Should parks be closed at night?
Some public parks are locked after dark to prevent people going in.
There are more than 27,000 public parks and green spaces across the UK. Parks are important to communities, especially in towns and cities where many residents don’t have a garden. People use them for exercise and sport, dog walking, enjoying nature and meeting up with friends – at all times. Many parks are open around the clock but there are increasing incidents of anti-social behaviour after dark, including people vandalising things like playgrounds or plants, and large groups causing littering and noise. As a result, some councils now lock their gated parks at dusk. Some say that parks should be open 24 hours a day, but others say that leaving them open at night attracts trouble. What do you think, should parks be closed at night?
Yes – it keeps them clean and safe
Parks can attract troublemakers at night. Sometimes big groups gather and behave in a noisy, rowdy manner, which is disruptive for local residents and scary for other park users. This anti-social behaviour can also spill out into the neighbourhood. Damaged park equipment and plant-life, as well as litter, can be expensive to fix and makes extra work for parkkeepers. Locking parks at night stops all this from happening. Closing parks at night also allows wildlife to have some quiet time without humans disturbing their environment. Besides, even if parks are shut from dusk to dawn, there are still lots of daylight hours for people to make use of the space. Why would anyone want to hang out in the dark anyway?
No – communities should have access 24/7
Parks should be open all the time. Being outdoors and surrounded by nature is important for our physical and mental wellbeing, and people should be able to access that whenever they want. Lots of people like to exercise or walk their dog in the evening when parks are more peaceful. Others use them as a pleasant and free place to hang out with friends, especially young people who don’t have much money. What’s more, those who work in the day can only get to the park in the evening, so why should they miss out? Locking and reopening park gates, plus checking people aren’t going to get locked in, costs local councils a lot of money. Besides, if mischief-makers really want to get into the park, they will just climb over the fence.