A community representative in the Rosemount area has said concerns have been raised that the official opening of the new-look Brooke Park has been put off until next year.
Work on the £5.6 million re-development of the park began in in late 2014, and features a new contact sports centre, the restoration of the historic gate lodge and the reinstatement of the ornamental oval pond.
The park had been set to officially open to the public on August 6 with a community fun day marking the 100th anniversary of when the park first opened to the public.
The Derry News has learned that a so-called ‘soft opening’ of the park had been due to take place on Saturday past, September 3, which was subsequently abandoned.
It’s understood that Derry City and Strabane District Council had hoped to open the park to the public on September 24.
However, speaking to the Derry News at the weekend, Dalton Kehoe, of the Brooke Park Users’ Forum, said that he had learned that the park will not be officially opened to the public until next year.
Mr Kehoe added that the Rosemount community was growingly increasingly frustrated with the lack of information from council about the arrangements for the park’s opening.
“It’s very, very frustrating, because I’m being bombarded with questions from the community who quite rightly want to know what’s going on with the opening,” he said.
“The problem is, I’m not getting any answers and when I do get something, it’s very confusing.
“After the official opening date of August 6 was done away with, there was a ‘soft opening’ where people could visit the park scheduled for the first week of September.
“We’re now hearing that they’ve encountered problems with drainage at the park, which has set the whole thing back to next year.”
His concerns were echoed by the independent councillor for area, Darren O’Reilly, who said he had encountered similar difficulties when seeking information from the council regarding the opening.
“There’s an awful lot of confusion in the area about this, and people are coming to me seeking answers,” he said.
“The problem is, I can’t seem to get an answer from council officers about what exactly is happening here, and I’m as confused as the members of the public who are asking the questions.”
Cllr O’Reilly added that it was his understanding that another date had been scheduled for the opening, September 24, but said it was looking increasingly unlikely that the date would be met.
“It saddens me that as a councillor for the area, we’re not getting the information we need here, because the priority is making sure the public has the use of the park at the first opportunity.”
A spokesperson for Derry City and Strabane Council told the Derry News that the park will be opened to the public in the ‘early Autumn’, but an official opening event will not take place until next year.
“Work has been progressing well at Brooke Park, and while the overall infrastructure of the park is complete some snagging is currently ongoing,” the spokesperson said.
“The need for additional drainage to a small number of planted areas has been identified at a very late stage in the programme and Council is now working with the contractor to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.
“This work is expected to be completed over the coming weeks and the park will open to the public as planned in early Autumn. We would like to thank the public for their patience throughout the regeneration project and apologise for any inconvenience to regular park users.”
The spokesperson added: “A special celebratory event marking the reopening is planned for next year and Council looks forward to unveiling the fantastic state of the art new facilities and features at the historic site, which is one of Council’s most exciting capital development projects to date.”
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