PLAY PARKS IN DERRY: Culmore is not getting facilities because of a lack of social housing, says local councillor
SDLP representative Angela Dobbins says the area is being 'unjustly penalised'
A councillor has claimed the Culmore area of Derry is missing out on play facilities because of a lack of social housing.
SDLP councillor Angela Dobbins said that Culmore, which is home to thousands of people, currently has 'two swings'.
Cllr Dobbins was speaking during a discussion about play facilities in the Derry City and Strabane District Council area.
Two years ago, Derry City and Strabane District 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.
The report found that more than a third of the 82 parks in the council area were of a poor standard.
Cllr Dobbins said that other areas within the Ballyarnett District Electoral Area, of which Culmore is a part of, had secured new play facilities because of the 'social housing element'.
“It is this element which does allow for X amount of money to filter down for new projects and play provision and pitches and everything else,” she said.
“This area of Culmore does not have that element and because of that I feel that we are being unjustly penalised for that.”
Cllr Dobbins said that Culmore Country Park had opened in 2016 and that a park had been planned for the facility but had yet to be built.
“That park is just green grass and a few pathways. We haven't even got a shelter to stand in out of the rain, let alone have a park down there,” she said.
“The problem is, I keep being told, is funding but we are never going to get that funding because if it's all based on this social element.”
Colin Kennedy, the council's Parks Development Manager, said that in relation to Culmore, the council was in the final stages of preparing plans for a new play park in the area.
He said the council had benefited 'greatly' from Department for Communities funding which was aligned to 'areas of social need' but acknowledged Cllr Dobbins's assertion that Culmore does not fall into that category.
Mr Kennedy said the council needed to look at this as part of their funding strategy for play facilities and 'how that gap can be filled'.
It was agreed at yesterday's 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.