PLAY PARKS IN DERRY: New report says that a third of local facilities are of a poor quality

More than a third of the play parks in the Derry City and Strabane District Council area are of a poor quality, a new report has found.

Two years ago, the council commissioned Playboard NI to carry out a detailed audit of all the play facilities available in the local area.

The findings of the audit were outlined yesterday at a meeting of the council's Environment and Regeneration Committee.

Alan Herron, Director of Service Delivery and Development with Playboard NI, told the meeting that they had inspected 82 play parks in the council area in November and December 2019.

They had also consulted with the local communities to find out their views on the play facilities.

Mr Herron said the parks had been awarded scores in relation to their standards.

The audit report showed that in the council area, only six play parks secured enough points to be placed in the 'top band'.

These included Brooke Park, Pennyburn Play Trail, Ballyarnett Play Park and Strathfoyle Park.

A total of 23 parks were assessed to be in the 'upper mid band' category which means they offer 'a good level of play value' but require ongoing maintenance.

Some of the local parks in this bracket were St Columb's Park, Galliagh Park, Irish Street Park, Rose Court and Lapwing Way.

The next bracket was 'lower mid band' and 25 parks in the Derry and Strabane council area were placed in this category.

In Derry, these included Oakland Park, Shantallow Park, the Fountain Park, Bull Park and Primity Crescent.

According to the Playboard NI report, these parks offer 'a low value of play value' and will require upgrading to bring them up to an 'adequate' standard.

The final bracket was called the 'lowest'.

A total of 28 parks within the council area were placed in this category by Playboard NI, who said the facilities currently offer a 'minimal level of play value'.

Among the local parks listed in this 'lowest' bracket are Stevenson Park, Fountain Hill, Currynierin, Rossdowney Drive, Hazelbank and Ballynagard.

The Playboard NI report put forward a number of recommendations on how the local play facilities can be improved.

Karen McPhillips, the council's Director of Environment and Regeneration, said they have started to consider the 'high level costs' needed to improve local play facilities and how the funding can be secured.

She said the cost would run to 'tens of millions of pounds'.

“We do need to think about how we are actually able to do that and the number of funding sources and cocktail funding that we have in the past been very successful at using to refurbish and develop play facilities and can continue to do so," she said.

“The better the funding strategy and the more finances as a council we are able to both lever in and create through our own capital plan, the quicker we will be able to get through all of these.”

It was agreed at the meeting that a detailed plan should be put together on the costs involved in upgrading the play facilities and brought before councillors later this year for approval.