A Montrose businessman has hit out at Angus Council for starting £80,000 worth of improvement works at the Montrose Seafront Splash play area in the height of summer.
The project replacing play equipment started on Tuesday and is scheduled to last for six weeks, running into the school holidays.
Montrose beach cafe owner Henry Pinder, whose Traill Drive business neighbours the play area, said he was shocked when he was informed about the work last week.
He said: ”The play area is an attraction with holidaymakers and tourists as well as locals. To make this a building site during the summer holidays is completely unacceptable.
”The people in Angus Council’s parks department lack commonsense to carry out work on the play area at the very time people want to use it most.
”The work should have been done in spring or towards the end of the year.”
Mr Pinder said he had been visited by a representative from neighbourhood services who said areas of the park would be cordoned off once the school holidays begin.
He added: ”We don’t mind them doing work until the holiday starts if they can contain it to small areas at a time but when the kids’ holidays start at the end of the month all work should stop until the end of August.”
A purpose-built play area, Seafront Splash features a host of climbing frames, towers and slides as well as a paddling pool and picnic area.
A spokeswoman for Angus Council said the start date had been delayed because the council had been waiting for the new equipment to arrive.
She said: ”Phase one of the work at Splash Montrose began on Tuesday for six weeks to replace worn-out play equipment and to add log walling, as well as bringing in additional sand. The work, costing £83,000, could not begin at an earlier point as new equipment was awaited.
”The major works at the Splash will be carried out during the next three weeks until the school holidays begin, after which small sections of the play area will be cordoned off with security fencing as equipment is installed over the following three weeks.
”The Splash park will be open at all times for families to enjoy.”
Mr Pinder’s wife Gail said the council’s decision will make it a difficult summer for their business.
She said: ”They might as well put up a sign saying ‘Montrose Closed’. The town’s swimming pool and leisure centre are already closed, with the replacement not due to open until October.
”Now they are talking about cordoning off areas of the play park when the schools break up in three weeks’ time.
”The moment they start in the play area people are going to think that the park’s closed. Apart from that people are going to be concerned about their child’s safety in amongst a load of workmen.
”You can’t do work on a play area and expect children to play in the same area. People will be up in arms when they learn this is happening during the holiday season.
”Of course we are happy to see improvements made but doing them now isn’t good for tourism or local children. It’s also detrimental to our business.
”We have enough problems going on at the moment with the weather and the economy without Angus Council ripping their park to bits during the height of the season.”