January 2003

Front Page Archives

Wick Play Areas Community Group Gains Lottery Award
The proposed major refurbishment of the Bignold Park play area in Wick took a huge step forward when Wick Play Areas Community Group were awarded a grant of �67,381 from the National Lottery�s Community Fund.

The community group was set up May 2001 under the umbrella of the Royal Burgh of Wick Community Council in an effort to raise funds to address the lack of decent play facilities for children in the town.

The grant will go a long way to enable the group to redevelop the existing dilapidated play park into a communal recreation area centred around a safe and exciting play area. The plans also incorporate a picnic area and a youth shelter for teenagers.

The group�s Chairman, Allan Tait, said that everyone involved was delighted at the news of the award of the grant and were looking forward to putting the rest of the funding package in place to enable the work to be carried out later this year.

Mr Tait went on to thank all the people who helped during the group�s consultation process, which provided the information to enable the successful application to be prepared. The views of over 100 children were sought in relation to what items of equipment they preferred and 120 questionnaires were completed by parents in order to fine-tune the plans.

Feedback was also obtained from other groups including the nearby Caithness Early Years Autism Centre, the Community Police officer, the visually impaired adviser and the Caithness Ethnic Minorities Development Officer.

Mr Tait said that at the end of the project, it was intended to have a plaque erected in the play area which will acknowledge all the help given to the project from all sources.

The latest plans for the play area are shortly to be displayed in the offices of the Economic Development Department, High Street, Wick.