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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to expect the local playground not to be covered in broken bottles and fag butts?

47 replies

bigmouthstrikesagain · 18/08/2007 14:02

I am fed up with the state of the parks in my small town. They become teen hangouts after dark and are littered with broken bottles, fag butts and fast food waste particularly just after the weekend.

I have to scan the ground constantly for dangerous litter as my 18mo dd is in the 'put everything in my mouth' phase of development. While my son throws himself around as 3yo boys do - i fear he will fall on broken glass.

The whole situation is making me all misty eyed about the lovely park near my old house in London. It was beautifully looked after and landscaped, had a duck lake, play ground, cafe and toilets and was looked after my a team of keepers. This wasn't in Kew or sommat btw - it was scummy old Lewisham....

Am I expecting too much of my local council to keep the park safe? We have contacted the Chief Exec about this before btw - and they have done jack all!

Anyone else have to put up with this?

OP posts:
saralou · 18/08/2007 14:06

yup, i have had to leave on a few occasions and it makes me so angry! thats the local park, i tend to take him in the car to the big park near us! i even wrote to the local mp recently i was so angry

oregonianabroad · 18/08/2007 14:11

This is one of my biggest pet peeves. I live in the NE and this is a huge problem, to the extent that a new play area near us is in danger of being scrapped because it might draw in 'undesirable' behaviour. WTF??!! As it is, all of the smaller play areas near us are constantly getting vandalised and rubbish is all over the place.

Original poster
bigmouthstrikesagain · 18/08/2007 14:11

I haven't written to my MP yet - but I am thinking of contacting all my local councillors - one of them is the midwife whom delivered my daughter (at home) so she I hope would at least care about this.

I really just want regular cleaning/ clearing up - this is not too much to ask - surely?

OP posts:
Original poster
bigmouthstrikesagain · 18/08/2007 14:14

I am a firm believer in good quality environments - leading to improved behaviuor - I really think that once the borough council in Lewisham started investing properly in the park and looking after it - the people using it respected it more and helped keep it tidy etc.

OP posts:
MrsScavo · 18/08/2007 14:22

Would it help if you went to the local paper about the issue?

Magicmayhem · 18/08/2007 14:26

we visited a local skate park when we were on holiday.. it was full of broken bottles. I rang the council (there is usually a notice up saying who own the park with a phone number) and they sent someone to clean it up within half an hour...

does yours have a phone number you could complain too?

Original poster
bigmouthstrikesagain · 18/08/2007 14:37

Oregon - yes it is ridiculous that you council would rather close a park than look after it!

Mrs Scavo - The local papers are County papers so I will poss write but there is a lot of competition for stories - I imagine thw state of playgrounds isn't very sexy. But will speak to my dh as he is an ex-journo.

Magic - it is great that they acted so quickly for you at that skate park. however when we contacted the Council Chief executive about our park they gave us a lot of flannel about cleaning contracts and promised a new parks inspector was going to take action - very little sign of it so far.

OP posts:
IsabelWatchingItRainInMacondo · 18/08/2007 15:06

Someone I know organised a birthday party in an area adjacent to a playground. So... we walked our children to it just to find the climbing frames burnt down.

IsabelWatchingItRainInMacondo · 18/08/2007 15:12

Ah... and I also freak out at the sight of teens using the local park at the same time. I can't stand the foul language in front of small children, and feel really at risk. But the later may be based in the fact that a stupid teen aimed an airgun to my toddler while at a climbing frame, he just missed my son's head for an inch. And... I'm suposed to live in a privileged, expensive area in one of the "safest" cities of the country...

Original poster
bigmouthstrikesagain · 18/08/2007 15:13

Gawd that is awful isabel! Why do playgrounds become the focus of so much deliberate vandalism?

I mean I used to drink cider with my mates in the local park occasionally when I was 15 or so - but we never did anything worse than write our names on the wall in felt tip - I was a nice girl really.

OP posts:
Original poster
bigmouthstrikesagain · 18/08/2007 15:17

We have some older children/ teens using the parks during the day during the summer hols. But in the main the teens gather in groups at dusk and congregate at the parks for the binge drinking... we are also in a 'nice' area (though far too many chavvy happy hardcore playing boy racers for my liking).

OP posts:
IsabelWatchingItRainInMacondo · 18/08/2007 15:29

TBH I prefer 100 times to take DS to Wacky warehouse/museums/or even restaurants with soft areas than to the park as I feel ver vulnerable at parks. I hate them since the incident.

KerryMumbledore · 18/08/2007 15:30

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

chocolatemummy · 18/08/2007 15:36

isnt it awful that we cant go to a park out in the fresh air without foul mouthed little s and beer bottles and fag buts, at the risk of sounding like my mother, I just don't know whats happened to kids these days?

Original poster
bigmouthstrikesagain · 18/08/2007 15:39

I can understand that Isabel - I think I would feel the same in your situation.

However my son loves the flaming park. And without being able to drive - there are no baby friendly cafes here - nor museums and softplay areas - no culture to speak of really - I have very little else I can do with my children - out of the house - so the parks are very important to me.

We can also go into the countryside of course but that takes a lot of planning and avoiding farmers fields/ shotguns etc. and is not that easy with such young children.

OP posts:
chocolatemummy · 18/08/2007 15:43

parks are very important to all of us atleast they should be, My daughter loves going to the park but half the time the slides and swings are monopolised by teenagers or younger and so little ones don't get chance to have a go anyway

Original poster
bigmouthstrikesagain · 18/08/2007 15:52

well put chocmummy.

OP posts:
chocolatemummy · 18/08/2007 15:55

we have a lovely parkland very close to us but there is no playarea on it, council recently proposed a new play area and initially I was really pleased as is walking distance but in the end joined the petition against it because agree with locals it will just become another 'hang out' and be grafitti and rubbish everywhere and spoil parkland, how sad is that

crokky · 18/08/2007 15:56

Near me, there is a really nice fenced in play area that is only a couple of years old. I don't think I have ever seen many little kids in there as it is always full of teenagers smoking and drinking (so broken glass and fag ends everywhere). It is so sad as there is no point in it being there at all. I don't think councils can do much re cleaning as the teenagers are in there every day.

luckylady74 · 18/08/2007 16:03

there is an inspector/cleaner in our area who checks all the parks every week i';ve met him a few times - and tbh they're fine in the week and the main one is locked at night, but the others are littered on saturday and sunday mornings - but i can 't expect the poor man to work then too.
today i binned 2 vodka bottles before i let my 3 in the playground.
on the other hand give the teens somewhere to go - i binned a broken umbrella too and i remember sitting in the rain with cider in the park because there wasn't any clubs for us to go to. they've built 2 'teen' play areas near us with bus shelter type things, basket ball areas, adventure climbing frames and skate ramps - i do think that's the way to go - different ages need different things.

chocolatemummy · 18/08/2007 16:13

oh definately I remember sitting in the park with a bottle of cider too and to an extent its normal teenage behaviour but I didnt sit on the swings and slides giving evils to mothers with toddlers who actually want to use the park for what its for and i didnt gob on the slides that i knew little children were going down. there is def a need for things for youths to do but then what did we have?

squeakybub · 18/08/2007 16:16

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

IsabelWatchingItRainInMacondo · 18/08/2007 16:43

ChocolateMummy, I have also voted against creating special areas for teenagers to hang out, what's the point? allocating a place for their antisocial behaviour near to some poor neighbours' houses? No thanks.

There was something in the news this week about hanging out places being more of a problem than a solution, unless they have staff and organised activities (for which the council has no money).

Luckylady, DS's school had a huge skateboarding park open to the local youths on the condition of no drinking in the premises. Now is closed, not only because of the drinking, but because they took to vandalise adjoining areas of the school, including the school's own playground and green areas!

luckylady74 · 18/08/2007 16:44

no i wouldn't have been seen in the park in the day either - so far i've gone with the try and shame them off the slide approach 'yes ds1 he is a very big boy to be on the baby swing ...' but if an air pistol was produced i'm not sure if i could ever go back. and no i don't ever remember having an urge to grafitti anything beyond my school desk - i think only going into their homes and schools would give you an answer as to why they'd do that and worse.
i do feel that i'm in a park / playgroup rut, but i'm lucky i have those options.

luckylady74 · 18/08/2007 16:52

this is painting a very sad picture - so the only reason i can go to reasonable parks that don't get damaged beyond litter at the weekend and don't have teens on them scaring me off is because i live in a very well off area? or is it some other reason - i have no idea what the op's example of lewisham's like either- my area is heaving with families with small chidren - perhaps it's the sheer volume of adults that puts the teens off?