St Margarets Play Area

Today was the last day of consulting with children attending the playscheme and parents & other interested adults on the plans for the upgrading of St Margaret's Play area. Plans have been on display at Butts Lane school during the playscheme for the last 3 weeks and today I made time to go along and hear what people were saying. There's been surprisingly little comment from people but today made it all worthwhile. As one neighbour of the park was commenting on the likelihood of antisocial behaviour another two, agreeing that there was a likelihood of some bad behaviour, suggested a simple re-design of one part of the park, swapping a few features about to make the dark corner less attractive to youths as a drinking den at night. Simple, and so positive. One mother of young children recalled her teenage years visiting the same park, gathering in the same corner and could share what would help to encourage teenagers to congregate a little further from the houses. Also she was a great advocate for the idea of a Multi Use Games Area and thought we should spend the money on that first!
There were children's suggestions in plenty too, so lots for us to discuss at our Recreation Committee meeting next week. I'm really looking forward to seeing the results in spring next year.

Yarm & Green Spaces

A visit to the hospital this morning confirmed that the radial knuckle (elbow) is mended nicely but there's some inflammation of the tendons so the arm is still in need of a little tender loving care! Gentle stretching exercise is prescribed so if you see my arm waving in the air I am definitely waving not drowning.
A leaflet arrived through the letter box today about parking in Yarm. It's a topic of great interest to many people in this ward whether or not they park there, because one of the biggest causes of congestion in Yarm High St is people looking for parking spots. Although there are no new suggestions in it for some reason it had to be kept confidential and not mentioned to Eaglescliffe councillors until the public leaflet was ready and the display was being set up. As a result we couldn't let people know in time for today's exhibition in Yarm. There's a number of suggestions being made and it's worth looking at them and making comment. None of them will completely solve the problems but it's a serious effort to make a difference so please do have your say. If you haven't got a leaflet there's a section on the Council website about it so you can see what's being suggested there.
There was a drop in session for councillors this evening to discuss the various plans and strategies that are developing at the moment for all our green spaces around the borough. Although there was nothing new in there it was helpful to be able to see how everything is starting to link together. I've only been a councillor for a few years but in that time I've been frustrated on occasion by the fact that the right hand didn't seem to know what the left hand was doing on open space and green areas. It must be much worse for people who've been involved for much longer.
At last every bit of green is being recognised as having some value, whether it's in someone's garden, beside a road or part of a big park. That doesn't mean that we never remove green areas, but it does mean that we consider their value in relation to other values and make a more informed decision, or at least I hope that's what it will mean. It's certainly beginning to make a little bit of difference in planning committee meetings. It also means that green spaces and play areas are planned differently now, aiming to let young people take risks which a couple of years ago were frowned on - there's nothing new under the sun is there? Now we encourage them to climb trees etc. without doing a risk assessment first!
The session was also useful because I could make some enquiries about how things are progressing with the Parish Council's work on the Play Areas and remind some relevant officers of promises that have been made of further help for us.
There's an on-going consultation on our green spaces and what we want from them so if you haven't already done so please go to the website and have your say.

The Western Area of the Borough has the benefit of Parish or Town Councils as a first tier of local government. From Kirklevington to Preston and from Long Newton to Egglescliffe the area is covered by Parishes of varying size but with one thing in common: the councils which they elect are genuinely local. To stand for election as a Parish Councillor one must live or work very near or in the area of that Parish. So when parish councils speak borough councillors are wise to listen. Whenever I chair the meetings of the Western Area Partnership Board I know that the people round that table truly represent the area - they are elected to do so and they take their responsibilities very seriously. We're fortunate to live in an area with so many people willing to be part of local democracy. That's why I get very annoyed when some complain about the cost of by-elections for these councils. If democracy is worth having it's worth paying for in my view. The right to put a mark beside someone's name and put the paper in the ballot box is something which my great-grandmother didn't have. I have met people who fought to have that right in their country. If we don't use it we'll lose it - we need to cherish our right to vote and use it whenever possible.
Tomorrow a panel is meeting to decide which of the bids for money from the "Spaces for Play" grant should be taken further. For most decisions of this kind I'd be involved as a member of the Borough Play Partnership, but on this occasion I had to stand back. Egglescliffe & Eaglescliffe council has put in a major bid and I've been part of the discussions to formulate that bid. I couldn't be considered as having an open mind therefore! Obviously I hope that we'll be successful but I'm also aware that there's a number of other bids from the Western Area and other Parish councils have been active in putting them in. I really do hope that they are all successful - the people of this area deserve to have some super play spaces and their ideas have been really imaginative. Fingers crossed.

The importance of play

I spent some time today at a meeting about Play in the borough. Last year the council put together a Play Strategy, describing how we would try to make sure that children and young people will have access to suitable play areas and opportunities, including the chance to enjoy adventurous play and learn to manage risks. Nothing is ever easy of course, with many play areas being described as boring by the children who use them. A bid went in to the Big Lottery for funding to start expanding the opportunities and fortunately we've been successful. Some of it will go to Romano Park at Ingleby Barwick to help provide much needed play facilities on that play-deprived estate. Other money will help with two small projects in Thornaby and in Thorpe Thewles. The biggest chunk of money is going to an exciting scheme to provide a mobile play facility which can tour parts of the borough lacking in facilities and have a play leader to encourage the children to enjoy the equipment. I hope it will also encourage communities to take some responsibility to ensure that the project continues beyond its 3 year funding.
We also had confirmation of an award of Play Builder funding which is designed to enhance play areas. The detail of exactly what it can be used for hasn't been published yet but I hope that we can have some help towards enhancing St Margaret's Play area from it. No chance to make an application yet though!
I also managed to get across my point that someone from the Planning Department should be on the Play Partnership so that they're aware of what's needed in new housing developments. It remains to be seen whether they act on the information when they've got it or whether they say it's not covered by a planning policy!!!