Locals urge council to redevelop park

DUBLIN City Council has been urged to deliver on a proposal it made four years ago to redevelop a local park that has been derelict since the 1980s.

Residents who live on Neagh Road, in Kimmage, claim the council agreed in 2008 to refurbish the park, which is known locally as the Neagh Road playground, at a cost of

?¬750,000.

The proposals included new footpaths, a kick-about area, a toddler and junior play area, a park bench, new trees, a grassed area, raised planters and bicycle parking.

However, the council says it currently does not have the funds to carry out the works and has promised instead to redevelop the park in stages over a number of years.

Jim Gay, who lives on Neagh Road, said local people had begun a campaign in the 1990s to have the park revamped. He said the park became derelict in the 1980s when there was mass exodus of local people who sought work abroad.

“In the 1980s it was run down when people went away and emigrated to work,

? he said.

“Then it was just left derelict. Every so often the corporation would come and take the merry-go-round or the slide or the sandpits.

“The park is now derelict and I would describe it as a dump. We have all sorts of problems with people drinking in the park and taking drugs there.

“People from outside the area come to drink and break the bottles, with the result that the local kids can’t even play in the park.

?

In addition, he said traffic was a major problem for residents living around the park because the council had diverted much of it from several roads in the vicinity onto Neagh Road, which surrounds the park.

Bernadette Mitchell (49), whose home on Neagh Road also overlooks the park, said there was nowhere for local children to play.

“I spent all my childhood years in the park,

? she recalled.

“When I was a child there were sandpits for children to play in, there was a football pitch, tennis courts, swings, a merry-go-round and a rocking horse.

“This was all taken away over the years and the park has been abandoned. There are loads of kids in this area. You see them, especially in the summer time, and their parents dragging things over for them to play with because there are no fixtures in the park.

?

Crumlin/Kimmage based Sinn Fein activist Ray McHugh has called for funding to be made available for the redevelopment of the park.

“Meetings took place throughout 2008 and plans were drawn up and discussed with local residents,

? he said.

“Meetings continued into 2009 when it began to be put on the back bench.

“Dublin City Council has said that due to economic restraints it is not possible to proceed with the work. This is unacceptable as this project has now been going on for almost five years.

?

A spokesperson for the council said:

“It would not realistically be possible to fund the 2008 plan given the current constraints on finance.

“It will be possible, however, to carry out less costly improvements over a number of years, which will have a significant impact on the quality and appearance of this open space.

“A works programme for 2013 will be presented to the area committee early next year, which will include some provision for Neagh Road.

?