Scarlett Rossborough: mum’s renewed appeal to community to help save Larne’s Antiville play park

Carolanne Rodgers is urging the council to reconsider a proposal to shut the playground at Bardic Drive in the town’s Antiville estate.

The play park is one of a number in Larne, Carrickfergus and Ballymena which are under threat of closure and one in which the council says equipment is “no longer fit for purpose” and would require a “full refurbishment”. The site is likely to become a grass area.

Carolanne is appealing to the community to respond before January 12 to a consultation opened by the council on the future of the Bardic Drive play park. She is proposing that instead of closing the park, the council restores it and opens a new park, renaming it in her daughter Scarlett’s memory.

Scarlett (8), who was a pupil of Linn Primary School, died in a single-vehicle traffic collision in Carrickfergus town centre on August 9.

In an online post on social media, Carolanne said: “I am strongly against the park closure and would like to propose that the park is restored and kept open in memory of Scarlett Rossborough. In the event that the park were to close, children would be forced to travel to Craigyhill to use facilities, crossing a busy road which exposes them to unnecessary risk.

“Antiville is amongst the top 20% of deprived areas in Northern Ireland, increasing the value of the play park remaining open in this area.”

She also stated: “Antiville has a strong local identity and closing facilities would be demoralising for the community. The park is always very busy, its closure would have a negative impact on the local community. Children need to have safe places to play away from traffic.

“The local community feel it is important to keep Scarlett’s memory alive and Scarlett used the Bardic Drive play park on a daily basis. This is an opportunity for local schoolchildren to design a new play park and potentially artwork for the surrounding area to improve the appearance of Antiville as a whole.

A petition started by Coast Road DUP Councillor Andrew Clarke calling for the park to be refurbished and renamed ‘Scarlett’s Park’ has been signed by 1,770 people.#

An independent annual inspection of play parks in March highlighted a number of sites around the borough with “significant issues of concern with regard to health and safety”, the report stated.

Councillors have been warned failure to act could result in “enforced closure in due course due to health and safety concerns”. The council maintains and manages 67 play parks and has spent £3.3m on refurbishments since 2019.

The council has said previously: “The transformation of play parks listed will provide significant financial savings. The play parks identified have ongoing issues for a variety of reasons which result in significant investment each year to ensure safety for users.”

The local government authority says the proposal will be reviewed on completion of the consultation to be followed “if successful” by “closure and removal of equipment to ensure site safety”.

Michelle Weir, Local Democracy Reporter