Community Participation

Building a Culture of Participation - Parks & Open Spaces Development

Council recognise the importance of community participation and engagement in building a shared vision for the development of its green space. Through the Park & Open Spaces Strategy, the important role community play in the social, environmental and economic regeneration of their area is widely acknowledged. The process of engagement with the local community aims to build ownership through highlighting the important contribution green spaces makes to the urban renaissance and quality of life agenda.
 
Council employs a three-tier consultation strategy for all its park and open spaces developments. Stage one, involves the design, delivery and collection of questionnaires in partnership with the local community. Analysis of the information gathered, presents Council with baseline information and on population dynamics and offers suggestions for improvements in informing the design process. In tandem, stage two of the process involves contact communication with stakeholders to elicit their needs and aspirations in the regeneration of their green space. The final stage three of the process is the presentation of plans to the local community in an open forum. The master plan is based on good design practice and information extracted from stage one and two of the process as previously outlined.  Examples of such consultations are Bull Park, Brooke Park, and Riverview Park.

The engagement of the local community is enshrined in Councils philosophy for developing its park, green space and greenways. Council aims to meet the needs and aspirations of its local community through building a genuine partnership of participation, use and enjoyment of its parks and open spaces e.g. Friends Groups.
 
Each year through the Pride in our City initiative a number of community groups become involved to represent the city in various aspects of a range of environmental competitions that the city enters and last year as mentioned earlier Park Village were rewarded by receiving a runners up award with Claudy Diamond Centre receiving a certificate of merit for their biodiversity garden. This year community based contributors are Pennyburn Playtrail, Creggan Country Park, conservation volunteers, Longtower and the Fountain community groups.
 

Community involvement

Derry City Council is supporting many community groups by helping them to develop local green spaces into Breathing Places.  Through the BBC Breathing Places campaign, many community groups secured funding to enhance their local patches for people and wildlife.  Derry City Council is aiding them and others through project management, specialist expertise and match funding.

Here are some examples of the work currently taking place:

• Claudy Country Park  - John Mitchell's Gaelic Athletic Club

• St Columb’s Park - The Derry Children's Commission

• Bull Park – Derry City Council

• Bay Road Park - Greater Shantallow Area Partnership

• The Learmount Community Development Group - Kid’s Environmental Club

Held on the last Saturday of every month, this club is held at Park Recycling Centre and is run by volunteers who where recruited through a Creating Change Programme and funded by Lloyds TSB Foundation.  Volunteers organise activities for the children attending the club that include pond dipping for mini beasts, bird watching, exploring Learmount Forest, planting acorns and lots more.  In an excellent position for holding wildlife activities situated in Learmount Forest,  the club has it’s very own Wildlife Garden where the children have been involved in planting and maintaining the garden.
 

• Bay Road Park Local Nature Reserve

The Bay Road Park Steering Group is a constituted group of people interested in working with Derry City Council in the management and future of the local nature reserve.  The group which meets quarterly works with the Wildlife Education Officer to implement the ‘Conservation Management Plan’ for the reserve and to organise events.
 

• Lisnagelvin Nursery School

The aim of Lisnagelvin Nursery School is to provide the children with the best possible outdoor environment. Our garden is our outdoor classroom and we endeavur to make it as diverse and stimulating as possible.  We have created a litte bit of the country in what is increasingly, becoming a very built area.
The children have opportunities to run through grass and trees, dam a stream, observe nature in action and plant fruit, flowers and vegetables.
 

• The Playtrail – Foyleview & Belmont Special School

This innovative and inclusive outdoor play and education facility incorporates a 1 km accessible trail network linking a Visitor Centre to 6 areas of play and education, and also includes an orienteering course and trim trail.  The facility also includes our community horticulture ‘Green Fingers’ project which provides a 60 plot allotment scheme, raised bed garden, wildflower garden, environmental pond, polytunnel, and community orchard.  The project has also developed a straw bale house (The Eco Base) which highlights a range of sustainable development techniques and renewable energy technologies.  All in all our project attracted in excess of 74,000 visitors last year.
 

The ethos behind the development of the Playtrail centres on the creation of increased opportunities for the positive inclusion and integration of children and young people with disabilities

 

Wildlife & Well-being Project

The second year of this two year pilot to increase the school and community involvement with wildlife sites in the Ballynashallog ward has proven very successful.  Derry City Council have been working with schools on a number of different projects including creation of wildlife ponds, planting vegetable gardens and helping pupils discover wildlife habitats on their doorstep.  750 pupils have been involved with the pilot and 50 pupils have achieved ASDAN Environmental Awards which can be used towards national qualifications. 

Volunteer involvement is also key to this project and 10 volunteer training courses have been held to encourage the public to work with Council to manage the Local Nature Reserve and to record wildlife.  Volunteer clean-up days on the reserve attracted 150 volunteers in one morning.  Volunteers are also involved with butterfly transects, bird nestbox monitoring, moth monitoring and habitat management in the reserve.

Youth groups and community groups are also encouraged to work with Derry City Council for the benefit of nature and to increase their activity in the outdoors.  Currently Foyle Down Syndrome Trust are working towards an ASDAN Environmental Award through assisting in the control of invasive species and helping to maintain a herb garden at the Pennyburn Playtrail.

Derry City Council is committed to locally protecting and enhancing biodiversity, which is highlighted by the production of a local biodiversity action plan. One of the main aims of the plan is ‘to raise awareness and knowledge of biodiversity issues’, by delivering a wildlife and well-being programme to schools and the community in the Ballnashallog ward of the city.

The main aims of the project are to establish a local Nature Reserve (LNR) at Bay Road Park and employs a Wildlife Education Officer, to engage local schools and the local community, to participate in biodiversity education and activities.

A key aspect of the project includes targeted improvements and opportunities for residents in the Ballynashallog ward and immediate area, relating to the overarching objectives of the ‘Areas at Risk Programme’.

The project creates significant linkages with local schools, through the Wildlife Education Officer, with improved venues and school programmes developed. It is anticipated that synergies will also be created with Neighbourhood Renewal, Fit Futures and the Interagency Play Strategy for Derry.  Bay Road Park will be developed as a conservation gateway for the wider area and resident population.

Bay Road Park is a flagship park, which is valuable to the people and visitors of Derry, as an open green space and for the wildlife found there. The location of the park, on the western banks of the River Foyle, 1.5 miles northeast of the city center, provides an impressive presence, as well as hosting important habitats for a range of species, especially birds. Bay Road Park has been recently designated as a Derry City Council’s first Local Nature Reserve (LNR), because of its biodiversity value, links to the local community, public access features and potential for education.  It is anticipated that this designation, in conjunction with the development of associated facilities and environmental enhancement of the park, will benefit all local residents, in particular young people and senior citizens, through the proposed changes to the nature and functional use of space.

The Wildlife and Well-being project offers a unique opportunity to produce a working model combining conservation, play, resident participation and health improvements, which could be rolled out to other areas of the city in the future.
 

Breathing Places Events

In the past year Derry City Council secured £4000 from the Big Lottery Fund and hosted a celebratory Breathing Place event in St.Columb’s Park. The event entitled, St.Columb’s Park Breathing Place – Fun-filled Space brought lots of nature themed activities to the park for children to enjoy outdoor adventure play in a wildlife friendly environment.  This was supported by CVNI, Forest Schools Programme, North West Carnival Initiative, Lough’s Agency, Creggan Country Park, BBC Radio Foyle, and many more activity providers.

Greater Shantallow Area Partnership in partnership with DCC secured £5000 from Big Lottery Fund to host a celebratory event to launch the Bay Road Park Local Nature Reserve.  The event celebrated the designation of Bay Road Park as Derry’s first Local Nature Reserve, because of its accessibility, importance for wildlife, recreational & educational value. This BBC Breathing Places event highlighted the wealth of wildlife we have on our doorstep.
 

Biodiversity Do One Thing Events

The Biodiversity team organises a range of events each year to raise awareness and involve the public with biodiversity issues.  Ten events were held in 2009/10 with 4835 participants.  The events ranged from biodiversity festivals to moth mornings, red squirrel days and dawn chorus mornings.

The events are funded through Department for Social Development and Northern Ireland Environment Agency.