Can I use the playground of a council estate if we don't live there?

[Mummy1608]

Quick question...

I live right outside a really big council estate. (Eg I walk through it everyday as a shortcut to my local train station, that's how close I am and how big it is.) It's got a lovely playground in it with lots of cool climbing bits etc. Can I go there with my DD or do you think it's frowned on if I don't live there, because it's meant to be for residents? I can't find anywhere whether this isn't allowed, but it might be technically allowed but still frowned on? My next nearest playground is much smaller (although always empty) and a 15 min walk away.

Tldr can I take my dd to the council estate playground?

@HadaVerde

Visiting friends who live there? Yes fine.

Using it cos it’s closer than another for public use playground? No of course it’s not ok.

I’m amazed people think this is ok.

How strange, and sad really, that you would deny a child the right to play somewhere public! Where have you been the last few years, have kids not suffered enough being made to stay in all the time with all parks closed, that you would continue to deny a little un the right to play, what a friendly type you are! lol

I grew up on a council estate and everyone on and off the estate used it ,had a lovely field around it and a river people from all around the area used it , no one even questioned it why would they ? I live right on the edge of a mixed private and housing association area and there isn't much around so all the kids use the park in the centre which is a few roads from me , I see and meet new people their all the time and I also go to all different parks ,some are on estates but just good parks that the kids enjoy so we go when they want , I wouldn't think twice to be honest and the one lady saying she grew up and lives on a council estate and its fir residents only ?!?! What the earth ,u must be on some type of wind up either that or it wasn't a proper council estate you grew up on on live in as that's insane . Never heard anything like it !! X

As a former local councillor I can quite categorically say this is incorrect.

@Lurkerlot
Our park was Locked in the evenings because outsiders were using it in the summer and leaving smashed glass , takeaway waste. It meant that local kids couldn't use it in the evening for a while but we accepted that as it meant the
Next day when the kids went they wouldn't have to play in broken glass.

I just looked at the council website for my hometown. Council Tax funds amenities provided by the Town Council. This includes parks (the type with pretty flower beds, bandstand plus a playarea), playparks or playareas (the type that are just some play equipment) and mugas (mulit use games area) - ie tennis courts, basketball court etc. On the town map it shows where they all are. Some are in 'council estates', some private housing estates, some not in a housing estate at all - ie the big park by the river.
All funded by council tax.
All maintained by town council.
All available for all to use.
This thread is totally bonkers.

I'm thinking of estates as in streets of houses, originally built by the council as social housing but which are now probably 50% council owned & 50% privately owned. But the private owners only buy the house & the land it sits on. Not the community facilities

Well, that depends where you are.
In Scotland it is totally normal for purchasers to have a pro indiviso share of the communal facilities/areas included in their title. (I worked in land registration, so have experience of properties all across the country).

The individual proprietors are then liable for their share of the maintenance charges for said areas. So, if there were 150 properties, they would own a 1/150 pro indiviso share and be liable to pay a 1/150 share.
The reason being that otherwise the council would have to still pay for the upkeep, despite having sold of X houses and therefore having the rental come drop by Y amount. Eventually, it would get to the stage where there were zero council tenants and the council still having to maintain all the communal areas

it depends what you mean by litter

A litter of kittens should not be put in a rubbish bin.

@AllThingsServeTheBeam

They don't. It's just communal areas and property maintenance.

They also pay maintenance for the grounds including the play area which is maintained by the housing association staff - not the council staff who maintain the general parks. If there are any repair it is the housing maintenance repairs here - not the park Keeper who would be council employed

My childhood home is on a road near the edge of a council estate. We used its park frequently, and I now take my kids there when we visit my DM. There is even a path leading there from my DM's road. How odd to think that you shouldn't do this.

@TomsPrisonConsultant

Stuff paid for by the housing department for their housing residents is not paid for by the council tax pot. Why do people keep saying it is?! If you're doing this please can you point me to where you are getting your info from? I think lots of people here are making an assumption and asserting it as fact?!

Honestly so many people think that and no one has given a scrap of evidence despite all the condescending posts claiming to have some authority on the subject.

I have posted actual local authority housing policy specific to residents communal facilities and I’m still being insulted, called a troll and told I’m wrong.

Bizarrely people seem to think if something makes sense to them then it must be true.

Good to see more posters who actually have a clue.

@HadaVerde the key word there my duck is communal. Parks (playgrounds) unless specified, which (unless the sign had been torn down) the one the op to refers to isn't.

The batshit poster would hate me. During lockdown when you were allowed out once they had opened the parks but not much else, I took DS on a tour of all the parks in our town. We drove to a different one each Sunday. Of course anyone can use them!

Of course you're entitled to use the play park! Council Tax goes towards help with financing the upkeep of Public parks, playgrounds etc. Remember, you pay Council Tax whether your a Private householder or a Council tenant.

@Mummy1608
To settle your mind, ring your local council offices and ask for the planning department (or choose that option when they list it)
Ask them about the use of the park and the gym thingy. When you have the info you can then deal with any questions you might be asked by residents of the estate, although I doubt anyone will ask you anything. It will settle your mind so you can enjoy the area with your child.
Ring them tomorrow.

Wow, 25 pages to say yes you can😬

Communal facilities are different.

At the park we use, there is just a council sign saying X Street Park.

[quote Comefromaway]It's actually becoming a problem

www.standard.co.uk/news/london/west-london-borough-set-to-axe-street-bins-because-they-attract-rubbish-8474450.html[/quote]
@Comefromaway This is actually not becoming a problem unless you live in Kensington & Chelsea and are caught up in one of their hare-brained money-saving schemes.

Contrary to popular prejudice K&C is not entirely populated by billionaires. It is where 72 ordinary people died in Grenfell Tower and the inquiry into whether it was wise for the council to use cladding on the block and the involvement of private contractors is trundling on.

I am not at all surprised that K&C thinks it can dodge responsibility for a basic service like street cleaning by simply taking bins away. That's what they do because they are a joke.

What do you think most people are going to do if they can't find a bin in reasonable distance? Most of them will chuck litter in the streets and it doesn't matter if it's in a bin or not - K&C council tax payers are going to have to pay to have it cleared up any way. But K&C pretend they have no responsibility.

I don't live in K&C but I don't live far away. In my borough businesses are expected to pay for disposal of commercial waste and the council aren't interested in looking for people who put a few envelopes in a street bin. They concentrate on businesses that generate a lot of waste like shops, food retailers and large office employers. All sensible businesses comply and some of them employ their own contractors.

I headed up a committee to revamp a run down playground on a council estate in my town. It was all broken glass, needles, graffiti etc, so no one could use it. We held a lot of activities to raise money and applied to National Lottery Community Fund, which was matched by the local Council. It is now a safe place to play. This was our aim - a safe place for children in the town to play and socialise and it is now well used. It is really rewarding to see children playing there, I want to emphasise that it was not a gift to the estate it was for children in the town. Anyone can use it.

TomsPrisonConsultant

Stuff paid for by the housing department for their housing residents is not paid for by the council tax pot. Why do people keep saying it is?! If you're doing this please can you point me to where you are getting your info from? I think lots of people here are making an assumption and asserting it as fact?!

To be fair though, we don't know if this particular park is funded by council tax or the housing department.

[quote limitedperiodonly]@thewhatsit why would I want to keep rubbish in my house?[/quote]
you can actually be fined for putting household rubbish in a public litter bin.
they are provided for people passing by, with litter that has been generated while out and about, to avoid throwing on the street.
i had a colleague whose job was to investigate household items put in street litter bins. she often traced the perpetrators and issued fines.
householders should use their own rubbish bins for these items.
i believe it is under the environmental protection act, but as i didn't enforce it, i am not certain of the relevant legislation.

[quote AllThingsServeTheBeam]@HadaVerde the key word there my duck is communal. Parks (playgrounds) unless specified, which (unless the sign had been torn down) the one the op to refers to isn't.[/quote]
The op is referring to a play area within a social housing estate.

Residents communal facilities…Not a public park.

Why don’t people get that they are not the same thing.

I think people are arguing because they have a different understanding of exactly what some of the words used mean.

By park I mean a big green area which might have trees or a playground inside it, or even a pond and a cafe. It might be fenced off or it might not. It might be inside a council estate or anywhere else in a town or village.

A council estate would usually be roads of houses, maybe with blocks of flats in it. There might also be facilities like a parade of shops, churches, schools or even a big shopping centre all within the council estate. There might be buses going through it. Sometimes the blocks of flats might be inside a big field with a playground. Sometimes the blocks might be close together and the playground close to them. But with no fences.

Private estates would just be a load of houses built by the same developer at the same time and that look the same. They'd usually have roads, shops, schools, parks and playgrounds in as well. Unless they were a smaller and usually more recently built gated estate.

Social housing might just be a private block with its own common garden, not open to everyone. Or it might be mixed in with the council estate.

A playground would be a surfaced area with play equipment on it, or a school playground, which might also be a yard. If the park has no fence or playground it might just be called a field. The park / playground / field would all be for public use.

I live outside London.

I have lived in London though, and I noticed there, that the estates often have more of a defined edge than they do where I live. The playground might be behind or surrounded by blocks of flats on all or most sides. There might be a fence and gate that look more private. There might not be big green areas around it and in between it.

Some people must be thinking more of that kind of set up.

You probably could, but tbh whether its a good idea is another question.

@cadburyegg

It is totally fine.

I live in a small village on an estate, we pay a management company to maintain grounds on the estate which includes things like mowing the lawns and upkeep of the playground. Nobody on the estate cares if the playground is used by non-residents. IMO it's a good thing if children have variety in where they go. The one here is also at the back of the estate nowhere near a road, so very safe too.

Yes, I came here to say this. No one knows or cares who is using the playparks. There's no signage that it's for residents only. So a council playpark I wouldn't even think twice about! Unless there's a lock/sign that something is for residents only, it's fair game.

"The op is referring to a play area within a social housing estate.

Residents communal facilities…Not a public park.

Why don’t people get that they are not the same thing."

She didn't say that. That's just what you are picturing from your experience. She just said a playground beside some social housing. Not behind the same fence or enclosed within it. She never said it was residents communal facilities. You have just assumed that's what she meant.

As someone else has said residents on the estate will pay a charge, whether a service charge for privately owned or grounds/communal charge in council owned. This is separate to the provision in council tax for public open spaces. That said most residents don’t mind who uses it except on a few occasions where groups have come in and destroyed the facilities and it was residents, not the council, who had to pay the repairs. As a result our playgrounds do have locks on now overnight to prevent further damage. However this does depend on where you live, I’m south London but a quick look at neighbouring Kent and their council tax covers this cost. Also nowhere on any London council sites that I could see does it say these are residents use only. Though some estates are no longer council owned but retain walk through for general public