Funds boost moves playground closer to reality

Gort moved a step closer to getting a long-awaited playground this week after the committee behind the project was presented with more than €7,500 in donations. The committee now has in the region of €40,000 but requires a further €40,000, along with a grant of €70,000, to complete the work.

Gort Playground Group Limited formed six years ago with the aim of building a play area in the town. The voluntary group looked at four sites and made advances to get permission to build on them. “Canon Quinn Park could not go ahead due to planning restrictions, private property was looked at but transfer of the property became difficult. Then the group looked at the VEC site and all went well up to the point of signing the lease. The VEC had a look at the proposal again and in the end decided against signing the lease. This was their decision and the playground people had to accept it,” explained committee member, Martin Aherne.
“By this stage, we had gathered €13,000 from various supporters. The problem now was that they had some money and no site available. Three years passed and still no site became available. The €13,000 in the bank had no function. In 2009, the group discovered waste, marshy land on the Ennis Road. By now, they would have agreed to build the playground anywhere, so research began again. It was very frustrating and the people in the company were very discouraged and almost dejected. The Ennis road site looked to be difficult and hopes were low that the site could be secured,” he added.
The site is located across from the Lady Gregory Hotel on Gort’s Circular Road. The playground group started trying to trace the owner of the land and found that part of it belonged to Galway County Council and another part belonged to the Department of Education, with a third piece of the site privately owned.
“More hard work ensued and legal work began. While all this was being sorted out, we were afraid to continue fundraising, just in case it failed again, like all the other sites. So we waited and waited until finally all three parties to the land agreed to lease the property on a long-term basis, to the playground company. The lease was signed late last year and at last, we could surface again and continue fundraising,” Martin recalled.
A grant for €70,000 was agreed from Galway Rural Development and was to be combined with a local contribution of €30,000, according to the committee. Galway County Council granted planning permission for a playground but one of the conditions was the provision of a car park and the completion of ancillary works.
“This drove up the cost of the project by a further €50,000. More unforeseen problems for the disheartened committee. The group’s volunteers had many communications with the county council and we hoped the local authority would help with this cost. In the meantime, the Celtic Tiger was well gone and so too was the funding available to the council,” Martin outlined.
“We had eventually established planning permission, secured the site, gathered up to €20,000, submitted tender documents and became burdened with a bigger bill, which was €50,000 over budget for just a basic playground. The plan is to spend a further €30,000 to ensure the playground is up to the standard of most town play facilities. As a comparison, Tarbert, in County Kerry, recently opened their small village playground at a cost of €170,000. The Gort committee are also hoping for a contribution from the county council but this has not been fully agreed as of yet,” he continued.
While Galway County Council will insure the playground, the reason for the large amount of money required is to facilitate the high safety standards required.
According to the committee, local business people and organisations have been “hugely supportive”. He cited in particular the contributions of Brendan Slevin, Michael O’Grady, Irene Jordan and Gerry O’Donnell, Gort Family and Community Resource Centre and all the others who gave their services free of charge.
The committee are now building a family wall on the site. Members of the public can buy a brick, with application forms available from businesses around the town.
“It is a brick wall being built by this generation in their playground, to be enjoyed by future generations. Each brick will be engraved with local family names and messages, to represent the building of a stronger community,” Martin explained.
The committee benefitted from money raised by Reach for the Stars, the No Name club, Care Fusion, Gort Credit Union and private subscriptions. This week, the playground group was handed a cheque of €5,650 from the Reach for the Stars talent contest. The 2012 winners ‘Jedward’, comprised of Áine and Clare O’Donnell, arrived full of beans at the site to hand over the contribution. Also this week Gort Credit Union made a donation of €2,000.
“With a little more support from local families we can have a fantastic facility in our town for generations to come. It is a bit odd that a town the size of Gort does not have a playground, small villages have them across the county.
“This is only the beginning for recreational services in Gort, with many ideas for teenagers, retired and special needs areas proposed for later development. It is time to give local kids a free, high standard facility that can be enjoyed for a long time to come. The energy is high and the people are determined to complete this much-needed project,” Martin concluded.