No playground in our estate - thank you!

H

Henny Penny

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An article in my local paper covered a meeting of the local county council and a discussion regarding the provision of a playground in a local authority housing estate. One of the local representatives is quoted as saying that the people in the estate do not want a playground ... as it will attract anti-social behaviour. The council have decided because of this not to go ahead with their plan to install a playground.

It makes me so mad ... firstly the govenment has a national play strategy ... which local authorities are part of .... they have play policies in place which include the provision of playgrounds. Why are playgrounds not exempted developments? Why can the citizens of an estate decide that just because they don't want a playground near them that they have the right to deny children of the area the opportunity to play? Anti-social behaviour seems to be the new catch phrase ... where previously local authorities cited insurance as a reason not to provide playgrounds ... where are the gardai?

I don't know what the solution is ... but I do think we should have more playgrounds ... instead of fewer ...

Thanks for the opportunity to LOS!!!
 
Henny Penny said:
An article in my local paper covered a meeting of the local county council and a discussion regarding the provision of a playground in a local authority housing estate. One of the local representatives is quoted as saying that the people in the estate do not want a playground ... as it will attract anti-social behaviour. The council have decided because of this not to go ahead with their plan to install a playground.

It makes me so mad ... firstly the govenment has a national play strategy ... which local authorities are part of .... they have play policies in place which include the provision of playgrounds. Why are playgrounds not exempted developments? Why can the citizens of an estate decide that just because they don't want a playground near them that they have the right to deny children of the area the opportunity to play? Anti-social behaviour seems to be the new catch phrase ... where previously local authorities cited insurance as a reason not to provide playgrounds ... where are the gardai?

I don't know what the solution is ... but I do think we should have more playgrounds ... instead of fewer ...

Thanks for the opportunity to LOS!!!
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Surely your children have the Playstation, DS lite and X-Box consoles, is this not enough for them.

They can get their running around with guns, bombs, missiles and lasers on the telly.

Is it not better for them to be indoors where they can be safe from all the scum of society.

Think of all the broken bottles and needles that your child could walk on out-doors.

Keep them safe indoors till they can venture out into the real world when they are 18.

Think of those poor people who have been traumitised by the sound of playing children during the day.

My God woman have you no shame the councillers have done a great job in looking after the workings of local goverment.

This is just another sensible policy.

..............................................................

If you believe all that tripe you should be in goverment.

I'd imagine that there were very few people who complained.

If you get together with a few residents they can approach another counciller and go from there.
 
I agree with SLF for a change... :eek:

Something similar happened in my estate, and all the residents came together, writing numerous letters and getting under the skin of the local council... now we have a nice new shiny playground.

Keep at them Penny, they'll give you one just to shut you up in the end :D
 
No problem Sandrat, SLF is just throwing his toys outta the pram at the moment.

I told you you weren't allowed visit my mansion, don't get so sour :p
 
You know of course this means war...

When I win I get to be king of the castle and you get to be a dirty rascal.

So there huh!!!
 
We have a playground in our small private estate and I hate it!! Parents refuse to supervise their children and while we haven't had a legal action yet, it's only a matter of time before a child gets hurt. Nearby plants and grass have been destroyed by kids from the playground and there's also the noise factor. We also get people coming in from outside to access the playground despite notices that it is for residents only.

When you drive in it looks pretty and yes the kids seem to enjoy it but we're a small managed development and the playground is more hassle than it's worth! We have large communal gardens which are enclosed and safer to play in, so I'd gladly get rid of the playground in favour of extra parking spaces!
 
I will not agree either if a playground was going to be build in my estate. It should be in a public place like a park but certainly not in an estate where it will be more hassle than it is worst for the residents
 
shesells said:
We have a playground in our small private estate and I hate it!! Parents refuse to supervise their children and while we haven't had a legal action yet, it's only a matter of time before a child gets hurt. Nearby plants and grass have been destroyed by kids from the playground and there's also the noise factor. We also get people coming in from outside to access the playground despite notices that it is for residents only.

When you drive in it looks pretty and yes the kids seem to enjoy it but we're a small managed development and the playground is more hassle than it's worth! We have large communal gardens which are enclosed and safer to play in, so I'd gladly get rid of the playground in favour of extra parking spaces!
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Samantha said:
I will not agree either if a playground was going to be build in my estate. It should be in a public place like a park but certainly not in an estate where it will be more hassle than it is worst for the residents
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Just curious - do you have kids of playground age?
 
If I say yes then I'm a bad mother who doesn't want to keep her kids stimulated or who would rather pile them into the car and drive them to a playground thus polluting the atmosphere, clogging the roads etc.

If I say no then I obviously don't know what I'm talking about, if I had kids of playground age I would be delighted to have it there.

So I'm choosing not to answer your question :p

Reading back over my OP I wrote it with my Owner/Director of the management company hat on....we'd just had a meeting and the playground is a constant issue, or rather some people's use of the playground.
 
Complainer said:
Just curious - do you have kids of playground age?
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Yes, I have two kids under 6 so I know what I am talking about. We have a playground in my town which is located in a public park next to the garda station, we often go there when the weather permit it, it is a 15 minutes walk and it is a great commodity. However, despite being locked at night, it is often trashed with graffiti, you can find used condom, broken bottle etc... so it is for this reason that I would not like to see a playground in my estate, it will attract other than kids especially at night time.
 
Agree with Samantha; I also have young children who love playgrounds but would not like one in my estate. Unfortunately at night ( and sometimes even in the day) they do attract all sorts- from the mildly drunk who are not doing any real harm, just loud, to the very intoxicated who both break the equipment and leave broken glasses/bottles etc. The only way to make them safe really is to lock them at night but this can be difficult, or to patrol them and that's not going to happen.
 
I'd have thought that a playground in an estate would have a much better chance of being well maintained and managed, with the oversight of local families - No?
 
I don't know any local families happy to pick up broken bottles, cigarette ends, condoms etc!
 
shesells said:
I don't know any local families happy to pick up broken bottles, cigarette ends, condoms etc!
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I used to see one local lady doing a sweep round the local park each morning picking up beer cans. But I really had prevention in mind, i.e. getting rid of the gangs who leave the broken bottles, fag ends and condoms.
 
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