Broughty Ferry attractions remain closed over the summer, thanks to council, says local Councillor

Dundee City Councillor for Broughty Ferry, Craig Duncan, today expressed his grave concerns over Dundee City Council’s inability to open two key local attractions which the council normally operates in Broughty Ferry.

The crazy golf and karting facilities at Castle Green have remained closed this year over the busy summer holiday season. The council says  it has no staff to open them “due to long term staff absence.” This comes on top of weeks of the play area at Castle Green being closed or partially closed because play equipment is being upgraded during the school holidays.

Councillor Duncan has raised his concerns with senior council officers after the Open Space, Design and Asset Team Leader told him why the popular karting and crazy golfing facilities remain closed, advising the councillor :

“Unfortunately, the kiddy cars and crazy golf are not currently open due to long term staff absence. We appreciate that this is not an ideal situation and are working to explore new ideas for the facilities going forward, to potentially alleviate these types of issues. We will share any updates as soon as we can.”

Councillor Duncan said:

 “Sadly, under the failing SNP council administration, nothing much works anymore. It is the height of summer, Broughty Ferry is a key attraction for tourists and the council can’t even open key family attractions. It is so sad but typical of the malaise we have grown used to under the SNP.”

“What makes the crazy golf and karting closure all the more ridiculous is that they bring in an income stream when open. They are hardly going to make any money sitting closed.”

Councillor Duncan added that, whilst any upgrade of the Castle Green playpark was welcome, the funding on Castle Green improvements had been sharply cut by the SNP administration from the original proposed £700 000 down to £200 000. This means that that the improvements are now to parts of the playpark only. Councillor Duncan said the crazy golf needs a refresh and – crucially – the aging splash pool that has been subject to breakdowns in recent years needs renewal, but these will now not happen.

He added :

“New play equipment is welcome but who on earth thought it was sensible to close the playpark slap bang at the start of the school holidays to upgrade it? It should now be finally fully reopening in the latter part of the holidays, but the timing of the work beggars belief.”

“Broughty Ferry is a lovely area and it continues to attract many tourists. It is therefore vital that the council gets its act together to ensure the offer to both tourists and the local community are maximised, not sitting closed.”  

“We are very lucky in Broughty Ferry to have an excellent traders’ association and it is important that the council engages proactively with local partners to maximise the Broughty Ferry offer. With thanks to the Gala Committee, last month we had another superb Broughty Ferry Gala Week. The council should be supporting the effort to promote our area and leaving attractions shut is hardly the way to do that.”

Councillor Duncan’s concerns come on the back of related concerns about the capacity left in the council’s environment management. His colleague Councillor Daniel Coleman earlier this week highlighted the deterioration of Camperdown Park.