What Are We Going To Do About It?

Hodshrove/Goodwood Park sits in the centre of East Moulsecoomb and is the estates’ only play park. So why in an area that averages four children per household has it become a focal point for drink, drugs and vicious crime?

A recent survey by the Moulsecoomb Community Development Team reveals residents are afraid to use or let their children play in the run down park after a disturbing history of vandalism, children finding or falling on syringes, threats of attack, bullying, broken glass, fly tipping, two stabbings and a rape. There are still no street lights working and it has not had any refits or repairs in all of its 15 years existence since it was first campaigned for in 1989 by the local tenants association, MASATA.

The Community Development Team based at the Winterbourne Centre said "We identified not just the need for new equipment but also for people to reclaim their park and dispel the past perceptions of fear that shroud it. We hope to break the cycle of abuse by engaging all generations in a mass-consultation and awareness exercise with a video project that stars the residents and captures their ideas. It will document the whole process from now to funding, right up to when the first child plays in the brand new park that they have helped design."

The situation is dire, given that one of the young people surveyed considered playing in the street preferable and safer than being in the park. The team have rallied a lot of local interest already, when they held an event in the park at night in March called Banish the Dark. Sounds crazy but over a hundred residents turned up to listen to music, watch fire jugglers and see a pilot of the first bit of video. One resident told Phoenix, "It was really great to see so many people enjoying the park again, makes you wonder what it could be like." Another resident commented, "The parks in Brighton and Hove have safe, state of the art shiny new equipment, why do they get money spent on them? It makes us feel like we are not worth it."

A Parks & Open Spaces Forum is held once a month to cover Moulsecoomb, Bates Estate and Saunders Park to discuss and act upon areas of importance to people. For more info call the Community Development Team on 291 674.