Laois school children to play part in design of new Ballyroan playground

Laois school children are set to play their part in the design of a new playground for their community later this month. 
Children  in Scoil Eoin Phóil II Naofa will take part in a design exercise for Ballyroan's first playground in conjunction with Laois County Council. 

Last week it was confirmed Ballyroan Community Development CLG was allocated €500,000 under the Town & Village Renewal Scheme which will fund most of the costs for a new playground, multi-use games area and car parking on the derelict school site beside the shop in the village. 

Chairperson of Ballyroan Community Development CLG, Mary Whelan said designs for this phase are currently being finalised, to be ready to go to tender as soon as possible. 

Ms Whelan said while the government and EU provide funding for community led development across the country, this funding stream cannot fund 100% of the costs of a project and further fundraising will be needed. 

"These facilities will be a great addition to the village, and either all or some elements of the new development will be of benefit to everyone in our community," she said. 

"Ballyroan Community Development CLG aims to improve Ballyroan for our community. It is run by the community, anyone can join at any time, and community voluntary groups are represented on its Steering Group, along with our public representative, Cllr Bary Walsh. 

"Our costing exercise shows that in the region of €150,000 will have to be raised by the community for this project. The redevelopment of the remainder of the site, including the derelict school building, will form part of subsequent phases, and when all phases are completed, the community will have a new public space for the heart of the village. The costs for the entire development is in the region of €1m.

"Presently, we are applying for funding for the next phase and we are confident that with the numerous funding streams available for community groups the funds can be sourced in a reasonable timeframe. 

"The community is responsible for driving projects like this, on a voluntary basis, with some supports available from the public sector bodies. In this case we have received support from staff in Laois County Council across several departments including Town Regeneration, Planning, Sport & Leisure, amongst others. Ballyroan Community Development CLG would like to sincerely thank all those who helped get us to this point. Particularly, we wish to acknowledge the voluntary time and effort made by members of the Ballyroan community. There is quite a bit to go with the project, and plenty of opportunity for everyone in the community in Ballyroan to support the delivery of new community facilities. We will be calling all in the community to help with fundraising for the playground."