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 The Harrowgate Farm Play Area debate has been a long drawn out affair first staring way back in the autumn of 2006, before I was elected as ward Councillor. Back then many residents were up in arms as a result of youths causing a nuisance - now classified as ‘anti-social behaviour’ (ASB) - on the Harrowgate Farm estate, before and after congregating on the Play Area. Meetings were held with the then ward Councillor’s… where fists were banged on desks, voices were raised and people shook their heads in despair and disbelief over what action should be taken. Some demanded walkways closed, that the area be patrolled more often and the play area be removed.
Then, after the elections of May 2007, it was left on my lap to resolve. Previous Councillors had sown a seed for the play area be relocated to a more observational location, which was hoped would deter youths from causing a nuisance, and this is where I picked up the gauntlet. Just two months in to the job and I was holding meeting’s with various officers of the council and representatives from all three developers; Wimpey, Persimmon and Yuill.
What I imagined as being a straight forward solution, which began with consulting residents asking for their thoughts, turned out to be one of the most complicated drawn out cases I have ever worked on. The first complication which came to light was, as the provision of the play area is a planning requirement, to have it removed/relocated would involve a variation to the original planning application - which the developers would have to submit. At first the developers had agreed to do this but as the consultation dragged on and a ‘Save the Play Area’ group was formed, the developers then declined to do this, in their view they had done ‘all that is necessary to discharge the planning condition’.
The second complication was that consultation proved a fifty/50 split, whilst residents who had experiences of ASB wanted to see the back of the play area others thought it was a cop-out by the council in not resolving the true issue - ASB. So we were left with two options; do nothing or make the decision to relocate the play area. Doing nothing meant letting down all the residents who had experiences of ASB and I didn’t want that to happen. My thoughts were that if the developers could contribute some funding and Groundwork could also try to identify other areas where external funding may be available to supplement the relocation with further additions to the equipment perhaps that might weigh the balance. The play area could be relocated to the recreational land situated at the bottom of Mayfair Road which would be within walking distance of Harrowgate Farm and also provide play for the residents in that area too.
The first step would be for the Council to adopt the play and to then submit a variation of the original planning application to the planning committee. To do this the Council would have to show reason for variation to the original planning application.
In addition to the issues of ASB, the play area being situated under pylons and out of view, the land the play area is built on is above a main pipe of Northumbrian Water and the construction of the land above that pipe has caused the play area to slip, which can be evidenced by the cracking around the perimeter, as identified right from our very first meetings - before I first made a request for the play area’s removal/relocation. The Council’s Engineers had identified movement with the play area floor covering and some of the fencing had fallen away, equipment had become unbalanced and holes had appeared in the soft covering. Which lead to the third complication, the support of Northumbrian Water to show that vibrations from the pipe had caused movement to the equipment, which I understand Northumbrian Water were unwilling to do however, they said that no further expansion to the play area could take place. Thus, Council Officers had no option but to abandon any possibility of securing the evidence for supporting any planning application for its relocation/removal and decided to retain the existing play area.
Which leaves us where we are today - waiting for funding from all three developers to bring the play area back up to an acceptable standard so that the Council can adopt it, although it is highly probable that the play area will slip again. The sum to have been collected was £45k but reduced to £30k as a result of the downturn and the council is currently awaiting payment from one of the developers who has gone into liquidation.
At the end of the day residents are entitled to some peace and quiet in their own homes, and it is clear that people living close to the play area were having their quality of life seriously undermined by the actions of an unruly minority. Harrowgate Farm has been without this play area for over two years now and from what I understand reports of ASB have reduced substantially. Residents living closest to the play area who were being subjected to regular disturbances by gangs of youths, sometimes into the early hours of the morning, are much happier. Some might say this is as a result of the play area being fenced off and in an unusable condition since July 2007.
In anticipation of the reopening of the play area (there is no date) I have asked the Police to prioritise the Harrowgate Farm Play Area and depending upon future levels of ASB issues, I have in mind to raise a request for CCTV, however CCTV would only monitor the play area and not the estate in general - as we all know most of the nuisance caused to residents occurred as youths made there way to and from the play area. |
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