New Play Park Opens
Families in central Greenock are celebrating the opening of a new £260,000 play park.
The Sir Michael Street project has been funded by Inverclyde Council and the Big Lottery.
Environment & Regeneration Vice Convener Councillor Jim Clocherty said: “This has been a marathon journey but I am delighted we have reached the finish line and delivered a first class play area for the local community. I would like to thank everyone involved, particularly the Greenock Central Residents Action Group who have been the driving force behind the scheme. The Council has made the provision of play areas a priority – investing over £2 million in recent years - to help our children and young people enjoy the social and health benefits they provide and to build on the strong sense of community that is so important in Inverclyde.”
The Sir Michael Street Play Area project is unique play-zone for families to meet and for children and young people to play in safety. The project has been led by Inverclyde Council’s Environmental Services and features pastoral play surfaces, undulating play mounds and chalkboard pathways where children may chalk creatively on the surfaces.
The project has taken around five years to complete following issues related to land ownership. There were also engineering challenges to overcome given the main Gourock to Glasgow rail line runs directly underneath the site.
Frances McFarlane from the Greenock Central Residents Action Group said: “This was a very challenging project and every hurdle that was put in front of us we faced head on and never gave up. I would like to personally thank Rose Marie Duffy and everyone at Inverclyde Council for their ongoing support and belief in us as a community group. It has been a real team effort and a great example of people coming together to make something good happen.”
Inverclyde Council awarded the project £75,000 while the majority of the funding - £187,000 – came from the Big Lottery’s Our Place initiative.
Big Lottery Fund Scotland Chair, Maureen McGinn, said: “This new play area will provide a wonderful space for children, young people and families to have fun and spend quality time together. Funded through Our Place, the project was born out of the ideas and ambitions of local people who have decided where Lottery money should be spent in their community. As a result, this new play zone is opening today, and I am sure that it will build an even greater sense of community and well-being for generations to come.”
Inverclyde Council will now adopt and maintain the site as a public asset.
Our Place is an exciting place-based initiative from the Big Lottery Fund. It aims to empower local people and organisations to bring about a massive and lasting positive difference to their neighbourhood by deciding themselves where Lottery money should be spent in their community. Greenock Central and East was one of the communities to be chosen to be part of the Our Place journey. It was selected to reflect both the level of need in the area, but also the opportunities it has for supporting and benefiting from Lottery funding.