Council says intervention was necessary to remove safety risk at Kilkenny playground

Kilkenny county council says it had to intervene to remove a safety risk to young children at a playground in the city.

It follows a query into why a wall in the area was knocked in recent days.

The council says the works carried out in the vicinity of the Fr McGrath Centre in Kilkenny are in response to illegal dumping and anti-social behaviour which has been an ongoing issue at the playground over the past number of years.

There’s been repeated damage to play equipment while the soft play surface was ripped up and fencing vandalised.

In a statement to KCLR the council says that around 20% of the councils maintenance budget for all 30 playgrounds in the county has been spent on this particular facility over the last 4 years describing it as an unsustainable situation.

At this point the toddler playground remains in place but the older children’s play area has had to be removed. It has been resurfaced though with basketball facilities still on site.

The wall was removed in the hopes that the increased surveillance will act as a deterrent to the antisocial behaviour.