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Residents' fury at playground move

Lisa Gray
3/ 4/2008

A FURIOUS protest has been made against the proposed siting of a playground.

Residents of Greenfield Court, Pot Hall, are up in arms because of plans to turn a piece of land just yards from their homes into a play area.

The site has been earmarked by Pot Hall Tenants’ and Residents’ Association, which hopes to receive funding from Rochdale Council and Rochdale Federation of Tenant and Resident Associations (ROFTRA), to create a playground for children aged between two and 15.

But residents are fearful existing problems with anti-social behaviour and vandalism will get worse if the playground gets the go-ahead.

People living in the six houses on Greenfield Court have all shown opposition to the plans but have asked to remain anonymous because they fear reprisals.

One resident said: "If the playground was going to be used by kids that would be fine. But it won’t be.

"Every evening in the summer we get yobs sat out on that land drinking and causing problems.

"Things are bound to get worse if they turn it into a proper playground. It will be a meeting point for them."

Three residents from different houses claim to have had their windows smashed by yobs walking along the railway, which runs at the back of their homes.

One resident. who has lived in their house for more than 30 years, has boarded up the patio doors because they were smashed, meaning that no light comes through one side of the house.

"There is a problem with safety," said another resident. "People coming to the playground would be tempted to take a short-cut across the railway to get there and it’s only a matter of time before someone gets killed."

The land is currently used by Harwood Park Primary School for sports events.

One resident said: "We don’t mind when the kiddies use it, it is the only place you can set up a running track in Heywood and should stay like that.

"But our lives have been made a misery by these yobs and we can’t cope with anything that will attract them more."

Councillor Carol Wardle said: "I’m not surprised these people are concerned because they do have a lot of problems already. The other ward councillors and I were hoping to get funding for something in this area, but we would never propose anything like this without seeing how the residents felt.

"For one thing, it is already used by the school so that could cause great complications. Residents can rest assured that there will be a full consultation before anything even gets to the planning stage and I would advise them to air their views at the meeting."

The proposed site is to be discussed at the annual meeting of the Pot Hall Tenants’ and Residents’ Association, which will be held on Monday April 14 from 7pm at The Heywood pub, Tower Street.