Strathfoyle: Council says 'no delay' to disabled access play park plan

Derry City and Strabane Council has reassured campaigners that plans to improve disability access at a local play park will go ahead as planned.

A £30,000 grant from the Department for Communities (DfC) was secured last year to make the park wheelchair accessible.

Concerns about the project were raised on Tuesday when it emerged the council was to return the grant as was unspent at the end of the financial year.

But the council has now said funds will be sought "from alternative resources".

Claire McGill has been campaigning for disability access at Strathfoyle play park since it opened in 2017.

The family lives just minutes from the park, but in order for her daughter, Sianon, to access disabled-friendly play facilities they travel almost an hour away to Brooke Park in Londonderry.

The mother-of-two told BBC News NI it was "heart-breaking" her daughter and other children with disabilities in the area are unable to play due to a lack of suitable equipment.

She said that "every child has the right to play" and called on council to ensure there are no delays to the project.

Enagh Youth Forum (EYF) also campaigned for the redevelopment of the park to include wheel-chair accessible play equipment.

Children involved in the youth group made a presentation to council last year after some of their members in wheelchairs could not gain access to the park with friends.

Paul Hughes, from the forum, said the community was "disappointed and angry" that any doubt had been cast over the the redevelopment, which is due to begin in the summer.

He said kids in the area "have waited long enough" for the redevelopment and said it was imperative that the council deliver on its promise to begin the project later this year.

The council spokesperson said securing funding from the alternative source would enable the project to "continue uninhibited and with no delay to the original timeframe".

Doubts arose when the council's business and culture committee was informed that a request to seek an extension to a number of funded projects by the March 31 deadline had been denied by the DfC.

Members were told money for several projects, including the redevelopment of Strathfoyle park, was to be returned, and that only projects were to be carried over into the next financial year if they were already contractually committed.

But the spokesperson said they were "fully focussed on their successful delivery" of access and inclusion projects that could be affected.

"This is very much an administrative process issue and we are very confident that all the projects will be funded in the new financial year."

In a statement, DfC said council officials had notified the department in December 2020 that the project might not go ahead due to issues with the procurement of contractors.

"By 31 March, DCSDC had not been able to procure contracts for a number of their projects," a spokeswoman said.

"Unfortunately the Budget Exchange mechanism, which is used to carry forward unused budget from one year to the next, is operated at a block level.

"Individual departments cannot therefore agree to a budget carry over from one year to the next."

DfC said it has encouraged the council to bring forward any unfinished projects to the department's funding programme for 2021/22.