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 if there is a communal garden/outdoor space which may or may not have play equipment which is fenced off and only residents can access via a gate with a key or fob or via a door from their building - then yes that is a communal space for residents only.
If this was the case of the park the OP saw she wouldn't have been able to gain access to it.
If it's just a park in the middle of the estate - next to the primary school, co-op, community centre etc (which many council estates have) then it's for everyone and anyone.

@HopeYourHighHorseBucks

‘I've lived in quite a few council estates and have never noticed outsiders using it. Never noticed donation boxes either, that would be hacked off within an hour.’

Literally just said the same thing to my husband when I read that post, any donation box where I grew up wouldn’t have lasted 10 minutes

@MorningStarling

If it's a council estate it's fine for outsiders to use, because it's effectively public property funded by taxation. It's as much yours as anybody's.

It would be different if it were a privately owned estate, it would be wrong for an outsider to use the facilities because they're not contributing anything towards it.

Even on privately owned estates, rules often state things like playgrounds cannot be exclusively for the use of residents. We have a playground, multi purpose all weather pitch, basketball nets and goal posts. All have to be available for all to use.

Residents pay to maintain them through an annual charge, but access is for all.

@Westfacing

I'd have thought that such playgrounds would be designated for residents' use but that it wouldn't be enforced. Just because they are owned by the council doesn't make them public property - car parking is only for residents so why not the playgrounds.

Would people feel free to stroll along the communal walkways or set up a picnic in front of someone's property on account it's council-owned?

this is my point. either some people feel very entitled, or they are talking about different premises, or from differing premises in a logic sense, so the conclusions will always diverge. but there seems to be a resistance to consider the situations that others are describing.

@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.

Don't talk ridiculous, its a council playground, anyone anywhere can use it. Never heard such tosh in my whole life

@alexdgr8 there playgrounds for children , any children or so you think we should segregate them
Council kids can only play in one and others in theirs
Most playparks can be played on by anyone wether in a council estate ( please bare in mind many of these may now be bought pe actually ha ) or in a new development which will mainly be private as often as part of planning a park will be agreed or green space for the local area , thats all people even if your passing through
Their kids parks
We have very few gated communities in the uk

@Legoisthebest

HadaVerde if there is a communal garden/outdoor space which may or may not have play equipment which is fenced off and only residents can access via a gate with a key or fob or via a door from their building - then yes that is a communal space for residents only. If this was the case of the park the OP saw she wouldn't have been able to gain access to it. If it's just a park in the middle of the estate - next to the primary school, co-op, community centre etc (which many council estates have) then it's for everyone and anyone.

Keys/fobs or gates are not required for a facility to be residents only, it’s expensive so isn’t the norm. It is generally only implemented when the general public take the piss and it becomes necessary.

"Have you read all of the OPs posts?

Obviously not cos she said more than that."

I have read all ops posts. Can you quote the bit where she said she was talking about residents communal facilities, because I did not see it? Perhaps I missed it.

All I could see was that she was describing a playground within a council estate close to some blocks of flats, with a fence. But no lock or signs saying residents only. Only a broken contribution box. That did not sound like the 'clearly defined boundaries' of communal social housing that you quoted.

To me a council estate could be a whole area of a town. To others it means an enclosed development. Because it can be both in different areas of the country. Therein lies the problem.

@HadaVerde

Playgrounds and parks are exactly the same thing depending where in the country you are from

🤣 ok.

To be fair, in many parts of the country the word park does also refer to a playground.

Growing up we never used the term 'playground' when we meant swings and slides, etc. that was a park. The playground was the concrete ground we played on at school.

@Abraxan I can't believe people don't know this , I guess it must be mostly people who live in a large detached who don't go on housing estates let alone council estates

We live on a council estate and my kids are always on the park.They love playing with new children ,its lovely when they all mix with kids from other areas. Only kids under 12 seen to go on park,teenagers seem to go into town.

@worriedatthemoment it was a large recyling bin that could be used for the wider area (I later checked on the council website).

[quote Wheelz46]@HadaVerde let's just pretend for a moment that you are correct. What happens when a non residential child plays in the residential playground?[/quote]
In the estate I grew up near, they'd have stones thrown at them.

It was considered a damn cheek to go onto an estate if you didn't live there or were not visiting someone who lived there!

Next to school is a big council estate in the middle is a lovely park and football field, everyone goes there after school and in the holidays. I've never thought about it. All parks here are council owned

@HadaVerde you would have to have a sign up though at least otherwise how would people know
As its not the norm for many parks to be private in the uk
A communal garden is very different

Is there a sign that says it’s for residents only? If there is then no, don’t use it. Otherwise, go for it.

@heffalitis thank fuck we don't all live where you did. Jesus

@Bopping298 thats a bit different to the council bins / chutes
We used to have such bins near us kind of in a council estate but public area but people used to dunp mattresses and fridges so they took them away

@RowanWeston

The council estate I used to live on had a playground within its communal grounds. A public road ran through the estate, the communal grounds were not fenced off, but the playground was for residents' use only. I wouldn't have minded non-residents using it though and nobody could tell who lived there and who didn't. I don't know why some posters think they are funded by council tax though. In our case we paid a service charge, separate from our rent for itemised services listed on our tenancy agreements as: upkeep and maintenance of communal areas inc bin stores, lifts, cleaning of communal areas, grass cutting, upkeep and maintenance of playground equipment. Playgrounds within public parks are funded directly from council funds but we tenants paid an additional service charge on top of council tax for our playground.

I just want to quote this because some of the posters here are so shocked that this could be the case! As I said upthread, this was the norm in the estates near me.

@AllThingsServeTheBeam I think if it was that kind of estate OP wouldn't even be walking through it

"Keys/fobs or gates are not required for a facility to be residents only, it’s expensive so isn’t the norm. It is generally only implemented when the general public take the piss and it becomes necessary"

How does this work for public liability insurance? They must at least need a sign saying 'private property' or 'residents only'?

If there is a playground with no sign / lock / fob, and not enclosed behind buildings, how is the general public supposed to know they can't use it?

There must be case law.

@worriedatthemoment ah no wouldn't do anything like that! That's awful and certainly fly tipping.

This was a large recyling bin that was on the estate. I checked on the council website and it could be used for my postcode. I used it for the correct recycling purposes but I can see how people using the bins willy nilly on estates would be awful.

[quote AllThingsServeTheBeam]@heffalitis thank fuck we don't all live where you did. Jesus [/quote]
I didn't live there. But yes, exactly, you can thank fuck if you were not born and brought up somewhere like that.

@RowanWeston i lived in something similar and nowhere did it say residents only , unless there is a sign how would anyone know?
I think many assumed it was residents only as they paid towards the upkeep
It wouldn't cover all the costs though most likely
You can't have a residents only area without signs otherwise how would people know

[quote worriedatthemoment]@AllThingsServeTheBeam I think if it was that kind of estate OP wouldn't even be walking through it [/quote]
We had some characters on the estates I've lived on. But throwing stones to use a swing?! Deary me! Maybe it's best those places are residents only. Keep them all together!