Milnrow Memorial Park Update

Milnrow and Newhey Councillors have held an emergency meeting with Council Officers to finally make progress on the CCTV at Milnrow Memorial Park. They criticised the council earlier this week after the park suffered enormous damage after vandals poured a tin of gloss paint in the play area. They have praised the Council however for acting swiftly to his call for a clean up.

Councillor Kelly said: "I would like to thank the officers for the speed in which the clean up team came out and jet washed the paint damage away. I was on the phone first thing, as was Councillor Davidson, and they reacted brilliantly. Had it been left another day, I'm sure it would have been more serious and costly."

Andy has welcomed the news that the Council have now agreed to start work on the new £10,000 upgrade and relocation of CCTV in the park. He said: "The CCTV system was promised months ago and we've made little progress. The damage to our play area has really concentrated people's minds however. The fact that if the Council had got on with the job instead of prevaricating our play area may have not suffered the damage that has forced the Council to finally get their act together. I will be pushing the Council to get our CCTV up and running at the earliest possible opportunity. I will ask the police to increase patrols in our park until it is."

The work will be funded by Community Safety, Environmental Management, Township funds and, significantly, the Friends of the Park, who are contributing £1,000 of funds they have raised. Councillor Kelly said: "When our CCTV is up and running I will be sending a clear message to local people. If you cause damage to our park, we will catch and punish you. The Memorial Park is one of the jewels in our crown, enjoyed by so many local people. We won't tolerate anybody damaging it. I would like to praise the Friends of the Park for their role in ensuring the Council finally stick to their promises."

Councillor Irene Davidson is going into Hollingworth Academy to raise awareness of these kind of incidents, and will be maintaining the relationship they have with the school staff and students on these issues. Irene, a member of the Friends of the Park, said: "By residents working with local councillors using social media, we have managed to avoid a catastrophe. I must praised Council Officers for responding to our complaints. I will be visiting local schools to highlight our new security systems at the park and to educate them into respecting our recreational facilities."