Go-ahead for Poole's Alexandra Park play equipment (From Bournemouth Echo)
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Go-ahead for Poole's Alexandra Park play equipment
10:30am Wednesday 10th March 2010 in
NEW children’s play equipment will be installed in a Poole park, despite a late bid to hold up the scheme.
Council bosses have decided to press ahead with the new zip wire, basket swing and rebound wall at Alexandra Park.
They were forced into a rethink after one group of residents protested they had not been properly consulted over the £60,000 plans.
A public meeting on Friday found residents split over the plans, forcing the council to revise them in light of some of the concerns raised.
The compromise means the equipment should be installed by the end of the month, qualifying it for funding from the government’s Playbuilder initiative.
Cllr Tony Woodcock, portfolio holder for children services and play champion for Poole, said: “We believe the vast majority of local people, young and old, will agree the proposals offer an opportunity to enhance Alexandra Park.
“They deliver much-needed improvements to the play facilities available for the hundreds of children living nearby.”
To try to placate protestors, the location of the new zip wire and the orientation of the rebound wall have been changed.
The council also said it would monitor the use of the equipment throughout the summer to assess if any subsequent changes are needed.
Sue Hockey, one of the residents who had called for a review of the plans, said the amendments were of little comfort.
She said: “The council haven’t listened at all. They were going ahead regardless of what residents said.
“A lot of people are still unhappy with what has happened.”
Robin Pullman, secretary of the Alexandra Park bowls club, said they were not against improvements, but were concerned about the potential noise and nuisance of the rebound wall.
The equipment was purchased last September following an initial consultation last summer.
Comments(4)
stakeholder1
says...
5:18pm Sun 14 Mar 10
ctrewyou - I agree with your last comment whole heartedly, but do not agree that, ‘A lot of residents are very happy with this proposal, and a lot of children are very excited about the equipment being installed’.
I have spoken to parents, young people, local residents, park users and dog walkers too and have only come across one person who agrees with the proposals as they stand. Everyone else expressed concern about the rebound wall/ synthetic sports surface, being located on the only flat area of grass in the park and also near houses.
All the parents I spoke to felt that the new equipment should be placed inside the existing gated play area and not spread over the park.
ctrewyou
says...
10:03am Mon 15 Mar 10
The scaremongering about a bit of astroturf ('artificial sports surface'?)and a rebound wall is beyond belief. Astroturf is artificial grass, you can do everything on it that you could do on real grass. It is not taking anything away from anyone. The area as it stands can hardly be called 'grass', more like a brown area of scrubby tufts and dirt. You would think it was a pristine lawn. Astroturf will improve the look, feel, and quality of the area as it is now. It will not get muddy in the winter, so my kids will not come home covered in mud, which is good. Also, it is not the only bit of flat grass in the park, I was playing football up by the goal above the play area only yesterday, and it seems pretty flat to me there. It is also hardly pristine grass either, but certainly useable.
How noisy will the rebound wall be? Actually nobody knows. But people opposed to the scheme assume it will be really noisy and disruptive.
Please keep this in perspective, we are talking about 3 pieces of play equipment being built, which will not adversley affect the enjoyment of the park for anyone but will give a lot of children a lot of enjoyment.
stakeholder1
says...
11:19pm Wed 7 Apr 10
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Alexandra Park, Parkstone, where new play equipment is to be installed despite concerns
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ctrewyou says...
5:51pm Wed 10 Mar 10
I hope the Alexandra park suffrigettes dont stand in front of the diggers this time; talk about anti-social behaviour, stopping people going about their lawful business just because you as an individual dont like something. We live in a democracy, and the council have had to make a decision, balancing the views of a diverse range of local residents. Whatever they decided would have upset someone, but we elect them to do a job, and they have done it properly, in my view.
One thing that most people seemed to agree on at Fridays meeting was that the council have (again) not understood what it means to consult with residents. If it had been done properly in the first place, this would have been sorted out 6 months ago.