Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Last-ditch effort to save city play area
Site set to be sold and replaced with housing
An 11th hour bid to save a city play area from being sold off will be made to the council tonight (Thursday).
It has already agreed in principle to dispose of the 250 sq m area in Black Griffin Lane, Canterbury, which is said to be worth around £180,000 and likely to be used for housing.
Tonight the council’s property and regeneration committee is expected to rubber stamp the proposal, but Jon Winder, who lives nearby, will try to dissuade members.
He has considerable experience of improving parks, and is currently project manager for a lottery-funded parks project elsewhere.
He said: “This is a much neglected but nonetheless important park, which – over the years – has had it play equipment removed and is now pretty sad.
“I often stop there with my kids to play, but it’s not great in it’s current condition.
“I contacted the council offer-
‘With a bit of time and attention, it has the potential to be a well used community facility’
ing to help them fund-raise so that it can be improved but they weren’t interested.
“But at a time when lots of housing is being built or planned we need all the open space we can get.
“I’ve spent the last 10 years fun- draising for parks, and I think it would be pretty easy to raise the money needed to do it up.
“It’s in a residential area and St Peter’s Primary School is just around the corner. So with a bit of time and attention, it has the potential to be a well used community facility.”
The decision to sell the site has already been discussed by members at a previous council meeting.
Members were told the park suffered from misuse and would cost £40,000 to refurbish.
They were also told that £200,000 had been spend on creating a new play area at Toddlers Cove, which is 400 yards away.