Gradual reopening for play parks
Play areas in the Highland Council area that were closed because of the coronavirus crisis are to be reopened gradually throughout the summer.
Advice was provided by the Scottish Government on June 28 on the safety measures that should be applied by local authorities.
Highland Council has 436 play spaces across the region, of which 336 are equipped play areas, with 2011 individual items of play equipment. Since the lockdown, these play parks have been shut and have not been inspected, or had any maintenance work carried out.
Before reopening, all local authority play parks have to be in a "safe and serviceable" condition. This means a full inspection and maintenance programme must be carried out, and staff shortages mean it will have to be done in a phased way.
This phased approach focuses initially on:
- High-quality destination sites
- Locations where social distancing is possible
- New or recently refurbished sites requiring minimum input
During this process, the play parks will have signs advising whether they are open or closed. Extra signage will be provided in relation to Covid-19 guidance.
The council expects to begin opening sites from this week, and its website will be updated next week with the list of the sites reopening first.
Play-park users are being urged to "use the facilities safely, observe social distancing, apply enhanced hygiene and keep the parks tidy by taking litter home".
The local authority's amenities service is operating at a much-reduced capacity with less than 50 per cent staff compared with previous years.
"Many communities have supported the service during the pandemic with grass-cutting, strimming and generally maintaining sites in their areas," the council said in a statement. "We would like to encourage community volunteers to assist us with the grass-cutting in play areas, as long as they have carried out a risk assessment and adhere to social distancing."
Councillor Allan Henderson, chairman of the communities and place committee, said: “We are receiving a lot of guidance about the phased reintroduction of services and activities. We are very pleased to be able to begin a phased reopening of Highland Council play parks.
"This will be a gradual process as the council has to ensure that checks and safety inspections of the play equipment and infrastructure are carried out within the available staffing levels. We ask everyone to bear with us as not all play parks can reopen at the same time and signage will be erected indicating whether they are safe to use.”
The chairman of the recovery board, Councillor Alasdair Christie, said: “This will be great news for families to be able to get their children out to play in their local communities – but we have to ensure that it is as safe as possible for them to do so. Therefore, all work will be carried out in adherence to the national guidelines, and with strict social distancing measures in place.”
People must continue to take responsibility for themselves while using the play parks and do so at their own risk, following Government guidelines on social distancing. Signage will also be erected at all play parks to remind people to wash their hands and or use sanitiser as appropriate.
