EDINBURGH council have been blasted after yet another of their schools has been forced to beg for cash to equip their playground.
Schoolkids at the Royal Mile Primary School – overlooked by the £414m parliament building – only have a “miserable” patch of cracked concrete to play on at break times.
In its 130 year history the school has never been provided with any council cash to fit out the playground with the same equipment seen in schools across Scotland.
Now parents have been forced to crowdfund the playground with donations from the public.
Their campaign comes just months after Sciennes Primary School – also in central Edinburgh – took the same action after their playground was left bare.
Many parents and locals have hit out at Edinburgh Council for leaving parents with the duty of furnishing the school.
Retired veterinarian, Bruce Borthwick, 72, said: “Our grandson went to the school, it’s a great asset.
“We’ve just had the council spend £2.5 million on 20mph speed limits. Some of that £2.5million could have been spent on a new playground. In summary, the council should pay for it, it’s a damn shame.”
Musician Simon Young, 50, said: “Our kids went there for a while, and the playground was a bit miserable. I do think this sort of thing should of thing should be council funded.
Local politicians also hit out at the council.
Scottish Conservative education spokesman, Councillor Jason Rust, said: “It’s deeply worrying that an Edinburgh school would have to raise its own money in order to build something as basic as playground equipment.
“Parents would rightly expect that the council would be the ones who would provide the funding to ensure that the kids at the Royal Mile Primary School had fun and healthy activities they could do during break time.
“It just goes to show the warped priorities of this Labour SNP Administration, which would rather spend millions on a blanket speed limit rather than properly equipping our schools.”
An Edinburgh Council spokesman said: “We recognise the importance of play in a child’s development and fully support schools who want advice in accessing funds for redeveloping their playgrounds.
“Although schools are responsible for their own budgets new playgrounds can costs tens of thousands of pounds so they have to ask for parental help in seeking external
funding.
The Royal Mile school’s GoFundMe page hopes to raise £60,000.
The page, called “Help us build a playground”, writes: “These children were in class all morning long, patiently waiting for the break-time bell to ring.
“At last it did and they all ran outside to play…on an old, cracked patch of asphalt devoid of any features. Where’s the playground equipment? To put it bluntly, there isn’t any.”
