The South Lanarkshire Labour group is calling out the council’s decision to launch a consultation on play parks in the area.
The authority is seeking residents’ feedback on how funding for play areas should be allocated, but the Labour group have scrutinised the consultation process.
Funding from the Scottish Government given to local authorities to improve existing play areas has been allocated to the council.
However, of the £5m government budget, South Lanarkshire Council (SLC) have received £298,000 to use to repair and upgrade the play parks.
Funds will be allocated over the period of 2021 to 2026 and it is estimated that the authority will receive £3.5m in total.
The refurbishment of a single play area can cost around £30,000 to £350,000 depending on the size and the upgrade, therefore the council will not be able to transform all 233 play areas in the area.
Therefore, the authority is looking for public feedback to help decide how to allocate funds as fairly as possible.
However, South Lanarkshire Labour have criticised the consultation process due to the amount of funding available.
The group has stated that the funding will not be enough to renew every play park in the region and that the public consultation is on ‘a promise that has already been broken.’
Cambuslang Councillor, and Labour’s community and enterprise spokeswoman, Margaret Walker, said: “While we always encourage communities to have their say, the funds available are not enough to renew every play park in the coming years.
“In fact, this year’s Scottish Budget represents a £371m real terms cut to council budgets right across Scotland.
“If budgets had not been slashed then play equipment would not have fallen into such decline in the first place.”
Head of facilities, waste and grounds services at SLC, Alistair McKinnon, said: “We are currently asking residents across South Lanarkshire to take part in a survey on fixed play area improvements.
“The survey will remain open until 31 January and in total the council could receive around £3.5m from the Scottish Government for this work over the next five years, if future years’ awards are consistent with the 2021/22 allocation.
“However, refurbishment of a play area can cost between £30,000 and £350,000 depending on its size.
“The council is responsible for 233 play sites so we are looking for people to let us know which ones they feel we should prioritise.
“We would ask people to please take part in the questionnaire to help us decide on how to allocate available funds as fairly as possible.”
The public have until January 31 to have their say on play parks in the area, to complete the survey, visit the council website.
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