16 July 2002
Dear Sir,
I write to express our disappointment at the outcome of tonight's meeting and the way in which councillors were misled on the issue of the residents committee of Kingsfurze working with the town council to maintain the playground in Kingsfurze.
The playground in Kingsfurze is a small place which consists of a set of double swings and a slide, a safe place to play. A place to bring children and grandchildren. Up until the opening of the playground in Newbridge last week it was the only publicly accessible playground in a public place in the County of Kildare (congratulations to Ray Bonar and his team for their playground in Newbridge.)
It is maintained by the residents as a place for all.
A big issue in recent times for public amenities has been insurance, in many areas this has lead to the loss of public amenities. Not so in Kingsfurze, due to the trojan efforts of the residents. At all times this playground has had insurance and has been maintained to the European standards.
For example, about three years ago a resident employed a playground consultant to check the playground over and ensure that it met the latest standards which had just been passed. This was to try and make sure that we kept the playground up to the latest standards. As result of that inspection and the application of the latest standards, some of the older equipment was removed while the surface under the slide was upgraded to meet current standards.
Last year the residents purchased a new double swing. Rather than taking the cheap option and building it themselves, they bought a swing that was manufactured by a playground equipment supplier to meet with EN standards. Using the EN standards and advice from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents on EN standards, an appropriate cost-effective surface was put in underneath. (The same surface can be seen in Croakagh park in South Co Dublin.)
This playground was insured as it met with the standards required by the insurers, the EN standard.
In 2002 post 9-11 (twin towers), the insurance market has contracted considerably with some companies getting out of sectors of the market. This unfortunately happened to the Kingsfurze residents insurance broker and the residents were left with a playground that was going to be uninsured not because it was uninsurable but because no company was in the market offering insurance. We tried high and low for alternative cover but there was only one cover source available in the market a Lloyd's Name but when they got out of the market cover could not be obtained.
At present the only insurance available to playgrounds in the state is the insurance cover that local Authorities have. So in order to maintain this asset for the benefit of all who use it (currently the only playground in the town) the committee proposed that we might ask the UDC to work with us on this issue. Taking it under their wing, as a social public private partnership where we would continue to look after the playground for the benefit of all. This was the purpose of Cllr Conway's motion, which the residents committee welcomed.
Unfortunately, in the debate on the motion tonight, Cllr Moore - following an approach from an individual in the estate - incorrectly concluded that the residents committee were not in favour of this, and opposed the motion. As the Town Council has been previously informed, I am the official secretary of the Kingsfurze Residents Committee. The residents committee agree with working with the Town council on this issue for the benefit of all. Neither I nor the chair nor any member of the committee officially approached Cllr Moore. The committee support Cllr Conway in his efforts.
Cllr Moore also stated that the residents committee opposed people from outside the estate coming in to use the facilities. This is not the case: if people want to use the facilities that we have put in, we have no problem so long as they do not abuse the estate or its residents.
In regard to the Town Engineer’s comments to the meeting on the safety standard that the playground adheres to, it is unfortunate that his staff did not choose to contact either the Chairman or myself so that we could show him either the inspector’s report or the relevant installation works (some foundation works he raised concerns on are hidden in order to comply with EN standards, foundations at surface level are a hazard and so have to be hidden, fall surfaces were initially installed in accordance with EN standards and associated formula). I would welcome an opportunity to go through this with him.
Kingsfurze residents are proud of their estate we wish to maintain its assets for the benefit of all. We hope that Cllr Conway's efforts succeed and we thank him and Cllr McCarthy who seconded the motion. We want to work with the council to maintain this asset for the benefit of all.
John Kavanagh, Secretary, Kingsfurze Residents Committee, Naas, Co Kildare.
