Broughty Ferry attractions remain shut over summer prompting calls for council to ‘get its act together’

A Broughty Ferry councillor has hit out at the continuing closure of play facilities as staff shortages see attractions shut over summer.

The go-karting and crazy golf facilities at Castle Green have failed to open over the summer holidays due to what council chiefs have called “long-term staff absence”.

It comes after the play park at Castle Green was also shut during Broughty Ferry gala week whilst £200,000 worth of refurbishment works were carried out.

The timing of the work, and the continuing closure of the once popular go karts and crazy golf, has drawn criticism from Liberal Democrat councillor Craig Duncan.

Closure ‘ridiculous’

He said: “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.

“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.”

He added: “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.”

Timing of closures questioned

Steve James, chairman of the Broughty Ferry Traders Association, has also called on the council to maximise the availability of the play areas.

“At the end of the day, you really want people to benefit from what they are trying to achieve”, he said.

“Surely they would want (the refurbishments) in place for the beginning of summer and definitely for when the schools are off to give the kids something to do.

“It did seem a bit strange timing-wise. You don’t want people coming to Broughty Ferry and the Castle Green is covered in Heras fencing.”

A spokesperson for Dundee City Council said: “Due to operational reasons, it has unfortunately not been possible to open the kiddy cars and crazy golf facilities at this time.

“We appreciate this will be disappointing to many, however we are working to explore new ideas for the facilities going forward and on how to potentially alleviate these issues.”