Illegal playground pulled down

MEATH County Council yesterday dismantled an animal farm and playground, built without planning permission, on a green area in the Churchfields estate in Kentstown outside Navan.

Alan Bradley, who lives across from the amenity, criticised the county council for removing it, claiming it was the only amenity for children in the area and that the next nearest playground is in Duleek, which is 8km away.

“We all chipped in together, the fence was €3,500, we had to put it in the whole way down there to stop the children going in,” said Mr Bradley.

He said that “there was no planning but the council weren’t in a hurry to clear up this field like we did”.

Council staff were accompanied by gardaí, including members of the armed regional response unit, throughout the day.

It is understood they arrived around 7.30am with a mini-digger and a number of flat-bed lorries.

Council staff took down fences that formed the perimeter of the farm and play area.

Mr Bradley ran from his house to remonstrate with council staff as they began to take down a gate which formed part of the fence.

Gardaí intervened to calm the situation.

Mr Bradley said that, only when the area was cleaned up and “a playground and a bit of a pets’ corner put in, they [the council] have a problem with it”.

The only possible resolution would be to put the fence and the playground back up, he said. “All we care about is the safety of the children. They don’t seem to give a shite about the safety of anybody, they just want to enforce their planning laws.”

Local residents said the amenity was built by the residents’ association.

“I feel absolutely devastated, the residents feel devastated,” said Amanda McCarthy, secretary of the Churchfields estate residents association. “They have decided to take the little petting area away — we had geese, rabbits, and ducks. It was for the whole area. We took it on and fenced it off. It was for the children.”

The council took the enforcement action because the amenity was built without planning permission. In April 2010, they wrote to the owners of the land, who said they had not built it.

The council said it could not find “firmly establish” or “prove” whose development it was, and so wrote to every resident in the estate to say it would be removing the structure.

Last night, Meath County Council said all the animals had been handed over to estate residents in the estate who said they owned them. This was done under garda supervision.