Wind farm funds school playground

STUDENTS at Rokewood Primary School will be bounding with joy after the school received funding for new playground equipment.

The $10,000 grant comes via the Golden Plains Wind Farm Community Benefit Fund, and principal Ben Cook said the school is delighted to have it.

“We’re very excited to be able to get this equipment built. It’s going to make a huge difference,” he said.

“Our old playground got taken down because it was no longer safe, so the wind farm has been very kind to us and we greatly appreciate it.”

Rokewood Primary has had previous success through the community grant, with the program contributing to the construction of a gravel footpath along the school oval.

Mr Cook said that new playground equipment is something that students and parents have requested for a while, and with the school unable to organise fundraising due to pandemic restrictions, the money has been a bonus.

“We had been saving for a couple of years, and did manage to squirrel away a bit of money, but we’ve been very limited these past few years,” he said.

“All the Bunnings barbecues weren’t an option, and a lot of the traditional things that we could do came to a grinding halt.”

With only the monkey bars remaining from the previous playground, Mr Cook said he would like to see a new fort and slides as part of the new equipment.

The school will be seeking developers to construct the equipment, and it is hoped that works will be underway by the start of April.