Green Party councillor and Cathoirleach of Bray Municipal District Cllr Erika Doyle is delighted to announce that her ambition to make Bray seafront playground inclusive and accessible for children with disabilities will soon become a reality after a funding approval from the Department of Children and Disability.
Cllr Doyle identified the playground as an amenity that did not cater for children with disabilities and has been working to secure funding to enhance the amenity. Last year, Cllr Doyle secured €10,000 from the annual budget towards the works. Last week, this was topped up by funding approval following a successful allocation for a ‘Play and Recreation Capital Grant’.
“I’m delighted that this grant application that I worked on with the team at Bray Municipal District council was successful and we have been granted the full amount of €17,000 added to the funding I secured from our budget last year, this means we can start making plans for the redesign.
“Playgrounds are so important for children and young people’s development, and have an important social aspect for parents, who can often feel isolated in parenthood. There really is no reason for any playground not to be inclusive, and steps should be taken to retrofit any existing playgrounds that do not include equipment for children with disabilities. I recently submitted a motion to Wicklow County council stating that we create a policy to ensure that all playgrounds are made inclusive at design stage, and existing ones are retrofitted where possible.
No child should be left out of any facilities that can be used by their friends and siblings simply because they have a disability. “This is a fantastic first step – addressing the dearth of inclusive equipment in the biggest and most popular playground in our district.
However there is still much to be done to address both accessibility and inclusiveness in our town. I work with our engineers to identify and help fund and find solutions where inequalities exist. I’m always happy to hear from people who have suggestions about how we can address these issues in Bray.”
