Where’s my play park?
Youngsters make passionate plea to builders
CHILDREN who were promised a play park for Christmas are still waiting for their present to arrive four months after the event.
And with this week’s taste of summer showing them what they’re missing out on, they are anxious that Santa’s little helpers get a move on to make good the promise.
Seven-year-old Gregor Carrigan and his four-year-old sister Molly moved into the Arborfield Green development last October with their family. One of the things they were looking forward to was a new play park, which they say site builders Crest Nicholson had promised to have installed by December, enabling them to make the most of the Christmas holidays.
But the Easter holidays have been and gone and the lighter evenings now here, the youngsters are getting desperate to get out and play with their new friends.
On Saturday they printed some posters expressing their anger at Crest for not completing the park and stuck them up around the development.
Mum Louise told The Wokingham Paper: “With the clocks changing and the weather getting better they are fed up of not having anywhere to play. There is nowhere for them to go.
“They were promised the play park six months ago and it’s not been fixed. We need to get to the bottom of it.”
The Carrigans were one of the first families to move into the development, which is being built on the site of the former REME Garrison.
They say that despite promises to open the park by December, it still resembles a building site with builders’ waste left lying around.
“They’ve not collected their rubbish,” Ms Carrigan said. “There’s broken metal lying around and we’ve picked up an old industrial drill bit. There’s sharp metal and hazardous building materials that has just not been cleared away.”
Ms Carrigan said the had been constantly asking Crest’s representatives when the park would open and have been told that they didn’t know.
“The children have been playing outside, pretty much in the street,” she said. “They can’t enjoy the outside, it’s meant to be a village development with lots of green space and wildlife bits.
“Most of the houses in our road are families with young children. Collectively, we say this is not on.”
She said that the posters the children put up to express their frustration were taken down within 30 minutes.
“I’d imagine Crest were embarrassed,” she said.
“We just want the park finished, we can’t understand why it’s taken so long. We’d just like some acknowledgement.
“We’re creeping closer and closer to better weather and we just want to use the park.”
A Crest Nicholson spokesperson said: “As part of our ongoing work at Arborfield Green, Crest Nicholson will be installing a number of new children’s play areas across the site.
“The first play area to be delivered, situated adjacent to our Nightingale Fields development, is due to be officially opened by late spring.
“The final delivery of the play area has been delayed due to recent poor weather conditions. However, we are working closely with Wokingham Borough Council to ensure that the play area is in place as soon as possible.
“In the meantime, Arborfield Green residents are able to explore the adjoining Hazebrook Meadow and the existing sports and crickets pitches situated across the development.”