Woman 'embarrassed' by state of Riverside Park

The red-faced local - who did not want to be named - said her guests were taken aback by the amount of litter scattered throughout the park and rubbish including car tyres and beer cans bobbling in the duck pond.

The concerned woman called on councillors in the town to “leave the comfort of their offices” in order to see the problem firsthand.

She said: “I recently brought some overseas visitors to one of Ballymoney’s supposed tourist attractions - the Riverside wild fowl sanctuary and duck pond.

“I was extremely embarrassed and disappointed to see that it has really fallen into a state of disrepair.

“The duck pond itself was filled with plastic bags, cans and bottles with a few tyres sticking out.

“The island or wildfowl refuge was engulfed in metres of plastic posing a danger to all wild fowl in the area.

“The fences surrounding the park in areas had collapsed or been pulled down. Empty coke cans, beer bottles and food wrappers surrounded the area.

“Unfortunately touring around Ballymoney has revealed many areas in the same dishevelled and unkempt state.

“Buildings such as the old cinema have been boarded up and now serve only as a canvas for people to write obscenities on.

“The relatively new council building is indeed very impressive but it does make me wonder what are all those councillors doing sitting in there.

“When I contacted the council to inform them of my concerns I was told that the recent budget cuts means there are no plans in the foreseeable future to clean up the duck pond.

“Once again it appears that perhaps budget cuts seem to have been made in the wrong area. i think maybe its time some of those councillors left the comfort of their offices and had a look around the town.

“I do know that my overseas guests will not be rushing back to see the sights of Ballymoney and i can only imagine what they will tell their friends - the photos they took will really say it all.”