NEARLY €1m has been invested in the provision of new public amenities for the people of Ballina in recent months.
On Wednesday, October 14, the Mayor of Ballina, Cllr Mary Kelly will officially open two new public parks in the town. The Bunree Public Park is located in Greenhills Estate and Ardnaree Public Park is situated in the Cluan Na Riagh estate. Between them they account for over five hectares of newlydeveloped amenity space for Ballina residents.
The provision of the parks represents the realisation of a central tenet of the Ballina and Environs Development Plan 2009-2013 which envisages the provision of four town parks in addition to the existing Tom Ruane Park on the Sligo Road.
A third new park on Mercy Road is ready to go to tender and could be in place early next year while the development of a Killala Road park will proceed once Ballina Town Council has created the planned new road to access lands in the vicinity of Leigue Cemetery.
The official opening of the two new parks will mark a proud moment for the officials and elected representatives of Ballina Town Council.
Ballina Town Council architect Kevin Keegan remarked: “It’s something we are very proud of. There’s always been a lot of talk in Ballina about getting services and amenities for young people in the town. Now we have actually put something on the ground.”
The new parks have been completed for some time now and are being very well used by the surrounding communities as is Tom Ruane Park where new all-weather sports pitches were officially opened last year.
Mayor Mary Kelly said she was delighted to be officially opening the new parks. And she paid a special tribute to the Greenhills Development Committee for its input to the Bunree Park plans.
The Bunree Public Park in Greenhills Estate is an impressive 3.5 hectares and will be the largest of the planned town parks. It has been designed to look almost like a meadow and affords spectacular views of the Brusna River and valley with very picturesque walkways through a mixture of landscaped and uncultivated areas.
Bunree Park boasts a multi-use games area (MUGA) for basketball and five-a-side soccer as well as a tennis court and a very modern sheltered seating area for the youth.
Ultimately it is proposed to create a walkway crossing the Brusna and leading down along that river to connect in with Tom Ruane Park.
The Ardnaree Public Park is located in the Cluain na Riagh housing development and, like all of the other parks in town, is open to all people. It is comprised of some 1.6 hectares of landscaped grounds set out in a triangular site with an oval shaped amenity area in the south east corner which accommodates a MUGA area, tennis and football courts. Parking for 20 vehicles is incorporated in the park together with paved paths that are fully accessible to those with disabilities. The town council is now working towards starting work on the proposed •500,000 Parkside Park at Mercy Road in the coming months. It is hoped to incorporate a famine memorial in that amenity in recognition of the famine graves in that area.
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