Guilsfield aims to reopen playgrounds

Guilsfield Community Council says it is working towards reopening its playgrounds, following growing calls from families in the village.

The council decided to take a more cautious approach after the Welsh Government’s green light to reopen the country’s playgrounds coincided with a wave of positive Covid-19 cases in the Welshpool area three weeks ago.

The village has a large elderly population which the council says it has a “moral duty” to protect, but it has listened to public calls over the weekend and says it is taking steps to ensure they can be reopened safely and as soon as possible.

“It was a very interesting debate and refreshing to see so many people feeling passionate about their village,” said Cllr Ian Harrison, the Chair of Guilsfield Community Council.

“We have taken all the comments and public opinion on board and will do what we can to get our playgrounds open in the village as soon as possible and in the safest way possible.”

Cllr Harrison said that he has liaised with Welshpool Town Clerk, Anne Wilson, who had been “very supportive” by sharing what they had done in order to reopen.

“We can look at replicating what Welshpool has done,” he said. “But we must always be mindful that Guilsfield has a significant elderly population and we all have a moral duty to protect them from this virus.”

The community council will carry out its own risk assessment and safety check tomorrow (Tuesday) but will have to await a final safety check by Powys County Council before reopening.

“We have requested this and once everyone is satisfied we can open safely, then the tape will come down with the new guidelines and restrictions in place,” he said.

One resident took matters into his own hands over the weekend and was spotted ripping all the tape down with his young daughter, an incident Cllr Harrison said “didn’t really help matters!”.