‘A cracking new facility’: Work starts on Grizzly Park revamp in Wick
Work has begun on transforming the children’s play area at the Grizzly Park in Wick into “a cracking new facility”.
Highland Council has allocated more than £145,000 of Scottish Government funding towards the scheme, featuring a “unique design” with “items for all ages and abilities”. It is hoped the revamp will be ready by the start of the school summer holidays in July.
The council shared a series of visualisations courtesy of playground equipment supplier Kompan. Groundworks are under way ahead of the new equipment arriving.
A Highland Council spokesperson said: “The unique park design incorporates items for all ages and abilities. Accessibility to and through the site has been thought about with the incorporation of accessible path networks.
“The park has also focused on including sensory play into its design. This includes a multi-unit which includes sensory panels, musical items, differing surfaces and sensory planting.
“Additionally, the park will feature planting that will encourage increased biodiversity within the wildflower areas.
“The team are currently aiming to have the refurbished play park open for the start of the school summer holidays. However, achieving this date will depend on a number of external factors.”
The spokesperson added that the computer-generated images give an indication of what the playpark will look like, while noting that “it won’t be exactly the same layout on the ground”.
The budget for the park is £145,824.
The start of work was welcomed by the Royal Burgh of Wick Community Council (RBWCC), which has been pushing for improvements for some time.
Chairman Allan Farquhar said: “We have been tenacious about having the Hillhead and Grizzly playparks reinstated and fortunate to realise our efforts, with support from our local councillor and Highland Council amenities departments.
“We are delighted to have five well-equipped playparks in our ward following a slow decline over the past few years.
“This is a well-received result in the face of widely publicised concern as to Highland Council’s ongoing engagement with playparks, as we understand it is not a statutory requirement on Highland Council to provide them.”
Community council vice-chairman Allan Bruce said: “The Grizzly Park being redeveloped is fantastic news for that part of Pulteneytown. After the old equipment was removed, RBWCC had pressed Highland Council to ensure it was replaced.
“From the drawings that have been presented to us, it looks like a cracking new facility.”
In January, Highland Council’s Caithness area committee approved more than £290,000 of funding to improve five playparks in the county.
The communities and place committee had agreed in 2021 that funds received from the Scottish Government’s Play Parks Renewal Programme be decided upon by area committees.
More than £146,000 of this funding would be used in the Thurso and Northwest Caithness ward for the projects in Thurso, Castletown, Dunnet and Scrabster.
For the Wick and East Caithness ward, £145,000-plus go towards refurbishing the Grizzly Park.
Maree Todd, the SNP MSP for Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, later pointed out that nearly £1.7 million had been invested in playparks across Highland, with £732,000 in 2024/25.
She said in February: “The SNP’s commitment to improving playparks for children across Scotland is making a real difference, and I’m pleased to see Highland Council benefiting from this investment.”
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