Some locals who are looking forward to the new shade cloth: Robbie Guest, Thomas Duffy, Madeline Duffy, Alleyra Brayshaw, Amelia Duffy (front) and Taylor Brayshaw.
Binalong Country Women’s Association has won a $20,000 grant to build a shade structure over the children’s playground equipment near the CWA hall.
Secretary Camilla Duffy said she was excited by the opportunities the upgraded facility would bring to the town, including making the area more attractive to visitors.
She said there were currently two playgrounds in the area, both of them uncovered and open to the elements, which made the equipment unsuitable on hot days when the surfaces heated up.
“There have been days when we haven’t been able to use it because the kids burn on the equipment because it gets too hot,” she said.
The playground is used for preschool two days of the week and was very popular with local families, particularly as this playground was fenced off from the road.
The shade structure would enable children to play safely out of direct sunlight, and would serve to protect and prolong the life of the equipment from weather erosion.
The CWA hall is also used by the Binalong community for children’s parties, the child health nurse and community functions, so the playground always gets a good workout, she said.
“This will make it more attractive to visitors because it’s a safe, fenced-in area where kids can play safely.”
The NSW government funding was allocated under the Community Building Paternerships Program.
Burrinjuck MP Katrina Hodgkinson said Binalong CWA was one of 20 successful applicants in a pool of $300,000 allocated to the Burrinjuck electorate.
"This year applications for well over $500,000 in assistance were received, so unfortunately not all applications could receive funding or be fully funded,” she said.
"Overall I was very impressed by the standard of all of the applications from the Burrinjuck electorate, which demonstrated the hard work and effort put into seeking funding by volunteer workers committed to helping their local community.”
Another successful applicant was Murrumbateman Early Childhood Centre Association ($25,000).
