Long overdue playpark repairs coming….slowly……

Much to the distress of local families, the state of the childrens playpark on the Links has been extremely poor for some time, and is deteriorating. Complaints have been pouring in, demanding repairs and restoration of favourite play equipment but the Council seems to have taken its eye badly off the ball on this one. Leith Councillor Katrina Faccenda, having escalated the matter on our behalf and on behalf of the many frustrated local parents, has recently received this reply from the Parks Technical Manager:

Dear Cllr Faccenda,

Thank you for your email to Gareth (Corporate Director of Place) regarding the ongoing issues with the play equipment at Leith Links and which has been passed to me for a response. I fully appreciate the frustration this situation has caused for residents and park users, particularly given the length of time these matters have remained unresolved.

There have unfortunately been prolonged difficulties in progressing these repairs. This has been caused by a combination of staff shortages within the service, wider supply chain issues affecting the availability of specialist parts and equipment, and the complexity involved in working with suppliers to identify solutions that are both safe and cost-effective for the specific faults affecting the units.

I do however understand that a series of repair solutions has now been agreed and that the necessary equipment and components have now been sourced. I have discussed this directly with the outsourced maintenance provider, who has assured me that the required works are expected to be completed within the next two to three weeks.

This situation has very much highlighted the need for the service to improve responsiveness to play area repairs. We are currently progressing recruitment to several vacant posts within the play park maintenance team to help address both these issues and wider repair backlogs currently being experienced across the service.

In addition, where agreed targeted repair programmes are not being delivered within expected timescales, we will also look to engage additional external support to help accelerate delivery and improve overall performance.

I appreciate the continued patience of local residents while these matters are resolved and apologise for the delays experienced.

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Hhhmmm. Could do better, let’s hope they do!