As part of an ongoing Playpark Optimisation Consultation a series of public meetings begins in Westhill tomorrow night. (Thursday, October 16)

A review of children’s play parks is being undertaken across Aberdeenshire and parents and children are being asked for their views as part of the process.

The review is aimed at providing the best quality play areas in the best locations with the money available.

The public meetings are part of a nine month consultation exercise and will run until the end of the month.

There are currently 446 council play areas and key elements to be addressed include: equity and location of provision, play value, condition, safety, funding models, partnership working and maintenance and replacement regimes.

Around £550,000 is spent annually on managing and maintaining the sites. Over half that sum is required to ensure the sites are adequately inspected and repaired.

This includes a thorough annual safety inspection to identify risk levels, overall conditions, Play Value and defects.

The remaining budget is available to fund upgrading and replacement of existing equipment. However, the costs associated with the purchase and installation of new equipment are substantial and the current budget gives limited opportunity for major improvements.

The review will look at current play park provision and through the consultation phase gather the widest possible view on the existing play park portfolio as a whole, and on individual sites.

The process will look at a range of issues in order to identify a strategy which delivers the optimum provision.

The first public meeting takes place at Westhill Academy tomorrow (Thursday) at 7pm, followed by meetings right across the area. For details and more information see: http://bit.ly/1oakndn