[Margaret Pilkington]

Yes, we were talking of a different age group.
And my observation is that lots of teens don't really play in the parks, they hang around......but they do sometimes seem to prevent the younger children from playing, by their aggressive behaviour.
Teens are a totally different ball game(pardon the pun)....they need to be kept occupied.
Over the years, there has been a move away from organisations which gave the teens a focus.(scouts Guides, Sea Cadet,Church Activities etc)

Teens see these as 'uncool'.
Street corners seem to be where these youngsters want to be.......although if asked, they will tell you they would like something better to do, but I bet a pound to a penny, if you organised a Drama group or something organised, it would fold, because not enough of them would join.......or they might join for a few weeks and the numbers would dwindle and that would be the end of that.

Part of the problem of children on street corners is, because they are teens, they think they are grown up, and above'playing'.

As I said previously, I am i n favour of public money being spent on things that will benefit the greater good of deprived communities, and it isn't for me to designate just how it is spent, it is up to the people in charge of the money, ensuring that the money being spent is on something that is good value for money.
In the past this (in my opinion, for what it is worth)has not been the case.