Meeting on Monday to discuss play provision

A meeting is to take place on Monday night to discuss an on-going situation in regards to the rundown state of the play park in Carlton Drive.

Neighbours United, the community group for the area is urging council to undertake an upgrading of the park to, they say, a suitable standard, which would bring it in line with other play parks in the town.

A spokesperson for Neighbours United spoke to the Chronicle about the situation.

“Residents in Carlton Drive, Greeves Park & Melmount Mews have been trying for some time now to have the play park in their area upgraded with no success,” they said. “The park itself is very small compared to other play parks in the town and we feel that needs urgently addressed as we have children from Carlton Drive, Greeves Park, Melmount Mews and Wynn View who are frequent users of the park. A bigger park would go some way to accommodating everyone.

“The kids in the area have no access to other facilities. Parents have said the younger kids can’t safely use the park as older kids are using it for football, yet the older kids have nowhere to go with their footballs, and car owners are complaining that their vehicles are getting struck. Parents are understandably frustrated that their other children have nowhere safe to play. It’s a no win situation at the minute.”

On top of that, Neighbours United have also had to deal with the park being in what they describe as ‘an awful state.’

“Residents came out last Thursday and found the park to be in a terrible state, with rubbish strewn across it,” the spokesperson continued. “It was clear that someone had been in the park overnight. Neighbours United contacted council as this was clearly a health and safety issue, and to be fair to them they came out swiftly and cleared the play park up. This however doesn’t address the root cause – this play park is not up to 2022 standards. We have even taken the decision to close the park at night so that this doesn’t happen again.”

Neighbours United have called a meeting this Monday at 7pm at the Carlton Drive Community House for residents and committee members to liaise and address the issues affecting locals, and local councillors have also been invited to attend.

A spokesperson for Derry City and Strabane District Council said, “Officers are aware of the issues at Carlton Drive and at a number of play facilities across the council district. Council has been engaging proactively with the local community and elected members in relation to carrying out regular inspections to ensure the play area is in a safe condition and regarding a funding application that is pending to regenerate this facility.

“As part of a recent audit of play provision right across the city and district, a number of sites have been identified as needing investment due to poor play value. Council is currently working on an on-going basis to identify the necessary funds and resources needed to deliver the required facilities to ensure children right across Derry and Strabane can access good quality play amenities in their areas.”