Published: Wednesday, 25th June, 2008 12:00
Mixed views on playground closures
By James Kell and Adam Hewitt
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RESIDENTS have given a mixed reaction to news that four children’s play areas in Woodley and Earley are set to close.
Families with young children say they are a valuable amenity while other residents say they are under-used and just a place for teenagers to gather in the evenings and at weekends.
Almost 8,000 people living near 16 play areas in the Wokingham borough were given the chance to have their say during a consultation which began in autumn 2006.
The borough council executive is tonight (Thursday) set to discuss the removal of play equipment from eight sites including Mollison Close in Woodley, and Kilnsea Walk, Moorhen Drive and Skelmerdale East playgrounds in Earley.
Equipment from these sites will be shared out among the borough’s other play areas and the remaining space will be grassed over to provide ‘green space’.
Mollison Close resident and mother of three, Julie Lunn, took part in the consultation and wants the playground to stay.
She said: “My kids use it a couple of times a week so I don’t want it to be taken away. If it closes I won’t be impressed. I haven’t been aware of any teenagers gathering there, and if it closes it means crossing Mohawk Way to take the kids to the playground over there.”
David Swadling, also of Mollison Close, said: “I think it’s a problem and it should go. In the evening with the window open you can hear the teenagers there making a noise. I’ve had to call the police once.
“It’s not a children’s recreation ground, I hardly see children there at all.”
The Moorhen Drive playground in Earley has already lost some of its equipment, and now just a swing and a roundabout remain.
It was deserted when the Chronicle visited it this week, but a mother walking nearby said: “There are some busier and better playgrounds not too far away which are better used, so I think the council have got it about right on this one, it’s not well-used.”
The playground at Kilnsea Walk was also empty, but when it and the Skelmerdale East playgrounds are stripped of their equipment and grassed over, there will still be 21 playgrounds around Earley and another 12 in Woodley.
Cllr Norman Jorgensen, executive member for children’s services, said: “We have listened to our residents and retained the play areas they use and feel are a valuable part of the community. Even by opening these sites up into green space we still have plenty of local play parks for toddlers, young children and teenagers to make
use of.”
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