Dear neighbour, I apologise for interrupting with the letter, however, I am pretty sure that you have seen the activity that is going on in the park close to your house. This activity is being undertaken by the local council, it seems without any communication from them with anyone in the vicinity of Grange Park; it is also an addition to the other park swings area only 20 feet away.

     This is in itself is not a problem, however, over the past 10 years of living in Camden Close we have seen litter, anti-social behaviour, police call outs, swing chains being clattered and other general noise disturbances , (always from local youths and generally (but not exclusively)  in the evening and after dark) from teenagers who are obviously not the intended users of the park area. These additional play swings etc are now a lot closer and have already caused further concern for residents who live close by........... yet many of them (in fact 100% of the ones we have spoken to)were NEVER informed, let alone consulted with. The intended children who can use the park now have a direct view into the bedroom windows of the local residents, (as well as  the unintended users - older youths),...now surely this can’t be right?...... As well as this and the other detrimental facts mentioned above, it has de-valued the properties and reduced the sale-ablity of them as from every park facing window where there was once a quiet green field, there is now an anti-social breeding ground for us all. Can it be right to have a quiet area changed instantly to a noisy, council, littered site?

       Written communication of my concerns to the park project officers resulted in a book on anti-social behaviour with 10 slips in it to record the anti-social activities when they happen, being sent to me by post. My questions of whether it would be monitored, bins provided or fenced off were simply ‘No'. ....so what impression does this give? Yes, they don’t care about the local residents – yet there are many areas in the vicinity which do not have play areas of this nature and if there was one it would not affect the neighbours by being right under their windows.

 If you also are concerned about this as well and would like to it changed, please add your signature to the petition so we show our united concern.There are such things as RIGHTS. Ours were not considered. Please show your support to this cause and sign the petition. This will be presented to the park project managers, MP, press, ombudsman and other parties that will help to remove this horror and appologise to the residents. It can be put in an area where no one will be affected adversely from it.

Please forward to as many people you know of concern and equal opinion in this matter - this includes anyone else who is affected by this and even if it is not in the same locality as  we are all in the same boat.

Once again, the idea is not to deprive children of a play area but simply have our quiet, privately owned residential area returned from the litter strewn, noisy anti-social area it is rapidly becoming.

Lets remind ourselves that Camden Close is actually a PRIVATE RESIDENTIAL CLOSE with no council properties.

Please click on the links on the right, it makes interesting reading, Euclid Street Playpark (Swindon) has caused vandalism, drugs, vehicle and property damage because of the playpark being a gathering place for youths.

 Kind regards, Camden Close Resident.

Edit: Now that the park is open, another problem that the local council don't seem to have taken into consideration is the fact that people now drive their children to the park in their cars and park in the close, causing obstructions and less already valuable space for the residents to park in.

Edit:The very first weekend of opening: Once upon a time residents could enjoy quiet weekend afternoons in their garden, even that privacy has been taken away with screaming children all day on their doorstep effectively turning it into a theme park. 

Links