Kilmessan community calls on council to buy playground site

Meeting with local representatives tonight

Members of the Skane Valley Community Council in Kilmessan were tonight (Tuesday) due to meet local councillors to discuss the issue of the sale of the playground site in the village.

The landowner who has allowed the local committee use the vacant site as a playground for the past nine years free of charge is selling it, and the committee is appealing to the county council to step in and acquire the site so that it can continue to be used by the community children. Auctioneer Edward Carey is guiding €85,000 for the site.

“The playground is maintained by Skane Valley Community Council and has proved to be a very popular amenity,” chairperson Enda McGorman says. “It is centrally located and has provided endless hours of enjoyment for the children of the village and surrounding areas. As there are no alternative play facilities in the area, this playground is relied upon by local families and directly supports children’s wellbeing and safety.

“Skane Valley Community Council has been pressing Meath County Council for many years to take ownership of, and enhance this precious facility in our village. The sale of the site provides Meath County Council with a unique opportunity to do just that - to purchase the site and to provide a fully developed playground worthy of our growing young community. We are calling on Meath County Council to urgently engage with the owner of the site to ensure that it is purchased by the council and retained as a community space which all can enjoy for generations to come.

Meeting of Local Representatives with Skane Valley Community Council

At a meeting of Skane Valley Community Council on the 21st January, the committee resolved to invite local representatives to a meeting with the executive members of Skane Valley Community Council to discuss how we can ensure that the Meath County Council ensure that this valuable community amenity is retained in public ownership and is developed as a community facility which can be developed and enhanced for generations to come.

“We urge all of our local representatives to use their good offices to ensure that we do not miss the opportunity to retain this amenity in the ownership of the community here in Kilmessan,” he adds.

Community Council committee member and local resident, Senator Linda Nelson Murray, raised the matter in the Seanad last week under Order of Business. A petition is also in circulation online and in local businesses.