MEADOWBANK YOUTH FACILITIES – SECOND CONSULTATION (LOCATION OPTIONS)

Further to my letter dated 17 July 2009 the results of the second public consultation have been analysed and a final report and recommendation regarding the proposed content and location of new play facilities at Meadowbank is due to be presented to the Council’s Executive Committee meeting to be held on Tuesday 20 October 2009. Members of the public are welcome to attend this meeting although are not able to contribute directly to discussions in this forum.

The results of the second consultation regarding the location again showed that opinion remains divided although the majority of respondents favoured the lower location. This replicated the findings of the first consultation. A total of 429 responses were received of which:-

52% (225 responses) in favour of Option 1 (Lower location, at the bottom of the bank).

40% (171 responses) in favour of Option 2 (Upper location, top of park near the railway).

8% (33 responses) for neither location.

The recommendation of the report to the Council’s Executive Committee will be that a new ball court/MUGA, skate park and youth based swing be installed at the lower location, Option 1. I would like to reassure you that this recommendation has taken into account the results of the surveys, the main areas of concern raised by local residents as well as the opinions and recommendations of several public bodies.

In determining this recommendation we have sought the advice of a number of our relevant partner organisations and their comments (Play England, Surrey Police and the district’s Community Safety Officer) which are attached for your information. Their views are important to the Council’s decision as we work with them to address play provision and issues surrounding community safety. These replies deal directly with some of the concerns raised by local residents, in particular the issues of noise and antisocial behaviour which are understandable concerns of those living close to the area. In their professional opinion the facilities would be best sited at the lower location. From our own experience in other parks around the district we have found that such facilities are well utilised by local children for their intended use, and that the incidence of antisocial behaviour has declined over time.

The gathering of, and noise generated by young people which occurs from time to time and sometimes into the night is obviously a concern. Whilst this social issue is to a large extent beyond the control of the Council, we hope that by providing the facilities young people would like to see and use, in a safe and well designed scheme, that this will alleviate this issue. Other actions are also being implemented by MVDC in conjunction with other agencies in order to help improve the situation including the deployment of Surrey County Council youth workers to regularly engage with young people at the site and a series of joint partner park patrols in the district headed by the local Sergeant, which are scheduled for evenings and into the early hours in the near future.

With the proposed facilities we are aiming to address an identified shortage of quality outdoor play provision for young people in Dorking whilst ensuring it is in keeping with the area, and, that public concerns are taken into consideration in both its design and location. The distance of the recommended location from surrounding residential properties will exceed the guidelines set by the National Playing Fields Association. Further, by constructing the skate park area of concrete, recessing it into part of the banked area and using low level earth mounding and planting around the area, noise levels will be reduced whilst not having the effect of segregating the play facilities from other areas and users of the park.

Views were expressed by some residents regarding the CCTV at Meadowbank. It remains a valuable tool to Surrey Police which is linked to their live control room at Reigate. If you have particular grievances you wish to pursue regarding CCTV, I advise that you address them specifically with Surrey Police.

I hope this clarifies the reasoning behind our recommendation and goes some way to addressing your concerns. As mentioned the proposals will be discussed and a decision made regarding the content and location of the play facilities by the Council’s Executive members on 20 October. Should you still have concerns regarding the proposed facilities you may wish to contact your local Councillor directly. Your local Councilors are:

Councilor Paul Elderton (Dorking North)

Councilor Derrick Burt (Dorking North)

Councilor Tim Loretto (Dorking South)

Councilor Margaret Cooksey (Dorking South)

Councilor Stephen Cooksey (Dorking South)

The Council’s Executive member responsible for Community and Youth which includes Play and Parks projects is Councilor Janette Purkiss.

The Council’s Executive can receive questions from the members of the public and if you would like to submit a question this would need to be received by the Corporate Head of Environment, Dave Parr, by Friday 9th October. If you would like further advice on submitting questions please contact Arabella Davies (Democratic Services Manager).

RELATED PAGES

Meadowbank Consultation - Results and Comments

Original first consultation video from 2008 (now closed for comment)

CONSULTATION DETAILS

Closing date of Consultation: 29th June 2009

This consultation is now closed.