A play park in Larne saved from threat of closure earlier this year is to be given an upgrade.
The playground at Bardic Drive in the town’s Antiville estate is to be refurbished following a successful campaign by the mother of eight-year-old schoolgirl Scarlett Rossborough who died in a tragic road accident last August.
Carolanne Rodgers appealed to the community for support to restore the playground and named Scarlett’s Park in her memory.
Scarlett, who was a pupil of Linn Primary School, in Larne, died in a single-vehicle traffic collision in Carrickfergus town centre, on August 9, 2023 which left both towns numb with grief.
The playground was one of a number in Mid and East Antrim which had been earmarked for closure by the borough council due to maintenance costs.
A petition to save the playground was signed by 2,153 people and a further 143 contacted the council in opposition to the proposal.
The borough council is now tendering for a contractor to refurbish the facility at Bardic Drive and another at Oakfield Drive, Carrickfergus. A new play park is to be located at Fisherwick Crescent, Ballymena. A decision was deferred by councillors in July pending a visit to this site.
Separately, the council is tendering for an online ticketing software provider for three key visitor sites.
This contract is to provide ticketing software for the Braid Theatre, Ballymena, The Gobbins, Islandmagee and Carrickfergus Castle. The council notes that in total, these sites represent £1.1m in revenue annually, processing in the region of 15,000 tickets, 35,000 and 55,000 tickets respectively per year for each site.
The council has also indicated that The Gobbins and the Causeway Coastal Route are marketed to an international audience with 93% of visitors in 2023/24 from outside Northern Ireland.