Dumfries and Galloway Council’s Communities Committee will meet on Thursday 25 August, where Members will receive a report on the progress of inclusive play areas across the region. Over recent months, there has been excellent progress made on the development of play areas in Newton Stewart and Castle Douglas.
Five inclusive play projects have already been completed in the region, at Stranraer, Dumfries, Kelloholm, Lockerbie and Annan. These play areas were developed and designed with extensive community and partnership involvement, and Castle Douglas and Newton Stewart are no different. This model of delivery has proved successful on other sites and Newton Stewart is well on its way to being completed. The area opened for use at the end of June and requires some work around accessible benches and a changing places toilet to be fully functioning and this work is set to take place in the near future, with an official opening to follow in due course.
Councillor Archie Dryburgh, Chair of the Communities Committee said ahead of the meeting:
“Inclusive play areas are a cast iron example of what our Council is all about. Providing accessible, affordable and safe playing spaces for children across the region. We have contributed £125,000 on the Newton Stewart site and through some excellent partnership working with the Newton Stewart Initiative, we’re well on our way to having the play area finished.”
Further east in Castle Douglas, work with our principal partners the Castle Douglas Development forum continues at pace. A public engagement was held last month in Carlingwark Park, where the designs were shared with the community. Following on from this, a final specification of play equipment is taking place, with a view to tendering for the equipment taking place by the end of October this year.
Councillor John Campbell, who is Vice Chair of the Communities Committee said:
“Good progress is being made with the inclusive play area plans in Castle Douglas. Our Council is contributing £125,000 to the play area, which is a real statement about how important we feel this play area is for the town of Castle Douglas. I look forward to receiving a follow up report on the progress being made later in the year.”
You can view the report in full ahead of the meeting at Agenda for Communities Committee on Thursday, 25th August, 2022, 10.30 am – Dumfries and Galloway Council (moderngov.co.uk)
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