How a decaying, no-go playground was transformed into a climate-friendly urban park
Railway Park, located on Cork city’s Lower Grattan Hill, was a disused and decaying urban children’s playground.
The park, located between the Lower Glanmire Road and St Luke's Cross, attracted drug users and antisocial behaviour, and was generally seen as a no-go area for parents and their children.
However, the park has now been transformed, thanks to a local community association that has been heavily supported by funding schemes from various Cork City Council departments.
The group formed in 2017 with a view to cleaning up the area and had already worked with the city’s Parks department – as well as Irish Rail, who sold the plot to the council for a nominal fee – to clean up and revitalise the space with a large wall mural and flower boxes.
Last year, the group made a huge step forward in the park, using money from the Community Climate Action Fund to establish a cycle and activity track in the park – where children can learn how to scoot and cycle in a safe space – and promoting active travel at a young age in an urban community.
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The project was relatively involved for the small group, requiring the tearing up of existing tarmac, laying down a brand-new cycle track, and adding new park and play equipment provided by the Parks department.
Integration with Cork City Council allowed the Sustainable Urban Drainage System (Suds) working group and the Local Authority Waters Programme to collaborate in integrating key environmental features, including a rain garden.
“What Government is trying to promote is that we start actually doing projects and learning on the ground,” said Cork City Council senior executive planner Sharon McDonnell. “And then, in conjunction with the community, promoting it from an educational point of view.
“A big feature of Suds that people don't realise is that it's not just about absorbing the amount of water, but it's also about improving and cleaning the water.
“And then you have the amenity factor. Obviously, this is going to be a play area for kids, so every time you're doing a sub feature like this, you're trying to incorporate those four pillars: water quality, water quantity, immunity and biodiversity.”