As of: January 22, 2024, 7:15 a.m
By: Stefan Weinzierl
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In Höhenkirchen-Siegertsbrunn there will be no toy boxes in the public playgrounds.
© Symbolic photo of the municipality of Unterhaching
In Höhenkirchen-Siegertsbrunn there will be no toy boxes in the public playgrounds.
The building committee rejected the CSU proposal.
Höhenkirchen-Siegertsbrunn
– The community will not set up boxes with age-appropriate toys on the public playgrounds in Höhenkirchen-Siegertsbrunn.
A corresponding proposal from the CSU parliamentary group has now been rejected by a large majority in the Building and Real Estate Committee.
All factions found the Christian Socialists' idea of providing children with free toys that can simply be put back in the boxes after playing to be charming.
But because the offer would involve immense effort for the municipal administration due to the current legal situation, all parliamentary groups, with the exception of the CSU, ultimately voted against the application.
Concerns predominate: costs, vandalism, liability
Before the decision was made, the opinion of the Child and Family Working Group (AK) was sought.
Their representatives were also able to gain something positive from the CSU initiative, but the concerns outweighed the concerns.
In addition to the disproportionately high acquisition costs, the AK also warned of an increased risk of vandalism.
The question of liability needs to be clarified, as does the question of who is responsible for ensuring that the toys are always tidied up.
The working group also fears that toys that are particularly attractive could simply be taken away and the toys will break more quickly because no one feels responsible for them.
The maintenance and repair also requires considerable personnel effort, which entails further costs.
Daily checks would be too time-consuming
As the municipal administration itself stated, the playgrounds must already be subjected to a weekly visual inspection by two employees of the building yard in order, among other things, to ensure the safety of the playground equipment on site.
Since the municipality generally assumes liability for the play equipment located in public playgrounds, an additional daily check of the toy boxes or toys would have to be carried out.
This ties up additional staff.
This argument ultimately convinced the majority of the committee.
As reported, the provision of toys in playgrounds has already been rejected in other municipalities for the same or similar reasons.