A new public park for Waterford?

friendlyfun

Why is Wyse park closed up for so long? was it because of restoration work?

mooseknunkle

Oscar Madison wrote: »

I'm not a golfer so this has no real impact for me but we're not short on off road places to walk!
We've plenty of coastline, a greenway, Mt. Congreve and plenty of other places to stretch our legs!

We could do with a dog park in Waterford

johnnykilo

What about the Pitch and Putt at the back of the RSC? Is that even still open? I used to go regularly back in the day but then the council seemed to loose interest in it. It wouldn't be open all the time depending on what else was going on in the RSC, and then they got rid of the option to rent clubs.

Also, as someone else has said earlier what about the old Waterford Crystal Pitch and Putt too? Both are more central and both are better options IMO, than messing with Williamstown.

Harry Palmr

Roche's pitch (sorry) is that this would be for the south eastern population first and foremost.

Dunmoreroader

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Roche's pitch (sorry) is that this would be for the south eastern population first and foremost.

As has already been pointed out here, there IS a park & playground already in this area of the city; its called Farronshooneen. Even Damien Tiernan didn't think of pointing this out to Cllr. Roche when he was interviewing her and he looking out at it from his WLR studio.
Btw, the admission by Cllr. Roche that she has not inspected Williamstown Golf Course, and/or surrounding grounds, prior to flying this kite, beggars belief.
Should that not be one of the first things you might expect a Councillor to do prior to opening their mouths?

Mysterypunter

If more of our local politicians were at Mary Roche's level the county would be far better off. A good, hard working, woman and was a distinguished representative.

Mysterypunter wrote: »

Mary Roche should **** off for herself, why don't they remove the travellers from the carrickpherish road and set it up there, how am I going to make the PGA tour if they mess up the golf course. Typical that she said I've never been there myself, every political beak sticking in attempt ends in disaster, that woman is a disaster

Was this a serious suggestion?

The Carrickphierish Road, for a park...?

Harry Palmr

Farronshooneen is a green - it's for throwing frisbees, kicking a ball about, letting the nippers have a quick roundabout. The idea Roche has is quite different - a semi wild "haven" for nature to be given its head not appropriate for a small plot within a light business and residential setting.

hardybuck

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Farronshooneen is a green - it's for throwing frisbees, kicking a ball about, letting the nippers have a quick roundabout. The idea Roche has is quite different - a semi wild "haven" for nature to be given its head not appropriate for a small plot within a light business and residential setting.

I.e. a Nature Park?

space2ground1

I listened to the interview. She's looking for parkland the same as you'd see in the suburbs of any city in the world. Faronshoneen isnt a park, its a green with a basketball hoop, a goal post and a play area.

A park is 40-50 acres of open cut grass with trees around it. Somewhere for the thousands of people that live between Glenville and Farmleigh to be able to walk with their kids to put down a blanket and throw around a ball while having a picnic. 50,000+ people can't just go to the people's park in town.

I'm delighted the golfers have a cheaper golf course. There's a few facts though. Since that golf course went in, there's thousands of families after moving to the area because estates were given planning and built. So the council has an obligation now to spend money on amenities for those people in their area. 99% of the local population cant / dont play golf.

If there's space up there for a proper open area with trees and a walking track around it, where's the uproar in putting that in? It's not the rainforest she's trying to provide.. its a safe cut field. The golf course is brilliant but if you're looking at putting a thousand famililes on the green at Activate while 200 people play golf across the road on 200 acres or whatever it is, ya have to ask is that good use of council land?

Plenty of people saying get your hands off the golf course which is fair enough but its a bit like saying I'm using 4 rooms of my house to watch the football.. have your sunday dinner in the bathroom.. get your hands off my telly. (And the council are paying for the sports subscription and then can't afford to carpet the bathroom)

Just make good use of the council land and put in a big open field with a track and trees around it beside the golf course no?

gscully

The Willamstown/Dunmore Rd/Ballygunner area needs a secondary school far more than it needs a park.

Dunmoreroader

I've no problem with Clllr. Roche usually, I agree with her on most things relating to improving and developing Waterford but she could have done a bit of due diligence prior to hopping this ball. If a park can be accommodated around the golf course, great, could she not have done a bit of behind the scenes investigating with council officials before going public?
We should be adding amenities to our city for the benefit of all, not pitching one group against another, which is what has happened now by the way she has gone about " starting the debate".
Earn your salary Mary, do the leg work and then present us with a proposition that everyone can agree on instead of poking your stick into the Hornets nest.

hardybuck

space2ground1 wrote: »

I listened to the interview. She's looking for parkland the same as you'd see in the suburbs of any city in the world. Faronshoneen isnt a park, its a green with a basketball hoop, a goal post and a play area.

A park is 40-50 acres of open cut grass with trees around it. Somewhere for the thousands of people that live between Glenville and Farmleigh to be able to walk with their kids to put down a blanket and throw around a ball while having a picnic. 50,000+ people can't just go to the people's park in town.

I'm delighted the golfers have a cheaper golf course. There's a few facts though. Since that golf course went in, there's thousands of families after moving to the area because estates were given planning and built. So the council has an obligation now to spend money on amenities for those people in their area. 99% of the local population cant / dont play golf.

If there's space up there for a proper open area with trees and a walking track around it, where's the uproar in putting that in? It's not the rainforest she's trying to provide.. its a safe cut field. The golf course is brilliant but if you're looking at putting a thousand famililes on the green at Activate while 200 people play golf across the road on 200 acres or whatever it is, ya have to ask is that good use of council land?

Plenty of people saying get your hands off the golf course which is fair enough but its a bit like saying I'm using 4 rooms of my house to watch the football.. have your sunday dinner in the bathroom.. get your hands off my telly. (And the council are paying for the sports subscription and then can't afford to carpet the bathroom)

Just make good use of the council land and put in a big open field with a track and trees around it beside the golf course no?

The area would be better served with sports facilities and community space rather than a field for you to wander around and have a picnic.

What you're describing wouldn't really be safe or feasible. It's 130 acres - and you wouldn't really get a golf course much smaller. If you put a track around the edge it would be pretty dangerous.

However if you made it 5% smaller, you might have enough for a community sports and leisure facility on the site which would also boost the Golf Club. If the population is growing they'll need a swimming pool, tennis courts, a gym, a place to play bridge and have meetings. You could put one of those into Williamstown and the area would have more facilities rather than less.

The Nature Park has 150 acres and Waterford is also fortunate to have the People's Park which is a great facility.

space2ground1

hardybuck wrote: »

The area would be better served with sports facilities and community space rather than a field for you to wander around and have a picnic.

What you're describing wouldn't really be safe or feasible. It's 130 acres - and you wouldn't really get a golf course much smaller. If you put a track around the edge it would be pretty dangerous.

However if you made it 5% smaller, you might have enough for a community sports and leisure facility on the site which would also boost the Golf Club. If the population is growing they'll need a swimming pool, tennis courts, a gym, a place to play bridge and have meetings. You could put one of those into Williamstown and the area would have more facilities rather than less.

The Nature Park has 150 acres and Waterford is also fortunate to have the People's Park which is a great facility.

I’m thinking of the park across the road from my house in Dublin when I lived there. 50 acres.. a woodland/gravel walking track around the edge between rows of trees. Open grass in the middle.. and the gates locked in the evening. No crime that I ever remember, space for families and kids just to relax and play. Low cost. I’m talking from personal experience. That’s what my family had and we loved it. It was small and completely safe and easy to manage. At weekends and an hour or two in the morning the coffee vans would arrive and on sunny days the place was full of picnic blankets and families relaxing. You’d have people going for a walk or jog on the trail every morning.

It doesn’t have to be an expensive outdoor leisure centre or curated nature park.

hardybuck

space2ground1 wrote: »

I’m thinking of the park across the road from my house in Dublin when I lived there. 50 acres.. a woodland/gravel walking track around the edge between rows of trees. Open grass in the middle.. and the gates locked in the evening. No crime that I ever remember, space for families and kids just to relax and play. Low cost. I’m talking from personal experience. That’s what my family had and we loved it. It was small and completely safe and easy to manage. At weekends and an hour or two in the morning the coffee vans would arrive and on sunny days the place was full of picnic blankets and families relaxing. You’d have people going for a walk or jog on the trail every morning.

It doesn’t have to be an expensive outdoor leisure centre or curated nature park.

I know what you mean. I live beside an enclosed park facility of 1,747 acres. It's lovely, and it's multi-functional. However a lot of people in Dublin wouldn't have the benefit of gardens that people in Waterford have, and the Dublin also needs a few green 'lungs' to absorb the dirty air.

I think one of the things Dublin did well was retain the parks that were built in the Georgian and Victorian era, and to retain the demesnes and lands around great houses when the city expanded into the subarbs. They've also got loads of community sports fields in nearly every area too.

Waterford got greedy with the Dunmore Rd and forced too many houses in without providing for schools, for sports clubs etc.

The journey from Farmleigh to Williamstown is pretty similar as the one to the Nature Park and to Woodstown Beach. You have the May Park Walk, Ballinakill Woods as well. Not a bad way to have it.

Dunmoreroader

I would also point out that there is a fantastic river walk along most of the south bank of the Suir, which is essentially a linear park. This also caters to the population cohort Cllr. Roche speaks for. The Council should be looking to upgrade and enhance this for the enjoyment of locals and visitors alike. If it was upgraded it would be better than the Greenway for walkers/strollers and another little gem of a tourist attraction in the heart of the city. It should go continuously from the Marina Hotel out to Blenheim and beyond but a few landowners along the route have appropriated the foreshore into their gardens(not sure if legally or not?), PwC and a few homeowners near Waterford Castle ferry come to mind.
Picnic tables, lots of bins, new fencing, regular maintenance & cleaning, tree husbandry and continuous monitoring to prevent dumping and anti-social behavior could transform this under-appreciated asset into a fantastic amenity for the city.

Harry Palmr

gscully wrote: »

The Willamstown/Dunmore Rd/Ballygunner area needs a secondary school far more than it needs a park.

No one is going to argue that point (well someone might just because!) that entire third of the City was allowed to grow like topsy without a shred of actual strategic planning for it's maturing phase.

space2ground1

hardybuck wrote: »

I know what you mean. I live beside an enclosed park facility of 1,747 acres. It's lovely, and it's multi-functional. However a lot of people in Dublin wouldn't have the benefit of gardens that people in Waterford have, and the Dublin also needs a few green 'lungs' to absorb the dirty air.

I think one of the things Dublin did well was retail the parks that were built in the Georgian and Victorian era, and to retain the demesnes and lands around great houses when the city expanded into the subarbs. They've also got loads of community sports fields in nearly every area too.

Waterford got greedy with the Dunmore Rd and forced too many houses in without providing for schools, for sports clubs etc.

The journey from Farmleigh to Williamstown is pretty similar as the one to the Nature Park and to Woodstown Beach. You have the May Park Walk, Ballinakill Woods as well. Not a bad way to have it.

Not bad at all but would I walk/cycle a young family from say Viewmount to the nature park or Woodstown? Not a hope. It’s a design flaw and you’re spot on talking about Dublin. The advantage they have is loads of these tree lined 50 acre + green areas and they are used all the time. The distances are generally walkable from people’s homes.

There’s a hopscotch painted on the path on the outer ring road like. If whoever thought that was an amenity was in charge of parkland then it’s no wonder the green at Activate is being considered a park. We need to just do the simple things well. Use spare land at the golf course if it’s there.. mow it, track around it, plant trees... lock it when the golf course is closing.

We don’t need millions spent to make a difference. Whether the council is blowing a fortune on keeping up the golf course for very few people is one question for accountants and golfers but not providing a simple safe open space like I described and the ones you’re aware of in Dublin is just bad planning.

Stopitwillya

hardybuck wrote: »

The area would be better served with sports facilities and community space rather than a field for you to wander around and have a picnic.

A gaa pitch is needed in the area to allow a new gaa/camogie/ladies football club to develop in the area. Ballygunner or gaultier won't like this of course.

hardybuck

Stopitwillya wrote: »

A gaa pitch is needed in the area to allow a new gaa/camogie/ladies football club to develop in the area. Ballygunner or gaultier won't like this of course.

Aren't Erin's Own are around the corner in Killure?

Stopitwillya

hardybuck wrote: »

Aren't Erin's Own are around the corner in Killure?

Killure would be a secondary pitch for them. Poleberry would be the main pitch. Not many boys if any of say on the dunmore road would play with Erin's own.

hardybuck

Stopitwillya wrote: »

Killure would be a secondary pitch for them. Poleberry would be the main pitch. Not many boys if any of say on the dunmore road would play with Erin's own.

So they're a small club with spare capacity - great. Williamstown is a different and growing area so it's a good fit.

Cabaal

gscully wrote: »

The Willamstown/Dunmore Rd/Ballygunner area needs a secondary school far more than it needs a park.

Why not do both with the land, its big enough?
Build a school and rest of it as a park...far better use of the land then a golf course for those willing to pay to use it.

Ok, it may not be feasiable to do both. But it most certainly be looked at as either would be a far better benefit to more households then a golf course.

gscully

Cabaal wrote: »

Why not do both with the land, its big enough?
Build a school and rest of it as a park...far better use of the land then a golf course for those willing to pay to use it.

Ok, it may not be feasiable to do both. But it most certainly be looked at as either would be a far better benefit to more households then a golf course.

Ultimately, the decision on a school would come from the Dept. of Education.

I gather you don't play golf? I get to play once or twice a year myself, so I don't have a great stake in this debate, but I can tell you that there is more to golf than just hitting a ball. I'm talking about the mental-health and social aspect to it. Sometimes it's nice and healthy to just get out there and forget everything else. I can do that by going for a run too, but not everyone else can. You call it 'a golf course', but for many, it's 'THE golf course' due to its accessibility to lower-income earners and having no airs and graces about itself. Don't underestimate its value to those that use it. If it was closed down and replaced with a park, there would be a lot of unhappy people. Unfortunately, there isn't any other course like this within a reasonable distance, so it is a valuable facility. If there was a second course, this would probably be a simpler argument. For those that seek a park, there are plenty around and we've all been quick to use them during the lockdown.

Ideally, the council could use the spare land near the car park for a playground and create a walkway around the golf-course. I don't see why it has to be one or the other.

BBM77

gscully wrote: »

Ultimately, the decision on a school would come from the Dept. of Education.

I gather you don't play golf? I get to play once or twice a year myself, so I don't have a great stake in this debate, but I can tell you that there is more to golf than just hitting a ball. I'm talking about the mental-health and social aspect to it. Sometimes it's nice and healthy to just get out there and forget everything else. I can do that by going for a run too, but not everyone else can. You call it 'a golf course', but for many, it's 'THE golf course' due to its accessibility to lower-income earners and having no airs and graces about itself. Don't underestimate its value to those that use it. If it was closed down and replaced with a park, there would be a lot of unhappy people. Unfortunately, there isn't any other course like this within a reasonable distance, so it is a valuable facility. If there was a second course, this would probably be a simpler argument. For those that seek a park, there are plenty around and we've all been quick to use them during the lockdown.

Ideally, the council could use the spare land near the car park for a playground and create a walkway around the golf-course. I don't see why it has to be one or the other.

Have to say the tone of the argument on this mainly coming from Mary Roche has been pretty unpleasant. And frankly would say it bordered on bullying. She just dismissed the golf course as something used by “old males”, her words not mine, and did not even have the cop-on to find out anything about the golf course and its use. Suppose if she finds out a lot of “old females” use it there will cease to be a problem. Logically there is no reason a walkway could not be added around the perimeter and have the best of both worlds. However, Mary Roche clearly has issues with men here own age.

Harry Palmr

I heard Michael Walsh, he is basically teeing this suggestion up I think. Talking darkly about how Williamstown is subsidised heavily and that the reasons for the course being built are no longer as pressing (posh courses turning the ordinary Joe/Josephine away). Interestingly a green councilor is against the plan.

johnnykilo

Looks like the motion has been withdrawn again as per Councillor John Hearne's Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=999350733821971&id=265367990553586

Flow Motion

As someone who goes for a walk in the People Park early each morning before work I am disgusted and appalled at the sight of large amounts of rubbish left scattered across the entire area the day after a previous day's sunny weather. The are around the skate park is particularly badly littered on a constant basis. Empty cans, bottles, discarded take way boxes, pizzas, wrappers etc. Not to put a finer point on it these people are pure pigs. No civic pride or responsibility. Sadly its mostly the entitled youth of today. Does not fill me much hope for the future.

friendlyfun

Flow Motion wrote: »

As someone who goes for a walk in the People Park early each morning before work I am disgusted and appalled at the sight of large amounts of rubbish left scattered across the entire area the day after a previous day's sunny weather. The are around the skate park is particularly badly littered on a constant basis. Empty cans, bottles, discarded take way boxes, pizzas, wrappers etc. Not to put a finer point on it these people are pure pigs. No civic pride or responsibility. Sadly its mostly the entitled youth of today. Does not fill me much hope for the future.

You had me until you said entitled youth of today. Their actions don't speak for all young people. These people are just slobs.

friendlyfun

What's the craic with Wyse Park? posted it here but never got any response. Does anybody know what's going on with it??

shockwave

friendlyfun wrote: »

What's the craic with Wyse Park? posted it here but never got any response. Does anybody know what's going on with it??

I could never understand why people called it a park its just an empty concrete yard.