Plight of parks is depressing sight

CAN anyone tell me what’s happening to the well-used and much-loved parks that Newcastle was famed for and became such an important part of the city’s attraction to visitors?

Jesmond Dene, gifted by Lord Armstrong to the city in 1883, was once a superb example of man-made landscaping filled with visitors and meticulously maintained by skilled and dedicated personnel, both voluntary and council employees.

A walk down from South Gosforth to Heaton last weekend revealed a rubbishstrewn, uncared-for wasteland, rapidly being claimed back by tall nettles and other natural vegetation.

The meadow, so popular for summer picnics and children playing, is now overgrown.

The council have removed most of the litter bins, leading to rubbish all over the area, while the lack of tree maintenance has closed many paths and made others positively dangerous.

Landslide damage remains unrepaired, the rat population increases daily and the whole park is beginning to look abandoned and desolate.

On the Little Moor in Jesmond, the council have also removed the litter bins, presumably because they won’t have to empty them if they’re not there, so what happens to the rubbish, as not everyone takes it home, as hoped for.

I hear the council are considering transferring ownership of green spaces to some kind of trust and are therefore cutting back on all maintenance.

Presumably, a full privatisation will follow as is the current trend.

Whilst I fully understand Government cutbacks and greatly sympathise with council officials juggling priorities for limited resources, I feel the care and maintenance of the city’s parks is neglected at an enormous cost for future inward investment and tourism. JOHN DIAS