Park protest needs to win

I refer to my letter printed on August 30 and reprinted as the Echo’s letter of the week, in which I wrote about the council’s disgraceful proposal to build houses on West Park in Herrington.

In this I said: “This despite Cabinet Coun Michael Mordey stating only in July this year that ‘We’re proud to continually provide first class green spaces for everyone to enjoy, and are determined to maintain these standards as best we can.’ Why the change? Why now support a proposal to build on park land? West Park is not the only park to be targeted.”

This letter has created quite a stir on the Echo’s Facebook page. Rightly so, but some have misrepresented the letter in what looks like an attempt to distract from the serious content.

The council did promise to make these proposals a matter of city-wide consultation but no one I know has received details of the consultation. I understand even some people living next to West Park have not received the consultation documents.

The vast majority of the posts relate to the last couple of lines in which I said: “Watch out Barnes Park that is a large area of green land you have alongside Barnes View. It only takes a developer to identify this as having development potential for this Labour Council to add it to its development plans.”

Nowhere in this could it be read that I said they were building over Barnes Park, as some have claimed.

It specifically refers to the green area alongside Barnes View as a potential development site.

If the council gets away with building on parks elsewhere in the city, it will come looking for other lucrative areas to sell off.

Let us hope the people of Herrington win through. Peter O’Connor