THE community group behind a major playground lost to Yarrawonga is fuming at disabled equipment proposed for the park being described as “token” inclusions.
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The comment was made by Moira Shire chief executive Mark Henderson in response to criticisms made about the council by the spokesperson for the playground group, Kaitlyn Cummins.
Ongoing frustration in dealing with the Moira council led to the playground committee dumping Yarrawonga as its preferred location and taking the proposal to Mulwala with the backing of Corowa Shire.
Mrs Cummins said the “token” comment showed a complete disregard for the project and a lack of insight into modern disability play.
“Gone are the days where all abilities playground means wheelchair swings surrounded by fences and required families to pick up a key from council offices for their child to use a swing,” she said.
“Our committee spent extensive time researching the demographics of our community when designing the playground.
“Moira Shire has one of the highest incidence of disability in the state and has some of the poorest families which makes free, developmentally appropriate play spaces essential to growing healthy, happy kids.
“The most prevalent disabilities are autism, intellectual disability and Down syndrome.”
In her role as an occupational therapist, Mrs Cummins has experience working with children with disabilities and was part of her motivation to have the playground created.
She said the park was designed to inclusively meet the needs of children in wheelchairs and those with other physical, developmental and neurological conditions.
“The park includes a feature climbing frame to attract visitors from all over the state, and safely cater for children of all developmental levels to take risks appropriate to their skills,” she said.
“The splash pad, sand pit, slides, swings, and zip line are all designed to cater for inclusive play, allowing children with special needs to play alongside and with their able bodied peers.
“The committee put extensive time and research into selecting items that catered to children’s developmental needs, in particular their sensory needs while being fun, safe and engaging.
“To call them token is disrespectful to the efforts to create better infrastructure.”