A LARKFIELD councillor has called for action to address a set of faulty playpark gates next to a busy Greenock road which he has deemed a ‘disaster waiting to happen’.

Malfunctioning locks at the playpark, which sits next to Burns Road, have been flagged up to municipal buildings bosses by councillor James Daisley, who is pushing for them to be replaced before a serious accident occurs.

The elected member has also asked for a large swing to be reinstalled at the playpark to ensure local families have full use of its facilities.

(Image: George Munro)

He said: “These gates are designed to close by themselves and magnetically lock, but there have been various issues with the mechanism.

“The challenge that we have is that this is a really big playpark and when you’ve got a young family in here, or a parent on their own, or a grandparent, the first thing they’ll do is make a break for the gates - one of these leads directly onto Burns Roads.

“These self-locking and self-closing gates are a great idea, but they haven’t worked here so I’ve asked the council to install normal latches.

“We had agreed that this would happen last year and unfortunately officers were let down by their tendered blacksmith, so they had to retender it.

“But we’re coming into the summer months now and people are using this park more and more, it’s an absolute disaster waiting to happen.

“Because of that I’ve followed it up and I’m really pleased to say there’s now a retendered blacksmith and they’re just waiting on the job getting done.”

(Image: George Munro)

Mr Daisley said it was important that areas like Larkfield had access to well-maintained and well-equipped playparks.

He added: “We’re in a fortunate situation where we’re about to sign off a new playpark in Larkfield.

“I have to say that officers have been very helpful in this case and have been happy to help and support.

“It’s so important that we not only install playparks like this but also maintain them.

“If the gates don’t work people won’t take their children anymore because it will be too dangerous and too stressful and that’s the opposite of what a playpark should be.

“People should understand that if they hit a brick wall with things like this they can come to councillors and other elected members and we can get something done about it.

“It took a young family to highlight this to me and now something is getting done, which is great to see.”

(Image: George Munro)

An Inverclyde Council spokesperson said: “We have invested huge sums of money in creating new playparks and upgrading existing ones right across Inverclyde to support children and their families and to encourage outdoor play so it’s really disappointing when they are deliberately damaged by a minority who ruin the fun for the vast majority.

“We are aware of the issues with this play area and parts for the gate and a new swing basket have been ordered and once they are delivered we will carry out repairs immediately.

“Rather than closing the whole play area, we thought it would be better to remove damaged equipment so that the rest of the park can remain open until the new parts have arrived.”