing up here and that’s just not good enough.

Parkside kids with their current play equipment (Stuart Vance/ReachPlc)

“Over 700 people have now signed the petition which tells you everything about the strength of feeling within the community.”

Fellow parent Nicola Cox added: “There is parks in other parts of the village which are getting upgraded which is great but Parkside is being forgotten about.

“There has been numerous injuries over the years due to the equipment that’s there.

“Enough is enough. There is nothing up here for them.

“You can see them taking their own goalposts up there because there is nothing there.”

The efforts of the parents in trying to speed up the process has won support from local elected members.

Councillor Robert John McKendrick said: “I have asked the parents to create a steering group so they can look at external funding.

“The kids at Parkside get transport to school over the Cleland Railway Bridge to the other side of Cleland.

"If it’s not safe for them to walk to school over that bridge why is it safe for them to walk to the other side of the village to go to decent play facilities?

“Put simply the people of Parkside have had enough.”

Fellow Murdostoun councillor Cameron McManus added: “The upgrade of the park has been in the pipeline for several years but we would all like to see the process quickened up.

Play equipment at Parkside area of Cleland (Stuart Vance/ReachPlc)

“The sheer number of people signing the petition considering Cleland has a population of around 3,000 shows the demand of the people in Parkside because there’s a feeling the area is being left behind.”

A spokesman for North Lanarkshire Council said that plans to create an enhanced MUGA space in the Parkside area are continuing to be developed.

“The project has been agreed in principle, with some funding already earmarked by the local community board,” the spokesperson added.

“This is a large scale development and will require additional funding sources to be identified, community engagement, feasibility checks and design work to be completed.

“A new swing park is not currently part of these plans however, we are looking to upgrade existing play facilities at Park Street and these will be replaced in future years.

“We welcome the community support and interest in developing this project and look forward to working closely with the residents steering group and elected members to enhance the play facilities currently available for children and young people in Cleland.”

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