The price tag of the playground has been revealed at $572,000, well over the initial $400,000 budget. The slide ($243,000) was $76,000 over budget and engineering and architect fees were $73,000 over.
Nothing against kids having access to a safe and secure playground but surely the Government can offer more assistance for farmers, who have been carrying the can for the country over the past three months. Last month it pledged $500,000 to the Mayoral Drought Relief Fund, set up by four Hawke’s Bay’s mayors and the regional council’s chairman to help affected farmers.
Even the Greens are unhappy, describing the playground “effectively a slide and a bunch of logs which is not particularly accessible to kids with certain types of disabilities”.
