Dad accuses council chiefs of abandoning 'disgusting' play park

Council chiefs have been accused of abandoning a “disgusting” Paisley play park.

The surface of the play area at Gallowhill Community Centre has been torn up in several places and not fixed, while pictures sent to the Local Democracy Reporting Service show litter has been left strewn across the park.

Dad-of-two Tomasz Flisiuk, who lives in the area, said he won’t let his sons aged five and three play there any more due to its condition and they have nowhere else locally they can entertain themselves.

The 39-year-old claims the park has been left in this state for two to three years with no one tending to it and has called on the council to take immediate action.

He said: “My sons have tried to play there but it just looks horrible and no one seems to care about this.

“I would like the council to take action because a lot of families stay in the area. I feel like the park has been abandoned and kids don’t have anywhere else to play.

“I don’t want to take my sons there anymore because it’s just disgusting. It’s been like that for two or three years and no one has fixed it.

“There’s a lot of grass around the area and the council should really make the play park bigger. Maybe they think it’s better for kids to stay at home and play games.”

The council is investing £1.25m in completely overhauling 14 play parks and refurbishing seven more in Renfrewshire, but Gallowhill has not been deemed as one of those which is “most in need”.

Bosses have said they are looking at future phases of investment but did not lay out whether they would be taking any specific action to fix up Gallowhill’s facility.

A Renfrewshire Council spokesman said: “We want families and young people to be excited to visit their local play park which is why we’re investing £1.25m in the complete transformation of 14 play parks most in need across Renfrewshire, as well as the refurbishment of seven more.

“We recognise people may feel other play parks need to be upgraded that are not included in this initial list, such as Gallowhill, but we are looking at future phases to this investment where we would be able to make improvements to other play parks and we will continue to ensure all play parks remain safe.

“We’ve already supported the transformation of a number of play parks through our Green Spaces, Parks and Play Areas and Villages Investment Fund, including the new interactive play park in Bargarran, and this investment will mean even more communities in Renfrewshire can benefit from new play provision.”

By local democracy reporter Steph Brawn