Once upon a time in the west

Let’s remind ourselves of some of the issues the Council’s new team face in the west of Perry Park.

This is the section that was fenced off a few years prior to the Commonwealth Games so it could be reconfigured to add a “warm-up track” for the athletes and a “throws field”.

Residents along the adjacent road have had the sight of the plastic hoardings for all this time.

Only last summer did the Council open a small gap in the massive fence line so that local kids could play in the field, and dog walkers had somewhere their furry friends could safely run around.

But there’s still a lot for the Council’s new project team to tackle on this side of the park.

The west of the park has pretty much been mothballed since the Games - this was, after all, where the previous project team had ambitions to create a sports campus which would have excluded local residents, including the bizarre concept of beach volleyball pitches.

Sadly, many of the young trees which they planted along the boundary at the foot of the canal embankment have died - unsurprisingly given that the field was fenced off and locked away for the majority of the time.

And the odd concrete base in the photo remains, a lingering legacy of the mast which supported a camera overlooking the site for the duration of the Games.

It’s important to note that the Council’s own planning permission required that this field be reinstated and returned for community use by 31st December 2022.

But the previous project team didn’t seem to be too bothered about planning requirements - there is supposed to be a footpath at the edge of this field (at the foot of the canal embankment) leading all the way down to the reservoir - but not only have they kept it fenced off, they also planted trees in a way which would prevent access along the path even if they had any intention of honouring their commitments.

The new project team has understood why this field, and a safe footpath to the reservoir (and beyond) are vitally important to local residents.

Meanwhile, the section where the previous team wanted to install much-anticipated beach volleyball pitches has remained fenced off.

This area was never properly landscaped following the construction of the Gymnastics and Martial Arts Centre several years ago - but right now it hasn’t been returned for public use because there is still debris scattered across it from when it was used as a kind of compound and ceremony area for the Commonwealth Games.

You might wonder quite why the previous team couldn’t have opened this area back up for community use in the 600+ days since the Games finished - but then where would the people queuing up to play beach volleyball have gone?

Thankfully the new team has suggested that areas like this should be able to be made safe and the fences removed in the next few months, ahead of the school summer holidays, so people on the west of the park can actually feel like they have access to their park at long last…