Residents in the community of Precedence aren’t playing around when it comes to bringing a playground to one of their green spaces following a demonstration and petition signing that took place on Nov. 17.
Parents and kids gathered along the open field along Precedence View, where they brandished signs asking Town of Cochrane officials to consider constructing a playground in the area.
Selene Jovanovic, one of the parents at the event, explained there are many young families that could benefit from a playground in the area.
“Right now, we have kids using the street, and there is one green space, which the developer had said that [the playground] would be there,” she said. “There should be a playground.”
In terms of what was originally discussed with the developer, Jovanovic explained that there would be two green spaces.
“One would be just a generic park, and then the other one as a playground,” Jovanovic said. “Just a playground area where kids can play, so some sort of small structure. The comment right now is that the green space isn’t big enough, but we see solutions around that.
“This is not a really busy road, and there’s many solutions that could be used to rectify the situation of no playground,” she added. “There’s playground zones here, but no playgrounds.”
Jovanovic hopes that Cochrane council takes their demonstration into account, and considers the families in the community.
“As a town that’s family-oriented, I think they took the easy way out if not putting pressure on the builder to follow through with their plans of a playground,” she said. “They had the opportunity to put pressure on the builders to follow through with the plans, and now the development is almost done. Now’s the chance to make it right.”
A father in the community, Brandon Wainwright, expressed that it is essential that a playground is built for Precedence.
“What’s so frustrating is […] we’ve been waiting for three years, and then the absurdity of the excuse used to kind of not come through at the end is what’s so frustrating about it,” he said. “We drive by every single day and tell our children that this is where the park’s going to be.
“So more than anything, it was just disappointing to let them know that [it’s] not going to be a reality.”
Wainwright adds that this a circumstance where more specific consideration should be provided by Cochrane council in terms of explaining the situation.
“What we’re hearing is just so haphazard and so disorganized that it’s impossible to not be frustrated at the system,” Wainwright said. “It’s time for them to come forward and give us at least some rational explanation as to why this didn’t happen.
“Because even just seeing the kids running around here today, this could be such a great thing for the community. And all we can see, not to sound too cynical, is nobody here every single day.”
