Craigavon: Call to restore South Lake as a major water sports asset after '100 trolleys removed'
Craigavon councillor Catherine Nelson has called for a comprehensive environmental scheme to be implemented to restore South Lake as a prize asset for water sports.
Speaking at Tuesday’s (May 26) meeting of Armagh City, Banbridge & Craigavon (ABC) Borough Council, the SF representative commented: “We used to be leading the way with people from across the North coming to our lake for water sports, and I just want to address the fact that we are absolutely not leading the way currently.
“There is a perception out there that the lake is dirty, that it’s dangerous because of the algae, and I would be keen to secure a clean-up and a PR drive with our dedicated water sports team to address this.
“I know that they have a great love for the lake and the habitat within it. They recently removed over 100 trolleys from the lake, amongst other things, and I want to pay tribute to them for their tireless work on our lake and reassure them that they are valued.
“I personally would love to see the lake planted, I would love to rewild the lake. I have done a bit of research into this and it would cost around £50,000, but the algae issue would be addressed.
“[That issue] is currently forcing closures, causing cancellations, so there is an economical sense in doing so.
“I’ve also recently spoken with schools and youth groups. It appears that our pricing has changed, making group trips much less affordable because we charge by the hour rather than a group rate.
“But they also know that the reduced changing facilities are a barrier now limited to around 30 at a time, as opposed to 60/80, which we used to be able to offer.
“My concern here is that our focus on indoors has been to the detriment of our focus on outdoors, in particular our adrenalin sports.
“The banana boat is no longer out, our climbing wall is out of action, and I don’t think we’ll ever replace the speedboat, which is a bit of a damning indictment on the council.
“So, what I would like is a dedicated paper to the relevant committee to address these concerns, and to chart a way forward to bring South Lake back to life.”
ABC Lord Mayor, Ald Stephen Moutray remarked: “We’ll see that your request is carried through.”
Concurring with the SF representative, Cllr Peter Lavery (Alliance, Lurgan DEA) said: “I was coming in to second that proposal by Cllr Nelson. Indeed, a couple of years ago, I was able to do a Level 1 sailing qualification there at South Lake and it’s always busy on a sunny evening.
“I would like the council purchasing a replacement ski boat or speed boat or similar, because I think when we sold our last one we didn’t replace it, which means we can’t do the banana boat.
“I know at the old water sports centre it was very popular for parties, so if that could be included in the report. It’s a great asset, it’s probably an under utilised asset. We could definitely do more to get it up to speed.”
The Lord Mayor told Cllr Lavery: “I’m sure that can be incorporated into Cllr Nelson’s request as well.”
François Vincent, Local Democracy Reporter