Councillor flags safety issues in playgrounds, as council officials say they struggle to get contractors to fix them

At Maypark playground in Killester on Monday, there were holes in the artificial surface on the ground, in at least five places.

Black chips of the broken surface were littered under a climbing frame and slides for small children.

At first glance, the chips look like tar but the material is a synthetic medium-hard, rubbery material.

A small child could choke on those pieces, says Social Democrats Councillor Catherine Stocker.

“The playground at Maypark is in such incredibly poor condition that it is literally dangerous,” she said at a meeting of councillors for the North Central Area in July.

In the playground on Monday, local resident Bridget Nolan says the climbing frame is especially for small children.

“The babies crawl under there,” she says, pointing at the spot underneath the frame with the broken flooring.

In another spot, three parts of the frame have been removed, each leaving holes in the surface underneath.

“If a child climbs on this and falls into one of those holes they could break their ankle,” says Nolan.

The council has been patching up the playground for years. “It’s like slapdash, tidy it up and it’ll be grand,” she says.

“It’s not like it isn’t used,” says her neighbour, Marian Creevey. “It’s constantly being used. At four o’clock here you can’t stand in the place.”

At the North Central Area meeting, Fergus O’Carroll, senior parks superintendent, said that the council really struggles to secure the right contractors to repair playgrounds.

There are only a few contractors that have the expertise and they are very busy, he says.  “We have been having terrible problems getting contractors to attend the site.”

Sliding into disrepair

The council’s parks department is having difficulty finding contractors to maintain the playgrounds, said Green Party Councillor Donna Cooney at the council meeting.

“I don’t think it’s a lack of willingness from parks,” she says. “I think they are finding it very frustrating as well.”

The council needs to brainstorm a new approach to get this work done, she said, perhaps creating a panel of providers or looking at other solutions.

At the council meeting, Fine Gael Councillor Naoise Ó Muirí said there are also serious issues with maintenance at the playground in Fairview park.

O’Carroll said council staff had been trying to secure a contractor to fix broken play equipment at the Fairview playground for months. At the time of the meeting they were on site and working, he said.

The council’s own bricklayers will do whatever work they can to keep on top of repairs in playgrounds, but specialist contractors are often required, said O’Carroll.

Only a very small number of companies are certified to work on playgrounds and most won’t quote for small repairs work, he says.

So the council has only two or three companies that it can contract and they are very busy, he said. “It’s just an incredibly frustrating situation, we are trying our best to keep the playground safe,” he said.

Ó Muirí asked whether the council has a maintenance contract with the companies that install the playgrounds.

O’Carroll said they don’t. The companies that supply the playgrounds aren’t interested in doing routine maintenance, he said, so the council has to look for quotes each time a playground needs repairs.

What’s the solution?

Stocker said the situation at Maypark is particularly dangerous and the council should consider closing it until it is safe to use. “I certainly won’t take my children back there until it is addressed,” she said.

“Maypark is listed for an overhaul or an upgrade for next year,” said O’Carroll at the meeting.

By phone on Tuesday, Stocker says council officials have since told her that a contractor will do repairs on Maypark in the coming weeks too. “The bigger picture plan is that it needs to be replaced next year,” she says.

There seems to be a problem with procurement, says Stocker. The council is restricted in the contractors it can use, she says.

By contrast, Fingal County Council-run playgrounds often appear to be better maintained, she says.

One potential solution is for the council to hire staff who can do the work on playgrounds.  “We probably do need people internally who can do basic repair work,” says Stocker.

Cooney, the Green Party councillor, says she too thinks that Dublin City Council is slower than other councils at doing procurement.

She’s heard that there are issues with getting replacement parts for playgrounds too, since Brexit, she says.

Two years ago. local area councillors set aside money for two inclusive swings – for those with disabilities – but the council hasn’t succeeded in buying them yet, says Cooney. “Other local authorities seem to be able to just go and buy things.”

If the council hired workers directly it might speed up repairs, says Cooney. But first it would have to recruit those workers and that process is painfully slow too, she says.

“It takes forever for HR to employ people,” she says.

“We’re still waiting for the panel of parks wardens for Bull Island and St Anne’s,” she says. “I’m finding the whole process extremely long and arduous and unnecessary red tape.”

Dublin City Council hasn’t responded to a query sent Saturday as to whether it was considering recruiting staff to do playground maintenance.