Masterplan to look at development of city parks

At a meeting of Galway City Council’s Strategic Policy Committee (SPC) on Environment, Recreation and Amenity, members were told that an allocation of €40,000 by councillors in the annual budget would fund the process this year.

Director of Services with responsibility for Recreation and Amenity, Tom Connell, said that the plans would enable the local authority to set out a vision for the park.

“There will be a short-term and medium-term plan for Terryland Forest Park and we will be setting out some strategic plan, looking at the extension of the park.

“For 2019, Merlin Woods is another crucial area of attraction that we’d like to wrap up in a masterplan.

“We are delighted with Council members’ approval to include money in the budget for this.

“It will give us proper guidelines or and a proper road map to develop the park,” said Mr Connell.

Parks Superintendent, Stephen Walsh, said that the process for Terryland Forest Park will be carried out in a similar way to the plan for Kingston Lands in Knocknacarra.

SPC member and long-time campaigner for Terryland Forest Park, Brendan Smith, welcomed the proposals but said immediate action must be taken to rectify the issues that are currently impacting the park.

“There needs to be extra staff allocated to parks, both Terryland and Merlin Woods.

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