Huge victory for common sense

whether they are early-morning joggers, evening dog-walkers, amateur footballers or workers just relaxing at lunchtime.

Young and old alike benefit from parks and exciting playgrounds give children their first taste of adventure. They are venues for summer picnics and open-air concerts and, in winter, their hills can be used for sledging.

So let’s all throw our weight behind The Mail on Sunday’s excellent campaign. D. Courtney, Weston-super-Mare I remember that the theme of the 2012 London Olympics was ‘legacy’. Reading now about the decimation of our parks and open spaces, the whole thing seems like a sham.

If we want the nation to be healthy and we want children to get out in the fresh air and exercise more then we must fight for crime-free, litter-free and safe parks everywhere, particularly in our big cities.

If you want legacy, you have to work for it. Mick Ferrie, Mawnan Smith, Cornwall Your campaign to save our parks is a brilliant one. The more outside space people can access the better. But one thing that really needs highlighting is the lack of maintenance to our parks and open spaces: grass not being cut, litter not being picked up, paths and facilities falling into disrepair.

These lead people to give these places a wide berth, and that results in gangs and yobs using the parks and causing anti-social behaviour. Yes, we must save our parks but we also have to maintain them too. Owen Hollifield, Caerphilly I really admire the ‘thin grey line’ of pensioners patrolling a park in Southend, Essex, and stop it being taken over by drug-users and prostitutes.

And it doesn’t take a genius to work out why anti-social behaviour at the park rocketed by more than 60 per cent in just three years – the parks budget was cut by £2.6million over the same period.

We all know that council budgets are under severe strain at the moment but our parks really need protecting.

If some councils can find the money to pay for fancy new offices or spend thousands on lavish parties then they can certainly give our parks the attention they deserve. B. Adams, Surrey Tunbridge Wells Borough Council wants to build a new civic centre and theatre in Calverley Grounds, a very lovely park in the centre of Tunbridge Wells.

The plan necessitates the cutting down of many trees and the intrusion of a high building in the corner of a park, at a cost of more than £90 million. This comes at a time of council cuts and ignoring the possibilities of improving or altering the present town hall and assembly hall.

There has been a campaign to prevent this happening by Tunbridge Wells Alliance but it has been pushed aside by the council. Irma McDonnell, Tunbridge Wells Councillors need to be reminded that they are our elected representatives working for us, and all council employees are paid to work for us. All of them are charged with safeguarding our country. Terry Lyden, Laleham, Middlesex