What a shame
 

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It is a shame the bid for Lotto money wasn't successful. However the park, and others in the area, used to be maintained to a much higher standard, without the need to go cap in hand as a 'worthy cause'.

The paths aren't just unsightly they are dangerous.

I guess councils of years gone by were better at using money from our rates, which saw well cared for paths, tennis courts, a putting green, two top rate bowling greens, a paddling pool, beautiful flower beds supplied by the park's own green houses, and even paid for the services of a park keeper who chased out those who ventured in after dark.

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Are there no people to help, I mean volunteer with keeping the park tidy and stuff, obviously not fixing important things that will need doing I just mean helping with the general stuff so money could be spent elsewhere

Obviously I know nothing about the maintenance of the park, I'm just asking:)

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Yes, 'tis sad, I don't think Rhyddings is too bad actually, presume you have read the threads on Milnshaw Park ... now that is a dump... hope they obtain the lottery funding they have applied for.

Again, only so much money in the pot for the HBC maintaining these parks ... :( (without increasing council tax !)

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So they are given a 25 yr budget so to speak?

25 yrs before?

Or they have a yearly budget that obviously aint enough cos it hasn't sorted everything?

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In years gone by parks didn't suffer the trouble they do now.

They now suffer so much vandalism so it seems to me that the reason we don't have the things you mentioned is because it costs too much money to provide these things and then to have to constantly fork out for repairs/replacements due to vandalism. :(

In this age of the personal injury claim, nothing can be seen to be unsafe or have the potential to cause injury.....so best not put it there in the first place.

That's just my take on it.

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Within my not that old a memory the council had a park warden, whose twenty four hour presence deterred vandalism, and those seeking to do mischief, and funded via our rates. Vandalism is nothing new, and is certainly not an excuse for properly maintaining the paths, and draining the playing field.

As for now living in an injury claim culture, the terrible state of the park paths mean that more accidents will happen, and as I believe our council pay out on any claim submittted without defending the action, in the short, as well as long term, it makes very little economic sense, even by H.B.C.'s standards.

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I know vandalism is nothing new but it wasn't as bad 50 years ago as it is now.

Nothing's safe these days. Agreed, we could do with a return to the park warden but, as has been discussed on the corporal punishment thread, he would have very little powers these days and would probably be beaten up if he dared to challenge anyone. :mad:

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The appalling state of the parks, and the withholding of funding that should be used to maintain them, as nothing to do with vandalism. It's about the use of funds, and poor management.

They gave us flower towers, call us a 'Floral Market Town', yet our parks, once filled with beautiful displays of bedding plants, raised by the park's own gardening department, are now bare of flowers except for the odd Dandelion.

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Thank you for that.
We refuse to sit on our backsides and will be actively seeking other bids on our own. The main lottery bid was in fact made by the Council with us on the project team assisting in every way we could.
The Friends of Rhyddings Park are now applying for funding themselves with HBC assisting us as required with things like suppliers and planning issues. We have our first meeting with an equipment designer/supplier on Tuesday and Gayle is already working on funding application forms. Like I said we are not sat down doing nothing :)

All work in the park is HBC's responsibility. The only odd bit is Pets Corner which is managed by the Friends under the supervision of the Council. It has to be that way as they are responsible for everything in the park.

Not enough would be more accurate than not a lot. Because of this long ongoing bid - well over 3 years this time and a previous bid failed 10 years ago (ish), money had not been spent in the park. I do agree to a point that you would not want to spend a lot of money to find a refurbishment program paid for by lottery money undid some of the work you spent money on. Unfortuneatly this has led to the park falling into a very poor state. Lots of work should have been carried out just to keep paths safe etc.


Fair point I think - money was spent elsewhere in the belief that a massive revamp was on its way. This would not have been too bad if the bid process had not dragged on for as long as it has done - still now it is not completed as the bid has been resubmitted for a final time to this particular funding body so we are waiting again. The only difference now is that the Council have agreed to do some of the work that is needed anyway.

I believe the parks budget is underfunded both in capital money and in man power.

I am glad you said that. For many years now previous and current Councils have found themselves cutting the budgets available for our parks. This takes years to show itself as a problem as the parks slowly fell apart. Millions of pounds are needed to restore several parks in Hyndburn to the sort of standard that we all expect. The actual cost of refurbishing Rhyddings Park is well over £2 million. Years of neglect by many Councils have caused it, I hope that the Councils of the next few years can find the money to sort it out.

Another problem is that the vandalism is not being repaired. The Council have to work with the Police to sort out many of the issues we have in the parks.

Local residents don't help either. I am expecting a lot of resistance ( we have had some already ) about our plans to puts things into Rhyddings park for the secondary school sort of age group. They have nothing to do and no where to go in the park. They end up hanging around in the kiddies play area - many of them started playing in there when it was new and they were in primary school. There is nothing for them to move on to so they stay. They also hang around on the benches around the bowling green which causes problems as well.

In my opinion Hyndburn has too many green spaces to look after with the current size of its parks department. I was very disapointed when they created the new one off Henry Street in Church. Why create a new one when they can't afford to look after what they have? I am sure it was funded from some grant or another but when that ends HBC will have to pay to maintain it.

Maybe Accrington should loose one of its parks, it has several while Oswaldtwistle only has one park yet has half the population of Accrington. The park is also close to the towns border with Spring Hill so attracts a lot of visitors from that area of Accrington as well.

One interesting figure I have just pulled out of the bid is that the population within a 1km catchment area of the park is over 14,000.

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By the way, I'm not having a go at the Friends of Rhyddings Park, I think they're doing a great job. I just think the council were wrong withholding funding for essential maintenance, in the hope of perhaps securing funding from the Lottery.

Pie in the sky.

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So do I for essential works.

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Agree Neil, (did try to put this thought up on last post, but timed out, too busy chatting :rolleyes:) too many parks now .. people don't utilise them at all .. have cars and travel away for the weekend, and access on leisure hours to other venues. Was different in the old days during industrial success .. think some could be flattened and just green open spaces for walking areas.

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What of the CCTV adjacent to the play area, and the Ryhddings Park N.W. and their cameras, are none of them working?
By local residents, do you mean the ones living on Park Lane?
I have seen the teenagers (secondary school age group) cause problems for many years, they have no respect for other peoples property. What are the police and LCC doing, has the youth club on Harvey street been closed.
Was the Henry street one not a "Remade" project with external funding, I have never seen the gates fronting Henry street unlocked yet, may be the area is only for show and not for playing on :confused:

What about all the green space fronting Blackburn road, what are HBC doing to clean that up. On the subject of Accrington loosing one of its parks, what would you like to see in its place, blocks of flats.
No I think HBC should get its act together and stop spending silly money on hiring high flying consultants to carry out all these pointless surveys, money that could and should have been spent on park maintenance. Has there not already one been carried out on the number of parks/green spaces in Hyndburn, have the results from that survey been published yet?

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Out of interest, where do convicted offenders do their community service?
If the very people convicted of vandalism were the ones tidying the parks up they may, just may develop a bit of civic pride.

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Excellent point!

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This area is a complete waste of money. Apart from the enclosed 'Football Pitch'* - which kids can't use 'cos it's always locked - there hasn't been anything created for the kids. It's just a landscaped mess imo that is fast becoming a doggie toilet.
Oh!! Sorry, my mistake, theres a couple of picnic benches to vandalise.

*If it is possible to call it such. I watched for a number of days as the workmen went about 'levelling' the area. It's awful!! Slopes in at least two directions, grass is sparse, no goalposts and it ain't even marked out the last I saw! Pointless operation.

So I have to agree Neil - the money would have been better off being directed to other parks in the borough.

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Please describe what that is please. I have not actually stopped to look but just passed it on Henry Street.

I must have a look at it when I get chance.

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If the park was bigger it might be a good option.

We are struggling to fit what we feel is needed in the park with its current size. As I posted above it has a high population to service - 14,000 within 1km

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Here's the form..have your say

http://www.hyndburnbc.gov.uk/downloa...s_Proforma.pdf

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I meant the Park is not big enough to cut a chunk off and still be suitable for its catchment area. It is similar in size to parks with a much smaller population than Oswaldtwistle and half the size of Cutwood Park in Rhiston.

Access is also a problem.

Below is a list of recreation grounds currently maintained by Hyndburn Borough Council as stated on their website. None of which are in Ossy - there may be green spaces that don't belong to HBC like off Fielding Lane but these belong to LCC and Rhyddings School (sort of).

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Access to Ryhddings park has always been a problem, and always will be until HBC provide some parking spaces in the park.

I also thought that all parks were there for all to enjoy not just the adjacent catchment area to a specific park

You forgot Harvey street, both sides of the road, that's in Ossy, and is a large area of land, green space.

I thought Knuzden was part of Ossy ? or has it been moved over the border without us knowing :confused:

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Parking was in the bid but for users of the Coaching House. PArt of the problem with parking is that people want to park 12" from the park gates then go and walk around the park. The park has been here well before cars were common. Parking is always going to be a problem for Rhyddings Park as it is for a lot of Oswaldtwistle.

When we held our last event we tried to encourage local people to walk to the park and leave theirs cars at home.

Of course they are but funding bids often refer to the 1km catchment area so it is bid talk really. It also points out the high number very local to the park.

I did not forget it but for some reason it is not mentioned on the HBC website where I took my quote from. I wondered if it belonged to LCC like the area off Fielding Lane.
One side is mainly bookable football pitches and the other is a nice large grassed area. Neither side can really be classed as a true formal park.

I don't understand the question.

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Does Hyndburn council not look after oakhill park? Another thing the football pitches might come under the leisure trust .........

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Knuzden is part of Ossy, its in St Oswalds Ward and is served by the councillors Haworth, Hayes, & Roberts. The boundry of St Oswalds ward goes right up to Knuzden Brook which is also the boundry of Hyndburn, so the statement of "None of which are in Ossy" is not correct


http://www.hyndburnbc.gov.uk/site/sc...egoryID=200073

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You are of course correct. It is not very accessible for the local kids in my area that we are trying to keep of the streets so they can be somewhere safe though is it?

I have stated many times that youth shelters need to be in several places in Oswaldtwistle as kids are quite territorial and stick to there own areas and group of friends.

Unfortunately The Friends of Rhyddings Park only work in Rhyddings Park.

I really do wish even more people would form community groups within their close areas of Hyndburn and start to tap into some of the resources that HBC can not. There are many already but I am sure many more areas would benefit. I am involved with the park because it is close to me. You too could be involved with a group close to your area and do similar good works, if you are not already.

Where are you and is there a community group for you area?
If there is are you involved?
If not you could always tart your own.

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I thought we were talking about kids of secondary school age here, since there is already a "small childrens play area in the park."
Youth shelters ? is that a new term
The name of the group suggests that, keep up the good work

Quote:

No there is no community group where I now live, but I have managed to get a police presence, and a pact meeting in a local pub along with promises of further monthly meetings to be attended by community support officers and a local councillor. That was after contacting a local councillor and indicating that the area is the forgotten area of Hyndburn and there could be serious problems in the future if they were not dealt with now, also that we had never ever seen any police officers or community support officers in the area. May be these meetings could lead to some form of community group, we will have to wait and see.

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Sounds good mate, keep up the good work.

Have a read of this, there is a pdf to download at the bottom right of the page, if you get a group going maybe you could sort something out in Knuzden.

HBC wanted to put one over West End I think it was a couple of years ago. The residents complained so it never happened :(

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We have a meeting with the company that installed the kiddie play area in Rhyddings to get some quotes and ides from tomorrow. I like the MUGA's with seating built into the fencing but not sure if this company does them. They do smallish shelters - about 8' across and roundish with a roof and partially enclosed sides.

After we have an idea of what we can do and costs we intend to put our suggestion to our intended audience and see what they think. We are getting costings first so we can see if it is feasible for us to continue any further.

I am expecting some resistance to it because most people wont read something like that document I linked for you. When they do they don't want to believe it will help the situation. We are not just talking those immediately facing the park either.

Who said progress was easy? :D

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Sounds like a good idea to me. Older children still go in the park after dark, having their own designated space sounds a very sensible idea.

There'll always be some stick in the muds, who'll oppose change for whatever reason. Probably the same person/people who thought the new children's play area was an eyesore from their front rooms on Park Lane, and who tried to say that it would, wrongly, attract more vandalism.

Good luck.

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There is CCTV of the park.

As far as I can see the light has reduced vandalism after dark, and I hear residents on Park Lane no longer suffer fron S.A.D., which must be an added benefit.:D

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Good, as I can report the new play area is not only safer, and less vandalised than it was at the old site, but used much more by the children, all year round.:)

Any drop in property prices of neighbouring houses has more to do with the global credit crunch, than the siting of the play area.;)

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When I was born and raised on Hornby St (next street downhill) in the 40s, Park Lane was the classy place to live in Ossy.
Nowadays car ownership must detract from that - narrow street with bumper to bumper parking

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Not totally sure, but from memory, and seeing photographs of the park being opened in 1912, the park was there before the houses on Park Lane.;)

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Got to be 4 years or more old by now. Will be getting ready for replacement. :D
Got a good price for mine. :D

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Not many residents with cars when we moved on to the lane.

One of the reasons we moved off the lane, was the parking problem and constant repairs to car wing mirrors. Some residents have 2 cars parked on there.

Mind on street parking is a major problem every where now

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What makes you think I would want to put a load of mid teens effin and jeffin next to the little darlings on the swings?

That's the second time I have heard that term today.


It is still there and operating. It allows them to see what they are breaking.
On a more serious note this summer has been quite good so I would not say it attracts vandals.

Yes ;)

I was not involved with that, it was before my time. I do however think it is an excellent site for the kiddies and would very much like to increase its size as I feel it is now very much undersized for the number of children trying to use it.

I would be interested to know why she thinks it is in the wrong place and where and why she would have placed it.

Thanks for that info, it might same some money and time if we want to light the new area.

Yes it is and yes they do.

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My house would just have been inside the park when it was first opened so Park Lane was an afterthought as well.

These bits of maps might help

1893

http://www.accringtonweb.com/forum/a...shame-1893.jpg

1911

http://www.accringtonweb.com/forum/a...shame-1911.jpg

1930

http://www.accringtonweb.com/forum/a...shame-1930.jpg

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I thought they were already there :D


HBC used that to build/install the play area


I seem to remember words like "on the brow of a hill"
A level site, which would also have saved HBC some money would have been on the site of the old paddling pool. That was the area talked about by the local councillors before the event.

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Strange it is no where near the brow of a hill, the brow would be up near the Shoulder of Mutton ;).

Like I said I think it is now too small and its location allows it to be extended. It is highly visible which is so people in the area can see if there is any trouble happening. As far as I know we don't have any serious problems occur in the area which could be down to location. The old site really was tucked out of the way. If a child fell and hurt them self they could lay on the floor unnoticed for ages.

For a similar reason the youth shelters are never enclosed on all sides. The site of the old tennis/basketball court is very poor as well. No one passes by unless they are going to that area. An injured person could be there for hours.

The bid includes moving pets corner to where the basket ball court is. This would reduce the isolation issue because Pets Corner is a busy area when open. Once locked up at night it would then be a quiet area for the animals.

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You mean the houses directly in front of the play area, that would be Park Lane I assume. The houses on Fielding Lane do not get a clear view because of the trees. The houses on Malvern Ave have no view of it, neither have the semi's at the far end of Park lane. The houses on Rhyddings street can only see the park gates from their front doors,plus most people would walk past with their eyes closed for fear of reprisals from the yobs at a later date. :D
Who would want to risk going to that area.
I would have thought there would be a greater problem with the pets corner if located at the back of the park, you have already indicated above that the tennis/basketball area is poor, so why put the animals at risk in that corner. :confused:

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Not really referring to just the houses, people walking on those streets may see something though. It's location makes it very visible for other park users. Many people exercise their dogs on the big field. Brave people even enter the park at the end of park Lane or the top of Rhyddings street and risk the bottom path leaving at the Fielding Lane gate as a cut through as well.

Because we would turn if from one of the least visited areas to one of the most, doing such would remove the problems with its isolated location. The same isolation will be peaceful for the animals after hours.

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If X on the map is our gaffe is that where Dr. Bhat's surgery used to be?

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We have only had 2 or 3 problems with pets area in the 18 months ish since the Friends took over. I think that is very good considering it is nor fully open to visitors down the path - don't you?

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I will have to hit these keys on my laptop harder, it should have said your gaffe Neil not our:rolleyes:

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I did not know that.

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Eeeeeh, I remember Dr Bhat's surgery being in a house on Rhyddings Street. I can still picture the waiting room.....funny what you remember, isn't it? :)

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He's been my Dr since I moved back to Ossy 22 years ago, he's never let me down and has never refused to make a house call, still has the same receptionist has he had in 1986

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Isn't that the doc who has his surgery a few feet from your front door?

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and your point Margaret, this day and age its hard work to get some doctors to do home visits anywhere