Revamp plans for West Tipp playground

There are plans to see accessible playground equipment introduced in Tipperary Town.

This came after a query from local Cllr. Annemarie Ryan-Shiner as to whether or not the council would include a wheelchair swing at the River Arra Walkway Development.

She was informed that due to that playground being a ‘natural play’ site, made from wood, the supplier did not have a suitable piece of equipment for that area.

However, the District has applied for funding to upgrade and repair the playground at the Canon Hayes Recreation Centre and Cllr. Ryan is hopeful this will include some form of wheelchair accessible equipment.

“First of all carry out repairs and upgrade to the playground in Cannon Hayes- the existing playground, which does need work done on it, but they are also going to look for funding to put in a new accessible piece of equipment so we could get a swing in there that would be universally accessible so we are just waiting to hear if that application was successful. That application went in about a week or two ago and we should hear in the next 6 weeks. Hopefully we will have good news on that.”

The local Tipp Town councillor says she hopes in the future all playgrounds in Tipperary will be accessible to everyone.

Cllr. Ryan welcomed the news of the developments but acknowledged that it would be preferable to have every playground with accessible items across Tipperary.

“It will be interning to see what kind of wooden materials will be used in the River Arra Walkway playground and ideally it should be accessible for everybody, so I am not sure what the plans are for that I would like to see it.. but at moment my concern is trying to get at least one accessible equipment into a playground in Tipperary Town but definitely going forward for any future sort of sustainable playground should be fully accessible, like any playground should have that facility.”