The leader of Dundee City Council admits more needs to be done about the “embarrassing neglect” of the city’s Camperdown Park.
John Alexander says the park’s deterioration has been caused by lack of funding and that major improvements are required.
His admission comes after a call for action to breathe new life into what should be the “jewel in Dundee’s crown”.
Councillor ‘horrified’ at Camperdown Park
Strathmartine Liberal Democrat councillor Daniel Coleman spoke out after a recent visit to Camperdown Park.
He said: “There is something of a terrible irony of a ‘take pride in your park’ sign placed by the very council that has not maintained the area of the park beside it.”
Mr Coleman said he was horrified by the many issues he saw including:
- the state of the mansion house
- smelly, overflowing toilets
- vandalised park furniture
- unkempt duck pond full of algae
- very poor state of the former golf course
- weeds in many spots
He added: “I have received lots of concerns from constituents about the state of parts of the park and I therefore undertook a site visit recently and was honestly shocked by the council’s neglect of what should be a jewel in Dundee’s crown.
“The council should be ashamed of the neglect and I have written to the directors of city development and neighbourhood services demanding action to address the issues urgently.”
On the mansion house, Mr Coleman said: “There has been no progress on achieving a positive use for it but the large amount weeds around the entrance and steps sort of sum up the years of neglect.
“The toilets at the mansion are in poor shape with a leak in the ladies’ toilet leading to soaking wet floors, toilet bowls very slow to refill and little water coming out of the taps.
“The council did attend to immediate issues but the toilets are in embarrassingly poor shape and smell badly.
“The load of weeds right outside are hardly an advertisement for the council’s ‘maintenance’ of the toilets and the park.”
He added that the park furniture needs to be checked with one BBQ table badly burnt with a hole in it.
State of former golf course ‘screams neglect’
He said the former golf course and driving range “scream neglect”, and remarked on the state of the duck pond.
“It is completely neglected – full of algae and it looks like it has had no maintenance in a very long time.”
He continued: “There are 27 fewer grounds maintenance and parks staff than in 2015 and that is wholly down to a council administration that lacks ambition for Dundee.
“It is tragic to see the deterioration at Camperdown Park.”
Dundee Council leader blames lack of funding
The leader of Dundee City Council, John Alexander (SNP), agrees the problem stems from a lack of funding.
He said: “These issues are illustrative of the huge issue of council funding, or the lack of it, that I’ve long highlighted.
“I’ve received similar contact from users and often visit the park with my own children, and I agree that more needs to be done but that applies across the board, not just at Camperdown Park.
“I want to see improved public spaces, parks and the environment generally, as we all do.
“To do that, councils need the budget to meet those needs.”
Park has become an ‘overgrown jungle’
Former Dundee University rector and Courier columnist Jim Spence said: “I live just a mile from the park and run and cycle through it regularly.
“It has become an overgrown jungle, a rampant wasteland of thigh-high unkempt grass.
“What was previously a superb and challenging council golf course is hidden submerged below a wilderness of weeds.”
He added: “Camperdown House, a magnificent property which could be used for a multitude of activities, lies forlorn and abandoned, its original grandeur fading by the day.
“What was once a magnificent jewel in the city’s crown is now tarnished like a cheap piece of tat.”
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