A plea to improve play facilities at Aireville Park has been met with enthusiasm and support from concerned parents and residents.

Since her 20-month-old daughter fell from a broken swing in the park, Elaine Farrier, of Bay Horse Yard, Skipton, has been collecting signatures from people who want to see a safer playground.

Mrs Farrier collected over 500 names in a week, from shoppers, teachers, playgroups and other residents.

Several weeks ago it was revealed that the playground was not up to scratch because of out-of-date equipment, broken swings, curled-up safety matting, broken benches and holes in the fencing.

Mick Cartledge, Head of Economic and Community Development at Craven District Council, has promised that by the end of this week the swings would be replaced and the gate and fencing mended.

Mrs Farrier still said that the park could not compare to others in Gargrave and Ilkley because there was not enough for the children to do and the equipment was outdated.

She added that friends and relatives had told her the spider climbing frame had been removed from lots of parks in Edinburgh and London ten years ago because they were thought to be dangerous.

Mr Cartledge said the improvements to the park was a three-phase process, but he hoped to get some new equipment in place by the end of this summer.

He said the first phase was to tackle the immediate problems of the swings and safety fencing which would be done by the end of this week.

The second phase would be to attend a meeting hosted by Mrs Farrier within the next couple of weeks to discover what improvements parents who use the playground would like to see. He will then return to the first meeting of the Council's Community Development Committee with some improvement proposals.

"I want to attend the meeting with the parents because it is better to have their ideas rather than just my own," said Mr Cartledge.

The final phase was to make bigger improvements in the long term with the help of Heritage Lottery money. He said a bid had been made and he should hear from the fund in the autumn.

As part of her petition Mrs Farrier asked lots of children what they wanted to see in the park. The majority of them just wanted anything that was new.

She suggested that perhaps any company or business who felt it could sponsor a new piece of equipment should approach Mr Cartledge at the council on 01756 706400.

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