- The Horsdean and Vale Avenue area of Patcham currently lacks a proper playground facility for local families
- Conservatives to push for £65,000 upgrade to Vale Avenue Playground to meet need at tonight’s Budget meeting.
Patcham & Hollingbury Ward Councillors will request a £20,000 top up to the planned refurbishment of Horsdean’s Vale Avenue Playground at the City Budget meeting on Thursday night.
The playground is due to have a £45,000 refurbishment in 2022/23, but Conservatives are worried that this sum will not go far enough to properly upgrade facilities to the standard that is required to meet the needs of residents in the Horsdean area of north Patcham.
Vale Avenue Playground, which is the only park serving the Horsdean area and close to Horsdean recreation ground and a large residential area, currently only has swings and a slide and doesn’t meet the community’s needs.
Patcham & Hollingbury Councillor Anne Meadows said that families in the area needed a proper local playground like other areas in the City.
“Horsdean is a distinct part of the City, home to many local families; however it does not currently have a big enough playground.
“Many parents would like a sandpit which is more costly due to ongoing maintenance costs - this extra funding could help achieve this. It would also give the council another chance to show it can listen to parents and children and provide facilities children really want.”
“With only £45,000, Vale Avenue would probably only have enough funds to replace what already exists, which is very limited.” Cllr Meadows said.
Patcham & Hollingbury Councillor Carol Theobald said this was a once in a generation opportunity to ensure all parks across Patcham & Hollingbury were upgraded to a high standard.
“Patcham & Hollingbury is attracting more families because of its good schools. Vale Avenue park could have facilities for older children, for example, which Mackie Park and Carden Park do not have. The key point is that parents would have another opportunity at requesting better playground facilities after the disappointing consultation approach at Mackie and Carden Parks.
Patcham & Hollingbury Councillor Alistair McNair said that an upgraded Vale Avenue playground would mean families could walk to their local playground and also take the pressure off surrounding playgrounds in Patcham & Hollingbury.
“Consultation on playgrounds has not been as widely held as we would have liked due to the pandemic. Many parents feel the planned playground facilities are not meeting the needs of their children. We are still awaiting public consultation on Carden Park which is due to be signed off” Cllr McNair said.
Conservative Finance Spokesperson Joe Miller said that he was introducing an amendment targeted at directing more funding at local parks.
“Since the pandemic, residents have been using and relying on their local parks more and more and as a Council we need to recognise that and provide additional resources” Cllr Miller said.
“By deferring spending on expensive carbon visions, we can make a real difference to our communities here and now, by upgrading our local parks” he said.
Conservative Group Amendment 2
· Provide £0.110m capital resources funded through £0.009m financing costs to provide: -
o £0.020m for better boundary protection for Patcham Place Park
o £0.020m for playground equipment in Horsdean Recreational Ground
o £0.020m for Skating facilities at Knoll Park
o £0.050m to provide a road crossing at Bexhill Road park
The above proposals require £0.100m recurrent revenue resources and this will be funded by replacing the £0.100m recurrent funding allocation for investment to support planning reforms shown in table 2 on page 20 with £0.100m one off resources only. The one off resources will be funded by deferring £1.250m capital investment of the proposed 2022/23 allocation to the Carbon Neutral 2030 fund until 2023/24 which releases £0.100m one off funding from the financing costs budget.
ENDS.
