Play park campaigner looks to Caol community for support with plans

COMMUNITY support is being sought to help build a new play park in Caol which has already been two years in the making.

Damian MacDonald, who has been campaigning for improved play areas in Caol since 2015, has now asked Caol Community Council to give plans to build a park at Banavie Road its seal of approval.

At the community council meeting on April 10, Mr MacDonald said a feasibility report had been carried out and that £ 50,000 was available from the Highland Council. The hope is that sum will be matched through LEADER funding.

Mr MacDonald told the meeting the £ 50,000 would allow phase 1 of the project to be completed, providing a play area for children aged up to five.

He added: ‘ We had planned to have two phases but now we think splitting the project into three phases costing around £100,000 each is more realistic because funding is so tight.’

Mr MacDonald said he felt the project was very close to making significant progress, but obtaining the deeds for the land has proved difficult and the initial 25-year lease offered by the Highland Council was off-putting.

He said Highland Council had also insisted they visited schools to ask the children’s opinion of where they would prefer a park to be and that they also had to have a presence at last year’s Caol Gala Day.

John Gillespie from the community council suggested the matter could be looked into and discussed at the next meeting in May. In the meantime, social media could be used to further gauge public opinion and give community members the opportunity to join in the conversation on May 8.