Work on major upgrade of Summerhill playground begins this week

Ten months after it closed due to health and safety concerns, work on the long awaited upgrade of Summerhill playground is to start this week.

Contractors were due to begin work today (Tuesday) on the major upgrade of the existing playground with works expected to take around six weeks to complete.

The playground, which is built on a site at Summerhill Community Centre that was leased to the local playground committee, was closed in January due to health and safety concerns with several pieces of playground equipment in need of repair or upgrade.

With the children of the original playground committee who managed the playground now grown up and a lack of volunteers willing to come forward, the committee had looked to pass responsibility for the playground's maintenance to the council, and Meath County Council agreed to enter a lease arrangement to take over management of the playground.

All this has taken time unfortunately, and it meant that the playground remained closed all summer. In recent weeks locals had been questioning why it was taken so long to begin the upgrade.

At a Trim Municipal District meeting in May Director of Services Des Foley said that following an inspection of the playground a major upgrade of the playground would be carried out at a cost of over €100,00 and that it would "effectively be a new playground."

Tenders had been received at that point but Mr Foley had explained that once the order was placed it would be a six to eight week delivery and construction would take about six weeks. However he also explained that contractors books were very full so there could be a wait.