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Opinion
Residents in West Belfast today, 20 October saw the opening of an amazing new public park in their area, something that we in Newry can unfortunately still only dream of. When we called by earlier, the place was jam-packed with visitors. Hundreds of children were using the play facilities, young people were trying their hand at skateboarding in the skatepark and many were out walking the dog or cycling around.
Páirc Nua Chollann is situated to the west of the Stewartstown Road in the city, just below Poleglass, and the amazing facility comprises of: An extensive system of paths for cycling and walking, an incredible children's play area, a skate park, a BMX/ Cycle area, outdoor exercise areas and of course plenty of grass and trees!
It's really hard not to compare the project to the campaign for a park in Newry started by Newry 2020 in 2014. Páirc Nua Chollann is 17 acres while the Albert Basin site is a little smaller at 15 acres. While we are told that it will cost over £30m to build our park here in Newry, the entire facility in Belfast was built for just £5.6m!
While the provision of car parking at the Albert Basin site has caught the attention of some Councillors it's refreshing to see that there is no such problem at Páirc Nua Chollann. Just 4 car park spaces (all disabled) are provided for the entire site which like the Newry park site has ample car parking facilities and public transport options in the vicinity.
In 2021 it was stated that enabling works on the site at the Albert Basin before any work would start could cost almost £11m which seems incredible. Currently £16.2m has been awarded by Finance Minister Conor Murphy MLA for the Newry scheme and we are told that this will only pay for 'Phase One' of the park but there is no indication that funding has been applied for by Council to fill the large gap in finances needed to complete the park. Applications by Council to Levelling Up Fund, the Shared Island Fund and Peace IV funding have all, to date overlooked the need to apply for additional funding for what is the most popular infrastructure project ever, in Newry!
No such problems in Belfast's Páirc Nua Chollann, the first phase was the complete park and it took just two and a half years to build from the first sod was turned in March 2020. In fact it might have been even quicker if they hadn't run into some difficulties along the way and I'm sure the pandemic didn't help.
Speaking at the sod cutting ceremony in 2020, Lord Mayor of Belfast at the time, Cllr Daniel Baker suggested the project was only going to take a year to complete. “I am delighted to see work get under way on this new destination public park in the Colin area. When it opens next year it will be an extremely valuable addition to the local community. Like the council’s recent £15 million investment in the new Brook leisure centre which opened in December, I hope the new park will attract many people to the area who may not have previously visited." he said.
The Mayor continued “This investment by the Urban Villages Initiative supports the aspirations of our Belfast Agenda which aims to improve the health and wellbeing of all our citizens. Our parks and open spaces are extremely important assets which encourage people to enjoy the outdoors and get more active, so this new park will make a big difference to people’s lives.”
Back in Newry City an outline programme of works suggests that it will take 6 long years to build our park, from when the contractor starts. Lets hope that happens before many more UK Prime Ministers are deposed.
