A PLEDGE to improve play parks across East Lothian is millions of pounds short, say Labour councillors.

East Lothian Council is responsible for 120 play parks throughout the county, from Dunbar to Musselburgh.

A play park at Seggarsdean in Haddington was revamped last year, while similar plans are being drawn up to improve the play area within the town’s Neilson Park.

Councillor Shamin Akhtar, who represents the town on East Lothian Council, told the Courier that the average cost of upgrading a play park was in the region of £60,000.

She said the SNP had made an election commitment to renew every single play park across Scotland but, so far, the local authority had received only £100,000.

That, asserted Ms Akhtar, left a seven-figure sum to be found and she called for action from the Scottish Government.

She said: “I’ve been working in partnership with local communities, children, parents and carers in my ward to support the upgrade of a number of local parks over recent years and know that funding is always the main stumbling block to making improvements happen.

“The play park renewal pledge was one of the SNP’s headline election promises.

“It’s already become very clear that ministers are abandoning it, with refurbishment plans being scaled back.

“At the current rate of funding it will take decades for the SNP to meet its pledge and most of our communities will not see the promised renewal of their local park anytime soon.”

Ms Akhtar was backed by her Labour Party colleague Councillor Fiona Dugdale, who is the cabinet spokesperson for education and children’s services at the Labour-controlled local authority.

Ms Dugdale, who represents the Tranent, Wallyford and Macmerry ward, said that play parks were “in desperate need of renewal”.

She said: “£100,000 does not even begin to address the local need for renewing East Lothian’s play parks.

“Even if we assume similar payments over the next four years, this will still leave the council millions of pounds short of what we need to refurbish all of our play parks.”

A spokesman for the Scottish Government stressed that they remained committed to investing £60 million in play park renovation across the country over the parliamentary term.

He said: “Local authorities have an existing duty to maintain play parks that serve their communities and this further investment by the Scottish Government provides a boost in funding to accelerate local plans and improve play experiences for all children in Scotland.

“The first allocation of £5 million of that funding has already been provided to local authorities, with a further £5 million committed in 2022-23.

“The Scottish Government and COSLA are in the process of agreeing the remaining funding.”