One of the priorities for the Seaforde and District Community Association in 2017 is the progression of plans for a Children’s play area in Seaforde Village. This project is in the early stages and we are currently researching the feasibility of financial assistance from local government funding allocations.
In a recent development on the 9th March 2017 Newry, Mourne and Down District Council released their Play Strategy . Unfortunately the strategy does not favor Seaforde as a focal area within the Slieve Croob DEA for council funding in the near term. We simply do not meet the qualifying criteria in terms of density of resident children.
In the three areas identified by the Strategy as potential gaps areas for the Slieve Croob DEA the analysis of household pointer data, settlement spread and the radial catchments associated with existing fixed play areas indicates that current provision is sufficient. The Strategy recommends that no new fixed play development is required at present in the Slieve Croob area.
What the Strategy does recommend is investment in specific Play areas in our district which are in need of renovation and improvement. This is of course very positive for local children in these catchment areas and offers younger residents in the Seaforde and District area with better options for Play in the immediate vicinity.
Although this is an interesting development in this project, it does not, in the immediate term, offer us any assistance in achieving the objectives of our community Vision. As a community association we must now consider our options in light of this new information and come up with a new plan of action for our immediate area, something that is firmly on the Agenda for our next meeting!
(As with all our Blog posts, we’d really value your opinions and ideas on our ongoing projects. You can comment publicly on our blog posts or contact us directly at contact@seaforde.org.uk)