By James Williamson

LORD PROVOST John Letford cut the ribbon to reopen Wellgate Park in the Hilltown on Saturday, after the green space underwent a £200,000 facelift.

The park, just behind The Little Theatre on Victoria Road, has been redesigned as a new “gateway” for the area, ahead of work to regenerate the Hilltown.

Councillors and community groups gathered for the opening.

Nigel McDowell, city council planning officer with responsibility for urban design, said, “It’s been a park for 20 years but it came in for a lot of antisocial behaviour, so we decided to bring it back to life. We’ve planted trees and improved lighting and seating in the area, and we hope it will make a real gateway for the Hilltown area.”

Wilma Duncan, vice-chairwoman of funding partner the Community Regeneration Forum, who also lives in the area, said, “The park used to be full of graffiti and it was used by drug dealers. It was a place I would have been frightened to go to, and was overgrown with bushes.

“But now I like it—it has opened out, a welcoming place, one you’d like to come to with your children.”

She urged locals to attend a meeting, to be held at the Five Ways Centre on Caird Avenue at 7pm on September 18, to discuss plans for the further regeneration of the area.

In declaring the park open, Mr Letford said, “This area is of major importance to the city and is the gateway to the Hilltown regeneration area. I congratulate all the people who have made today happen, but mostly the local community groups who continue to work on behalf of the area and the city.”

The refurbishment was supported by the city council’s planning and transportation department, Dundee Contract Services and the European Regional Development Fund.

Refreshments for people attending the opening were provided in Dundee Dramatic Society’s Little Theatre, next to the park.

The theatre had planned to offer refreshments in their newly renovated coffee lounge and bar but work to the area was halted after the recent floods caused substantial damage.

Instead, DDS members rose to the challenge and served refreshments in the unfinished but dry bar area.