Opposition calls for children’s playgrounds to be reviewed and improved
Enrique Escrivà (Ciudadanos Xàbia) has also proposed that the Children’s Council be involved in the process to identify their needs.
This is how the park in Calle Genoa appeared on Google Maps a month ago. The tag has now been modified to just "Municipal Park".
Friday 6th May 2022 – Mike Smith
Source: original article – Xàbia AL DÍA
The representative for Ciudadanos Xàbia, Enrique Escrivà, has called on the local government to produce a report on the state of each of the parks and gardens in the municipality, a proposal that he said could be funded with part of the 500,000 euros which was allocated for priority improvements of the municipal children’s playgrounds almost 18 months ago and of which not a single euro has been spent.
According to the local government, this half million euro budget did not include the renovation works of the playgrounds in Plaza Reina Sofia in Thiviers and Plaza Xativa in Freginal, the latter of which has now been completed, and Escrivà suggested that an independent study would make it possible to tidy up the playgrounds across the municipality with specific actions compatible with the comprehensive reforms that would be implemented.
He added that this technical study would not only serve to quickly detect and resolve deficiencies in the municipal playgrounds so that they comply with regulations but also anticipate actions to improve them by identifying new play areas that could be introduced into each park. Thus, once the study has been completed, the boys and girls of the Children’s Council – Consell dels Xiquets – who are those who would be using these municipal areas, can decide which parks and play areas require immediate action, committing the local council to implement the improvements.
He said that some playgrounds wouldn’t need a large investment and that it is “simply a matter of political will” to improve them. As an example, he claims that there is no political desire to install swings in the park located in Calle Genoa, infrastructure that has been demanded by local residents for many years. In addition, Escrivà added that by having a detailed study on the requirements of each park, the red tape would be streamlined and based on conclusions including the estimated funding required to improve each play area, which would allow the local council to put the work out to tender more quickly and boost the local economy.
Interestingly, a few months ago, the park in Calle Genoa was tagged on Google Maps as “Parque descuidado por Ajuntament de Xàbia” (“A park neglected by the council of Xàbia”) and it seems that someone at the local council was offended by the comment, the result of the harsh reality of many years of neglect, and the tag has now changed to “Parque Municipal” with associated references linking to the council website, Wikipedia and the Ministry of the Environment of the Generalitat Valenciana. What hasn’t been possible is to remove one of the comments left by a user which simply says “No hacen falta comentarios” (“No comments needed”) and awarded the park just one star.
