Carnfunnock Country Park awarded £6.1 million from Levelling Up Fund
Monday 23 January 2023
Over £6million has been allocated to Carnfunnock Country Park from the UK government’s Levelling Up Fund.
Levelling up is a UK government regional development plan. It is aimed at improving economic performance outside the south-east of England. The scheme is most closely associated with the north of England but is funding projects throughout the UK.
The proposed plans for Carnfunnock will enhance the natural heritage asset which will in turn will help revitalise Larne town centre through creating a space that people want to visit, live and work in.
The key components of the project will include construction of a new visitor centre which will house a retail shop, café, meeting rooms and bathroom facilities, overlooking the coastline.
It will also see an upgrade to existing amenity block to include a restaurant, café, shops, toilets, office, staff welfare, storage and circulation.
There will be an upgrade of the existing visitor amenities, new additional toilets including Changing Places facilities.
A 1,000m2 pump track to create a new leisure attraction for older children, an upgrade of the existing adventure play and park enhancement to include a new maze viewing platform and additional accessible play equipment.
Finally there will be an introduction of new public realm sculpture trails, viewing points, pathways, signage and an introduction of two electric points for camp pitches.
Speaking about the announcement, Mayor Alderman Noel Williams, said: “We are delighted to have received the full amount of £6.1m for our Carnfunnock Country Park bid.
"We are grateful to the many residents who helped us develop our plan through our engagement events and we are delighted that the Council's plan and investment has been supported in this way.
"We know how proud our residents are of Carnfunnock and we are sure everyone will share our excitement with this news.”