Welcome to the Playparks Project page. Each week we intend to give you a regular Thursday update on how projects are progressing. Some weeks there will be lots of activity, others not so much. If you have any questions - or have knowledge and skills you would like to bring to the project please do get in touch.
Latest update 27th June 2024
......And we are open!
Thank you to everyone who came along to The Wildside Centre to join us this afternoon for our opening picnic! We had a good turn out, including lots of local children, ranging from babies all the way up to teenagers, all making the most of the 'free' ice cream and new play equipment. We hope it provides hours of entertainment for all ages for many years to come.
Latest update 20th June 2024
We would like to invite you to the opening of the new play area at The Wildside Centre!
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The provision of play parks in the community was a strong recommendation that came out of the Community Action Plan. As Whitebridge and Gorthleck had no play equipment for children, these locations were prioritised. An area to the back of The Wildside Centre was suggested, as part of wider landscaping plans, as a possible location for a small play area. This would not only improve the facilities at Wildside, but also give both local and visiting children somewhere to play safely in Stratherrick.
Through engagement and consultation with the local schools, toddler group and the wider community, the ideal types of equipment were identified and Caledonia Play were chosen as the preferred suppliers. We were successful in our grant application to SSE via the Stronelairg Community Panel, and match-funding was provided by Stratherrick & Foyers Community Trust.
The Contractors were here for the inside of a week in April, and seamlessly installed some wonderful new equipment. In order to ensure the safety of users, it was recommended that the area was seeded to help secure the safety matting, and thank you to everyone for patience while the grass seed established! Now that this is done the equipment is safe to use, and we hope that this newest asset to the community provides years of entertainment for younger generations of the strath.
Please come and join us on the 27th for the opening event – we will provide bubbles, popcorn and ice cream for the children, and let’s keep our fingers crossed that the sun shines!
Thank you to everyone involved in all stages of this project, including Stratherrick Parent Council, Wildside Toddler Group, SFCT project team, Caledonia Play, SSE and Angus Macpherson contracting.
Latest update 6th June 2024
We are beginning to plan an opening event for the new play area at Wildside.. we will share more details soon!
Latest update 30th May 2024
Thank you again for your patience, while we wait for the grass to grow. We are going to give it another two weeks and assess the situation again at this point. The grass is growing...
Latest update 16th May 2024
Please be aware that the new play area is still not open for use. The grass seed is now down, so we are now waiting for this to establish - this will help the safety matting to bed in. Thank you for your patience on this, we are very much looking forward to letting everyone use it!
Latest update 9th May 2024
Please note that the new play area is currently cordoned off while the grass seed establishes under the new equipment. We looking forward to opening it up to the community in the very near future, but please bear with us in the meantime!
Latest update 2nd May 2024
This week the new play equipment has been installed at Wildside, with the contractors due to finish on site today. Please be aware that although the equipment will look very inviting, health & safety checks will need to be completed before access is allowed, so please resist the temptation to use the new play area until it is officially signed off!
Latest update 25th April 2024
We are very excited about the installation of the new play equipment at the Wildside Centre next week, and will share photos of progress here! Please remember that if you are using Wildside during this period there will be addtional activity in the area.
Latest update 18th April 2024
We’re excited to share with you that work on the installation of the new play area at The Wildside Centre is due to begin on Monday 29th April! The contractors will be onsite for most of that week, so please be aware of this when you are using Wildside. This means that there will be restrictions on parking and access to the area behind the building during that week.
We will share updates with the community over the coming weeks to let you know when the new play area is safe to use.
Latest update 28th March 2024
A recent update from Caledonia Play indicates that we are still on track for work on installing the new play equipment at Wildside to begin at the end of April. We hope to be able to confirm exact dates very soon.
Latest update 8th February 2024
Thank you to everyone for your positive feedback on the design for the new play area at The Wildside Centre. Following feedback from the community and approval at last night's board meeting, we have now ordered the new equipment. We hope that installation work will begin towards the end of April.
Latest update 1st February 2024
This week we received the updated plans for the play area at The Wildside Centre. You can view them online here, or drop in to Wildside and see the printed copies. If you have any feedback, please email it to pc@sfctrust.org.uk.
Latest update 14th December 2023
Caroline has been liaising with the Amenities Manager from the Highland Council on some of the technical detail for the new play area - we are awaiting some further information, which we should receive in early January. Following this, we should be able to share the revised plans with the community.
Latest update 16th November 2023
Caroline and Kirsty have been working with Caledonia Play over the last couple of weeks to finalise the proposed design for the new play area at Wildside. There are a few more tweaks to be made, but we hope to share this with you before Christmas.
Latest update 19th October 2023
Thank you to everyone who came along to the play park consultation events - we gathered some very useful feedback, which we will use to take the project to the next stage. You can read more here - The play area at Wildside moves a step closer
Latest update 28th September 2023
Thank you to everyone that came and had a look at the playpark plans at our catch-up event on Saturday. If you missed it, we have two further opportunities for you to have a look this coming week -
Latest update 21st September 2023
Remember that you will be able to see a sneak preview of the playpark plans at this Staruday's community catch-up event at Stratherrick Hall.
Latest update 14th September 2023
We now have all three potential designs for our proposed new play area at Wildside. We will be sharing them for comment at the community catch up event at Stratherrick Hall on 23rd September. If you can't make it along on Saturday, we will be holding a coffee morning on Thursday 5th October and a drop in session on Friday 6th October, both at Wildside, so please do come and let us know what you think.
Latest update 7th September 2023
We have now received revised designs for our proposed play area at Wildside from two of our three preferred suppliers. We are hoping to organise a consultation event so that we can share the designs with the community - more information on this will be shared soon.
Latest update 24th August 2023
Caledonia Play visited the site this week to discuss their design ideas for the play area at Wildside. We hope to confirm a date for our next consultation event soon, and we will share more details as soon as we are able.
Latest update 17th August 2023
Caroline met with a representative from Scotplay this week to discuss potential designs for the new play area at The Wildside Centre. We have been speaking to three different companies to provide us with designs - once we receive these we will share them with the community for your thoughts.
Latest update 27th July 2023
We are pleased to let you know that this week our application for the play area at Wildside was approved by planning. We will now work with our shortlisted suppliers to create some possible designs, which we looking forward to sharing soon.
Latest update 20th July 2023
This week we have been advised that a decision on our planning application for the play area at Wildside is imminent. Further updates will be provided in due course.
Latest update 8th June 2023
This week we received notification from The Highland Council that they have received our planning application for the play area at Wildside. We will keep you updated here on any progress.
Latest update 25th May 2023
It's been a busy week for the play area at Wildside - our planning application was submitted, and we received notification that we were successful in our application for funding from the Stronelairg community fund.
Latest update 18th May 2023
We are currently preparing information on the proposed play area at Wildside to submit to planning.
Latest update 20th April 2023
Work is continuing behind the scenes to move the proposed play park at Wildside forward. We hope to share more news on this soon.
Latest update 2nd March 2023
Thank you to everyone who came along to our action group meeting today - it is good to see so much enthusiasm for the proposed play area behind the Wildside Centre. Notes and actions from the meeting will be circulated in due course.
Latest update 23rd February 2023
Our next action group meeting has been confirmed for 11.30am on Thursday 2nd March at the Wildside Centre. Please come and join us if you would like to get involved!
Click here for more information and the agenda.
Latest update 16th February 2023
The next meeting is likely to be held on Thursday 2nd March. Further details and the agenda will be circulated early next week.
Latest update 9th February 2023
We are hoping to hold a meeting on the 23rd February where we will be able to share the quotes and designs that we have received. More details on time and venue will be circulated shortly.
Latest update 2nd February 2023
Over the last month, Kirsty has been busy contacting potential suppliers asking for quotes and designs for a potential play area behind the Wildside centre. Once we receive these, we will share them with the wider community.
Latest update 15th December
Kirsty and Caroline met with Debbie, the Amenities Manager from the Highland Council, earlier this week to discuss proposals for the play area at the back of the Wildside centre.
Latest update 1st December
We were pleased to see the children of both Foyers and Stratherrick primary schools sharing their ideas of what they would like to see in the play parks in the strath. Once we receive the feedback from Nick's place plan consultations we will be able to work how best to take this forward.
Latest update 24th November
The outcomes from our recent consultation were published on the website earlier this week and can be read here.
If you have not made it along to any of the Place Plan sessions yet to express your views on playparks in the area, there is still time to have your say:
This afternoon - Cameron's Tearoom
Friday - The Hub, Lower Foyers
Saturday - Foyers Falls Tearoom
Latest update 17th November 2022
A meeting has been arranged with the Amenities Manager from the Highland Council in December to discuss the feedback from the upcoming Place Plan sessions and the proposed play area behind Wildside.
Latest update 10th November 2022
Thank you to everyone who came along to the consultation event at The Wildside Centre last Friday to share your views on a potential play area behind Wildside. We gathered a lot of useful feedback, which we will now take to two or three chosen suppliers and ask them to come up with some designs and costs.
Nick Wright of Nick Wright Planning is hosting a series of 'Place Planning' events over the coming weeks (you can find more details on these here), so please come along and let us know of your thoughts on where we should a new play park in our community, and how we can improve our existing ones.
Latest update 3rd November 2022
Remember to come along to Wildside tomorrow between 12.30 and 4pm to share your views on a possible play area behind the Wildside Centre.
Latest update 27th October 2022
Alongside the phase 3 landscaping works at the Wildside Centre, we are holding a consultation event at Wildside next Friday (see poster below) to gather your ideas on potential play parks in the Stratherrick and Foyers Community area - we hope you can make it along! Nick Wright will also be asking for your views on the possible locations of play parks in his upcoming Place Plan meetings, keep your eyes peeled for more information on these in due course.
Latest Update 17th October 2022
Latest update 13th October 2022
Following the results of last year's Community Action Plan, the next stage is to complete a space plan to identify possible locations where aspects of the CAP can be developed. Nick Wright will be holding consultation events in November to discuss the options - if you have views on where you would like to see a new playpark in the strath, please pop along to one of the events. Dates and locations of these will be circulated soon.
Stratherrick & Foyers Community Trust,