Appeal to Wolverhampton residents to help protect East Park
A scheme to keep Wolverhampton’s East Park safe from repeated attacks of vandalism has been launched by council bosses.
On the weekend the Queen’s Commonwealth Games baton was parachuted into the site this weekend, a Neighbourhood Watch-style scheme has been announced which aims to encourage local people to support the council in looking after and taking pride in the park’s environment, which has suffered from a barrage of damage caused by local gangs in recent years.
It has been organised so residents can report any issues or concerns such as anti-social behaviour, dog fouling or littering to an official council body.
Councillor Anwen Muston said: “A lot of damage has been done to the park in terms of repeated vandalism over recent years. What this scheme aims to do is encourage local people to report anything they see.
“Our parks are very valuable to communities and we want to see them used for lawful purposes. We had a similar scheme running in 2004 and we really want to get this one up and running again now.
“We’ve got information cards with contact details that are being handed out to the public and I would urge as many East Park residents as possible to keep an eye out and help make our park clean and safe again for everyone to enjoy.”
Councillor Jasbir Jaspal, the council’s cabinet member for public health and wellbeing, added: “We want people to love their park and help the authorities keep it in tip-top condition.
“That’s why we’ve developed the new East Park Park watch initiative, a partnership between the local police and anti-social behaviour teams, local councillors and parks staff, and we ask any park users to report any issues they find so that they can be addressed.”
Councillor Steve Simkins, the council’s deputy leader and cabinet member for inclusive city economy, added: “I fully support this move and as many people as possible should get involved. Unfortunately – and this is an ongoing concern – we no longer have adequate policing due to Conservative cutbacks and that is the root of a lot of our problems.”
Any East Park issues can be reported to the council on 01902 551155 or by downloading the Love Clean Streets app, available from the AppStore and Google Play.
Anti-social behaviour can be reported by calling 01902 552950 and park rangers are available from 8am-4pm on 07766 473150.
