The deteriorating state of a popular park is affecting the wider community’s health, according to a petition.
Wish Park, in west Hove, is now in such a poor condition that the football pitches are closed, the cricket square has all but disappeared and the outdoor gym removed.
Such is the concern about the state of the park, which is also known as Aldrington Recreation Ground, that 1,764 people signed a petition calling for action from Brighton and Hove City Council.
Des O’Dell presented the petition to a meeting of the full council at Hove Town Hall on Thursday (14 December). He said that the community was concerned that the council was neglecting the park.
Mr O’Dell said: “Many comments in the petition underscore the council’s neglect, particularly the failure to prepare playing surfaces after an event and their decision to change from a part-time dedicated park-keeper to infrequent drop-ins by operatives unfamiliar with the park who have made the facilities worse.”
A particular area of concern was the state of the grass after a circus event in the park in June.
No inspection or work was carried out after the event which Mr O’Dell said was the result of a breakdown in communication between Cityparks and the events team.
He said that the park was left in a dangerous state for sport, with muddy patches and no grass. The football pitch was left unusable and children’s football clubs had had to play on larger pitches.
The cricket square was damaged last month after a council van was driven across the wet grass leaving a deep rut.
Labour councillor Tim Rowkins, who chairs the council’s City Environment, South Downs and the Sea Committee, apologised for the poor state of the park and the effect that it was having on the community.
Councillor Rowkins was aware of the problems with the football pitches. The circus took place during wet weather, he said, and the soiling and seeding the site was not done “to the standard the council hoped for”.
He said: “We have put in place a new framework for events to ensure that groundworks can be enabled more quickly where possible – and there are no events are planned for the park in summer 2024.
“We are also working on a series of updated, park-specific event packs that will provide better guidance for events to ensure minimal negative impact in the aftermath.”
Work is also under way with the Friends of Wish Park to replace the outdoor gym which was removed in 2021 because it was rotting.
Green councillor Kerry Pickett called for a report into the issues raised in the petition. The Conservatives agreed but the two parties were outnumbered by Labour who said that it was unnecessary because an action plan was already under way.
The petition is due to be presented to the City Environment, South Downs and the Sea Committee on Tuesday 23 January 2024.
Things like this maybe would benefit from a CIC Limited taking over the task, and gaining fundraising to maintain it. Access to funds that the BHCC can’t access.
Petitions are often used extremely ineffectually, and this here is another example of it. The local TRA should really be taking on this challenge and representing at Area Panel. If a TRA doesn’t exist, then residents should be looking to form one!
Why should the residents have to do anything? An award-winning park keeper has been unfairly suspended resulting in Wish Park going to rack and ruin. One phonecall to the Senior Officer responsible and our Council Leader could resolve this matter. Bella, do your job and LEAD if you are the Leader. Your performance so far is risible.
Hi Benjamin – please share your experience and how you can help – the petition has engaged 1770 members of the community and has now gained cross party support that things must improve. We are now working on the action plan and an enduring strategic plan for the park but always happy to listen to others who can provide positive input please.
Sort out your Ward Bella Sankey. How many petitions does it take?
So many ‘progressives’ living in Brighton yet the only progression I have seen in the 30 years I’ve lived here is progressively more filthy/weed infested pavements, parks and open spaces which used to be planted up and pleasant uncared for and bleak, graffiti on nearly every wall and most sadly the destruction through lack of care and attention of the amazing regency architecture and legacy that those who came before us left as their legacy.
People can minge and moan about lack of funding – but we have enough funding to pay huge sums of money to the debacle that is the i360. It’s like a badge of honour for Greens and far left Labour to run places into the ground. Anywhere they go they leave it looking like Venezuela.
Its an absolute disgrace! The model being used between park-keeper or senior gardener as a hub for the local community really worked and not only transformed a run down recreation ground into a multi-use park but helped
to transform a whole area! This model is a great success and should be put to use everywhere!
Brighton and Hove city council should be building communities not destroying them! This should be the decision
of the local tax payer not and not of disconnected managers in offices miles away? That is where it all falls apart!
Usual council spill ,love the quote “not done to the council standard “ was council workers who did it ,would have been better off getting the kids from the sandpit to do it .No one takes responsibility just point ,point ,point .
It feels like the community that was built up for over a decade by the park keeper is slowly getting torn apart. The friendly feel Wish Park had is breaking down just as much as the football pitches. Since the football cage in Stoneham Park was taken down with just days notice to residents, to be replaced by a basketball cage that is massively smaller, there’s nowhere now to play football locally, as Wish Park is currently unusable. This affects, predominantly, the most deprived children within our community.
Your comment is completely wrong and based on no evidence whatsoever. Recreation facilities generally are improving. The Kingsway to the Sea project is taking shape and will be a welcome addition to the area. Stoneham Park has been greatly improved with the new sports area (which is for football and basketball, so perhaps you haven’t actually been) and new trees planted. The old cage that was there before was unsafe and noisy, and made the whole park look uncared for and downmarket.
The project along the Kingsway has a proposed new park in the plans, which will be lovely but who is going to maintain it if Wish park and the Lagoon are being neglected?
Wish Park is definitely in need of some TLC, but some of these comments and parts of the petition, itself, are wrong and misguided. The football pitches are largely in the state they are because of the very heavy rainfall we have had in the last few weeks. The intensity of rainfall we are getting now is unprecedented and is a result of climate change. How local authorities manage the effect the changing weather will have on its assets is a real challenge. The cricket square has hardly been damaged at all. A small corner of it has become rutted, but it is, by no means, ruined. The old groundsman may have been popular, but, again, this criticism is wide of the mark. The real reason for the sudden deterioration is that a circus was allowed to pitch camp in the summer and the damage done to the grass was not repaired. The council, obviously, took a fee from the circus and ought to have invested – just a fraction – of that money in re-turfing the areas where the grass had been killed off. They did no such thing, and allowed weeds to flourish there instead. Now, they have dumped soil on the affected areas which has just made the situation worse. That is where the real problem lies.
Hi Angela I am glad you agree about the football pitch would be interested to hear what parts of the petition are wrong and misguided please? The cricket square is ruined and will not be safe, things became significantly worse when the park keeper was stood down. The rain has been bad but these seasonal elements should be understood, other areas in the park mentioned in the petition have also neglected. Happy to explain these especially why cricket at wish park is under threat.