Wednesday 16 November 2016

Why Won't Our Council Repair Hammersmith Park?

Repaired slide at Hammersmith Park
Earlier this year, some long-overdue repairs were carried out by our local Council, The London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham, to the Children's Playground in Hammersmith Park, which had been in a state of disrepair for some time.

A company called Valley Landscape Management put up fences around the damaged climbing mounds and repaired much of the torn material.

But, more than six months on, the job still isn't complete. So why won't our Council fix the playground at Hammersmith Park?


A repaired mound
Earlier this year we asked our local Councillors about repairs to the park and got this response:

"In terms of further improvements for the park, at present the Council does not have any funding but we are exploring a number of options and are hopeful that we will be able to deliver some improvements, including to the children’s playground, in the future."

However Stanhope, the company which is redeveloping TV Centre, say that they are in talks with LBH&F to put a significant amount of money into the Park, as part of their "section 106" contribution to the local community. So, according to Stanhope, there is money available.

Below is a damaged climbing mound which was being repaired in the spring of 2016.


In the photo below, you can see what it looks like now. Seriously overgrown, and a much bigger project to repair than if the work had been done quickly. What looked like being a relatively small job has now become a big one.



LBHF may say they have no money, but it is their duty to repair and maintain our parks.  Saying they have no cash surely isn't good enough.

The Shepherd's Bush Blog offers a personal view on life in Shepherd's Bush. If you would like to contribute a story about our neighbourhood, email us at shepherdsbushblog(at)gmail.com.








3 comments:

  1. I don't notice that corner of the park, so can''t comment on the work to date, so I will look tomorrow. But it seems bizarre to me that the Council would contract with a company to part-complete a project. If the project therefore is not completed, why aren't they holding the company to account to complete it?
    If it's being held over for a better time of year for seasonal reasons (ie planting) then there should be signs to inform us. As it is, its ugly (and presumably dangerous).
    No funding is a red herring. There are limited and reducing green spaces in LBHF and Bush in particular.
    Given how long it took to sort Wormholt Park, there's an urgency to pressure on this and similar projects that maintain the environment in the face of the dust, noise pollution and traffic caused by the major developments on out doorsteps.

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  2. Agreed! Write to your local Councillors and tell them it's not good enough!

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  3. Its the same when the job was done. Contractor started never finished properly and so that is why it ended up in disrepair so quickly. The council should not go for such lavish plans if they can't review the job and get it signed off. Simple management really. The problem is this points to the tip of the iceberg and how the council waste money everywhere.

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