Cavendish Park revamp sparks controversy among Bispham community
Local residents raise concerns over changes to park layout and accessibility
Work to revamp a Bispham park, with thousands of pounds already spent, is set to continue, says the group behind the scheme.
But not everyone is happy about the way the project at Cavendish Park has developed so far, with claims that the scheme has made it worse for the community.
Using different funding pots amounting to a total of around £60,000, members of a committee which has seen a merging of the Friends of Cavendish Park and Cavendish Bowling Club have introduced a number of changes.
These include a revamp and relocation of the play area to a different area of the park; the introduction of high mesh fencing around the bowling green, including a gate which requires key access; new benches and picnic area; and an ongoing upgrade of the entrance ramp for disabled users.
A mural has also been created on an inside wall of the park, which is council-owned.
The team behind the upgrade, which began two years ago, say that it was sparked by the urgent need to protect the whole park from “extreme” anti-social behaviour and vandalism caused by large groups of youths – sometimes up to 20 at a time.
John Ball, financial officer of the bowling club and treasurer of the Friends group, said: “If we hadn’t acted this park would probably now be shut and we’d probably see a planning application going in for a housing development. It would have been game over. Now the improvements are there for everyone to see, and we haven’t finished yet,”
But a group of mums say they are furious about the project, because they believe the high fencing has locked the community out of half the park and say the upgrade benefits the bowling club.
They say the new location of the play area, now on grass instead of soft flooring like is previous site, will cause it to be waterlogged when it rains. It is, they say, also in direct line fire of footballs flying over from the adjacent football pitch and hitting youngsters using the play equipment.
Mum-of-one Skye Sandiford, 31, who lives yards from the park, said: “The park is no longer an all-weather facility, yet we’re somehow expected to believe this is an improvement.
“Moving a perfectly good park onto grass, giving it a quick refresh, and calling it a success is, frankly, questionable. The ramp is unsafe and looks like an accident waiting to happen.
“Nothing has been done for the older children. They’ve taken their space away, where they loved to play football on and given them two empty football nets to kick football into on muddy grass that is poorly maintained grass.”
Another neighbouring resident, mum-of six Charlotte Capper, 36, said: “It feels like the improvements have been made for the bowling club but not for the rest of us.”
But Mr Ball said: “It’s very disappointing that some local residents take that viewpoint.
“Can they remember what the play area was like before, with the damaged flooring, which was a tripping hazard, and the broken play equipment which is now fixed? The play equipment has matting underneath it to stop it getting waterlogged, there won’t be a problem
“We moved the play area because in its previous position, the youths were gathering there and getting onto the clubhouse roof. The new location is safer and a bigger space.
“We had to put the high fencing and gate up to stop the vandalism and the youths ruining the bowling green by cycling on it and using it for football. We had to have the police down here all the time but we solved the problem.
“We would love to hear from positive, willing people who care about the Park and are prepared to put time and effort into joining in on the transformation.”
Skye Sandiford said there needed to be accountability over the use of council funds.
But Cllr Paul Wilshaw, chairman of the Friends group, who has raised some of the money via a councillor’s ward allowance, along with Cllr Joel McKevitt, said: “All the money spent is accountable and on record,including over £8,000 from the National Lottery and £15,000 from Sport England.
“This wasn’t a grant from the council, it is money we have found ourselves and made available to the council.
“Without this upgrade the park would be in a very bad way.”