A new 'natural' playground should open in this Kildare town centre

A “natural playground” should be developed in the town centre of Naas.

Independent councillor Bill Clear said the project would be advanced because of “ the substantial increase in population in the town centre and the lack of a playground in this central area.”

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He suggested the Fairgreen area and said it’s urgently needed “to meet the needs of local families and children.”

He said there has been a huge increase in residential development in the town itself yet there is no playground.

There are some 40 estates within one kilometre of Fairgreen, he claimed at a Naas Municipal District committee meeting.

He also said there are two schools and two creches in the area and it is visited by many people, especially in good weather, aptly due to toe public realm upgrades in the location.

Cllr Clear also pointed out that Kildare County Council benefits paid in the form of development levies paid by the companies who build these estates.

Cllr Clear also said the area is under utilised.

But Cllr Seamie Moore was opposed to the idea and pointed out that the Fairgreen has traditionally hosted circuses and carnivals and he said another site on the other side of a boundary wall in the same area would be more suitable.

“People don’t go to the town centre for a playground,” he said.

Cllr Clear responded that the Farigreen was just the suggested location adn it could be sited elsewhere.

KCC official Simon Wallace said there is no objection in principle to providing a natural play area on the Fairgreen. 

He added: “However, it would need to be considered as part of an overall plan for the space and intended future uses of it.”

He said the council has already set out a works programme for the year and it is already committed to a playground in Ballymore and an upgrade of the playground in Monread Park - projects which “will take precedence to the proposal for the Fairgreen.”