Going With The Majority To Make Controversial Play Decision
News Article
Lowther Gardens
A controversial decision to go ahead with plans for a new play area in Lowther Gardens has been made by Fylde Borough Council’s Cabinet this week.
The Lowther Gardens play area has been the subject of a lot of discussion after residents, living adjacent to the park, used their rights to veto the decision to build the play area for young people under a covenant that gives them the opportunity to do so. This has resulted in the loss of £47,000 worth of funding from Lancashire’s Play Builder scheme. However the Council has been successful in securing £135,000 capital grant from the Big Lottery to improve recreational facilities for young people in the Borough and some of this has been allocated to plans for Lowther Gardens.
At a Cabinet meeting this week the decision was taken to risk legal action from a handful of residents in support of providing much needed equipment to replace a playground that has been described as being ‘in desperate need of refurbishment.’
Councillor Susan Fazackerley, Cabinet Member for Leisure and Culture spoke to the rest of the Cabinet saying: “I have to say that it goes very much against the grain for us to lose out again on desperately needed play equipment for the benefit of young children, some of which is specifically designed for disabled children, because six out of 49 residents, entitled to raise objections to the scheme because of the restrictive covenants, have done so.”
A consultation period has been carried out, with 49 residents in the area, of new plans that have been created taking in to account some of the initial views expressed when the last set of plans were vetoed. Of these the majority of people that responded were in favour of the plans so the Cabinet decided to push ahead.
Councillor Fazackerley added: “There has been extensive consultation with the residents and the Parks Project Officer. We believe that the end result reflects the overall concern, wishes and comments made during the consultations.”
Residents were concerned about increasing anti social behaviour and extending the natural play element into the woodland plantings to the south of the existing play area. Following this process the scheme was amended to only include the site of the old tennis court.
Work on the new play area, designed along with input from Pear Tree School for Children with special needs and the Bretherton Group (Family Support Group of Children with Special needs) will start in December and should be complete in January 2010
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