Go-ahead given for Broughty Ferry park improvements

Work on the £100,000 improvement park will include a new children’s play area. Work is scheduled to start this month.

Plans for almost £100,000 of improvements to Gillies Park in Broughty Ferry have been approved by councillors at their meeting on Monday.

Members of the neighbourhood services committee gave the go-ahead for the work as part of a raft of environmental improvements for parks across Dundee worth over £470,000.

The indicative plans for the scheme for the park, in the Barnhill area of the town, include the supply and installation of a new play area and associated hard and soft landscape works.

Local Councillor Kevin Cordell has welcomed the programme of improvements.

He said: "These proposals at Gillies Park are great news for the Barnhill area and will greatly improve the offering at the park and will complement the recent installation of the Multi-use Games Area and improved lighting in the park."

The works, which are scheduled for between November 2021 - March 2022, will also include a wheelchair-accessible footpath allowing easy access from the car park to the play area, grass mounds and shrub/sensory wildflower planting have also been incorporated into the design to add interest and provide further opportunities to enjoy nature.

Mr Cordell concluded: "I am really pleased to see the proposals include the installation of DDA-compliant paths and inclusive play equipment, which will encourage physical activity, exploration and mental stimulation.

"With its large footprint within the park and incorporation of elements that cater for a wide range of ages and abilities the improvements are another great example of the SNP delivering for everyone in the Ferry."

Councillor Anne Rendall, neighbourhood services convener, added: “There was a significant increase in the use of our parks and green spaces during the different lockdown periods due to Covid-19 and people visited spaces they had never been to either for some time or ever.

"These spaces are so important for both our physical and mental health so I am delighted that we are investing in maintaining and enhancing them.

“I’m also delighted to see we are putting a range of inclusive play features into Gillies Park and we hope to see more of these introduced into our parks going forward.”