On Wednesday, April 22, 2009, the Post reported that...

YOUNGSTERS have already been making good use of a much needed play park and sports courts which were opened recently.

Tenants in the Yoker area have been provided with a toddlers play area and multi-purpose games court for teenagers by Glasgow Housing Association (GHA).

It is part of a £800,000 revamp of the neighbourhood which will also bring new street lighting and landscaping to the three mini-multis and eight low-rise tenement blocks at Halley Place and Halley Square.

At the ceremony tenant Wilma Masterton, chair of Clydeside Tenants Partnership, which manages Halley Square homes on behalf of GHA, said: “There is a real sense of community in the area and the new play areas, street lights and landscaping helps strengthen local pride.”

Karen Lawrie, community housing manager of Clydeside Tenants Partnership, added: “The children living in these blocks haven’t had a play area for some time. The facilities will be well-used — especially as the weather is getting better and the nights lighter.”

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While most tenants were delighted with the new facilities, a group of mothers criticised the planners for not providing bins, being too close to a road and only being suitable for a limited age-group.

However, Paul Rooney councillor for the area, who opened the play park, said: “The park was designed in full consultation with the community.”

And tenant Marion Kirkwood praised the initiative saying: “The children are already making good use of it, even before it was officially opened.”

Dorothy Goldie brought her grandsons, aged two and five, along to the opening.

She said: “It is ideal for them and a good location for keeping an eye on them. They had nothing at all before and it will be ideal when the grandchildren come to visit.”

The project was jointly funded by GHA’s Neighbourhood Quality Improvement Fund and Glasgow City Council.

The improvements come after a wave of GHA’s investment works in the area which have seen the buildings overclad and tenants receive brand new kitchens and bathrooms.