New £ 3m Riverside Park is officially opened

ANEW park has been officially opened in the East End. The new £ 3.1 million Riverside Park in Dalmarnock is the fourth greenspace to be developed in recent years by Clyde Gateway.

Despite heavy rain, the park, which is accessed via Solway Street, was opened with a ribbon- cutting ceremony on Wednesday which was attended by MSP Tom Arthur and representatives from Clyde Gateway.

Work started in December 2021 to transform the previously vacant and inaccessible site into a dynamic greenspace which provides direct access from Dalmarnock to the Clyde Walkway with new footpaths, lighting, rain gardens and informal play and landscaped areas.

As part of Clyde Gateway’s ongoing commitment to increasing biodiversity and reducing the area’s carbon footprint, more than 5000 sq metres of shrubs and 45 trees have also been planted at Riverside Park.

Rosie Roberston, Clyde Gateway board member, said she is “delighted” to see the park opened.

She said: “It’s fantastic as a resident of Dalmarnock who was born here and still has family here to see the transformation, it’s just wonderful.

“And to see Clyde Gateway value green space as much as spaces for business and spaces for houses for me is just fabulous.”

She continued: “Your physical environment really affects your health, physically and mentally.

“You need to have opportunities to get out and move and you need to have opportunities to feel safe, and to feel like you live in a nice place.

“If you’re just in a built- up environment with no access to green space then it’s not going to do your wellbeing much good so I think it’s really important that not only do we have green spaces but they connect to other green spaces so you can make the most of it and move around outside.”

Ian Manson, chief executive of Clyde Gateway, added: “Greenspace is an absolutely vital part of the regeneration of an area.

“People need healthy places they can go and walk and exercise and spend some time in, but even more important here, it’s infrastructure that will help attract new homes and businesses to come and locate in the area.

“So, people will be able to live here and enjoy the open spaces and the area will be more attractive to businesses and that brings jobs for local people.”

Speaking of the rain gardens, he added: “We’ve now got one of the most beautiful streets in Glasgow in this area with the planting of the rain gardens and the trees. It’s really high quality and people should come and see it.”

Tom Arthur MSP, minister for public finance, planning and community wealth, said: “I’m delighted to see this.

“I had the opportunity to visit Clyde Gateway earlier in the year, in admittedly much sunnier weather, but it’s fantastic to see the pace of progress and the development.

“Riverside Park is a great example of collaborative working, redevelopment and regeneration we want to see not just in Glasgow but across Scotland.”

He added: “Green space is so important for people to be able to live well locally.

“It supports 20- minute neighbourhoods, but also greenspace at every level within our cities, and across Scotland in our more rural areas, is essential for tackling climate change and the government made a clear commitment to making sure Scotland becomes a net- zero nation by 2045.

“Every project adds up to this and this is another great example of how we can take what was vacant and derelict land and transform it into a great place to go and support the local community and also to support our ambitions to reduce our contribution to climate change.”