The Clare Champion Clare news, sport, entertainment and local notes
Clare County Council has established a new €50,000 fund that playground committees throughout the county can apply for a share of.
The council ran a very successful playground grant scheme from 2008-2013. During this period a total sum of €2.18 million was allocated to develop 29 new playgrounds. Funding for this scheme came largely from levies imposed on developers during the building boom.
Since their initial construction and development many communities that administer local playgrounds project have struggled to cover running costs. Typically it costs a community somewhere between €2,000 to €3,000 per annum to provide for insurance cover, financial auditing, safety assessments and routine maintenance works. These groups rely heavily on fundraising and the goodwill of their local communities and have been crying out for a council grant scheme to help them defray costs.
The new grant scheme will help greatly to meet the short-term needs of playground committees. If every one of the 29 existing playground group were to apply for the new grant they would each receive a payment of approximately €1,700.
