A teenager from Swinton was made a VIP guest at the opening of a new playground, after writing to complain about the loss of a much-loved wooden play structure.
Ciara, 13, was invited to the opening of the new playground at Campbell Road, Swinton, after complaining about the loss of a beloved old wooden playground which was removed due to safety concerns, when she was eight.
Angry at the loss of the structure, Ciara wrote to Salford City Council and included a drawing of a man chopping down the playground with an ‘X’ through it.
Ciara’s Mum, Janine, who runs her own decluttering and organising company said Ciara and her younger sister Emilia, now 11, were both very upset when the playground was removed.
She said: “They loved playing on it and went virtually every day and at weekends.
“We’d organised a litter pick and Ciara had played a big part in that so she was really annoyed that the playground had gone when she’d worked hard to tidy up the area.
“We had a meeting with councillors and they explained why and that it would be replaced and then suddenly the fence went up and the playground was going in.
“It’s lovely to see the children playing on it again and hear the laughs and giggles. Ciara and Emilia still go there and really enjoy it and she was over the moon when she found out she was officially re-opening it.”
Thanks to Section 106 funds from a nearby development, Ciara was invited to help cut the ribbon to officially open it.
Councillor Barbara Bentham, lead member for environment, neighbourhoods, sports and leisure, said: “It was a hard decision to remove the old playground, but it had to go on safety grounds. We couldn’t put children at risk of being injured.
“It was always our plan to reinstate it and we remembered Ciara’s letter so we thought now that has been done, the least we could do was to invite her to officially re-open it.”
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