Skateboarding at Station Square, Portrush.
(Image: Maureen Kane)
Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council members have criticised officers’ management of a Portrush skate park.
In March members approved a proposal for council to take full responsibility for the skating space at Station Square, at a cost of around £10,000, “to ensure a consistent approach to inspection, upkeep and repair” and to “improve communication and co-operation with the skateboarding community” in the seaside town.
At a Leisure and Development Committee meeting on Tuesday, September 17, Alliance Councillor Peter McCully said he had met with officers in June about re-establishing a working group for the park, but he hadn’t seen “very much progress” since then.
He said: “It’s not something that’s been building up for a short period of time. This is 20 years of frustration and we need to do everything we can as a council to progress that.
“I hoped that things will move a lot faster, particularly because we made the decision back in March. For that working group now not to have met in that time, is actually really, really frustrating.”
Director of Leisure and Development, Pat Mulvenna, said a meeting was planned for early October.
“I take that on board entirely,” Ms Mulvenna said.
“And once we get a working group established and have the meeting in October, I’m happy to commit to regular meetings going forward.”
UUP Councillor Richard Holmes said users had complained to him about a broken barrier at the park, and a waste bin had been missing from for an extended period.
He added: “I’m not sure if [the bin] has been replaced in the last week, but it was promised to be replaced two months ago.
“Street cleaners are also saying Station Square isn’t their area to clean. I’m not sure whose area it is but that’s one of the comments coming through from one of the skateboarders, so it’s just the stupid wee things.”
“My understanding was that [the bin] had all been sorted,” Ms Mulvenna said. “We’ve had various conversations with Environmental Services about bins.”
An officer said that the Coast and Countryside team was responsible for the site over the summer and no issues were reported. “For the issue of street cleaning, there is an area at Station Square with two catering vans and there’s an issue around land ownership,” they said.
“The understanding is that it’s in private ownership and it’s the responsibility of [the owners of] those vans to keep that area clean, so we need to clarify that with Land and Property because it appears that those vans may be on council property.”
DUP Alderman John McAuley said the issues were “sadly not an individual case” within council. He concluded: “As with everything in this organisation, there’s nothing fixed within hours or even days and it seems to be weeks, months and years.
“We need to look at the management of some very routine tasks [because] we’re a totally reactive organisation and it seems if the councillors complain about it, then we’ll do something about it.
“It’s the simple stuff like street cleans and bins, signage, but we need to start working with a mindset of ‘let’s get it done’.”