Design Plans for the Barrack Hill Town Park in Carndonagh were unveiled on Tuesday evening at a public meeting by the Diarmuid Gavin Designs Team.
The Design Plans are the result of over twelve months of extensive consultation with over 120 local people and interested parties. Celebrity Gardener, Diarmuid Gavin and his team personally met with school children, teenagers, the local playground committee and older people throughout the consultation process.
Cllr. Bernard McGuinness welcomed the plans and added, “I would like to thank Diarmuid Gavin Designs, all of the local people who were involved in the development of these exciting plans, the Carndonagh Garden Centre and the staff from Community, Culture and Enterprise of Donegal County Council, the town park will be a valuable piece of recreation and leisure infrastructure and a welcome addition to the town of Carndonagh.”
Although Diarmuid was unable to attend the final presentation of the proposed design for Barrack Hill due to sudden illness, he applauded the work of those involved at the Public Arts Office in Donegal County Council.
The highly ambitious plans have something for everyone whether young or old, from the budding cyclist to the green-fingered gardener. It is planned to have different zones within the Town Park to suit all the recreation and leisure needs of the local community and visitor alike.
The design plans include provision for one of the most innovative and child friendly playgrounds in the country. It is no coincidence that the playground area contains areas for swinging, digging, crawling and exploring as the design plans were informed directly from local school children. One of the highlights of the main park include plans for an ‘Iconic Heads’ public art installation. Aideen Doherty, Community & Enterprise Development Officer, commented, “The public art element will add something iconic to the park, the sculpted heads are representative of custodians of the landscape, looking out over the town of Carndonagh”.
There are also plans for an allotment area for the keen gardeners amongst the local community, a wooded area and a lounge area to get away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.
Michael Heaney, Donegal County Council said, “Donegal County Council is delighted to be associated with this project and to be working with the local community. It is a partnership approach between the local authority and the community, one that is working effectively in all parts of Donegal and is good to see this approach being adopted and pursued in Carndonagh. As well as this community effort we are delighted to have been able to draw on the services of Diarmuid Gavin and to see how well he has worked with all sectors of the community in bringing this project to this stage.