Green Litter in the park

I was in the park this morning with our dog and I couldn’t help but notice the contrast between the bowling green being mown, the dog litter stencils - and the ‘green litter’ everywhere in the park - meaning the pervasive brambles/bindweed/...on almost every tree, shrub and flower bed.

The path along the edge of the park from the bowlers hut to the path to the allotments is in a sad state. The 2 flower/shrub beds near the bowlers hut likewise. The shrub bed near the bandstand ditto - the lovely heather is overgrown by brambles.

All of us in our own gardens keep down the weeds which we know would otherwise overwhelm our plants, trees and shrubs - so why is the park in such a state of neglect?

Can the council and/or the Friends of the Park pick up the baton to turn AE park into something in which we can all be proud of - us locals and visitors to AE.

There is an extant suggestion that the village businesses might care to ‘adopt’ a flower bed in the park, in return for advertising themselves.
OR you might approach your local C.E. Councilor to press for the beds to be dealt with by C.E.
OR bring your tools to the park and set an example of republican public spiritedness?
I did manage to nag C.E. into digging over the beds last year; but there’s only so much pushing at the adamantine gates that one chap can do!
The allotment folk did not take me up on the idea of their ‘playing’ with the beds.
Good luck!
Duncan Herald

Roy, in my opinion, the reason why the bowling green looks so pristine and the surrounding under(over)growth so neglected, is due to the the disproportionate amount of money spent on it’s upkeep compared to the rest of the park.

I have a copy of the precise overall expediture for the year 2009-10.

Total maintainance cost was almost £33,000 out of which almost £20,000 was spent on the bowling green, pavilion and loos, This includes the costs of cleaning the toilets £2,300, locking/unlocking same £330 ,and provision of toilet rolls £552 !!  Remember this is for the exclusive use of bowlers whose financial contribution is about £13 per year ( also allowing them to play on the Macclesfield parks). Then there is the cost or green’s grasscutting, inspect, brushing, weedkiller, fertiliser, mosskill, scaryfying, etc.etc..Simple solution…..close the loos, (or open for all) and let them find an alternative, the same way that children, diabled and elderlies have to, thus providing more funds for shrubbery clearance and flower beds.

When I was a Friend of the Park, along with Duncan, we applied a little pressure to C.E C. so why not have a go.

Thanks for that info Kriss, it’s crazy that the bowling club should get away with paying such a small amount per year and the can’t even buy toilet rolls.
Time they were charged a more realistic fee !

Talking about the tiolets, why are they the sole use of the bowling green?  Why can’t parents with children that use the park on a frequent basis use the toilets?

Re. cost of bowling pavilion; for 2011/2012 the pavilion cost over £5,000 and the rest of the park cost over £29,000.
Why arn’t the pavilion toilets open to the public? Its been tried in the past (before my time on the Parish Council) and sadly the vandals wrecked the toilets.
Duncan Herald

Duncan,

As the Parish Councillor responsible for the Park, why don’t we get a better analysis from Cheshire East and listed as an item on the PC Agenda? There will be, somewhere, a line by line analysis of the expenditure and we can check exactly whether all of the expenditure is real and actual, or whether it is “loaded”. The bowlers play for a limited season; at the rate for toilet rolls quoted, there must be raging gastro issues all through the season.

The toilets were formerly available for all, but they were destroyed on a regular basis. I don’t mean in a minor way, but porcelain smashed, both sinks and toilets.

Good Morning Frank, I have a copy of your aforementioned detailed expenditure…I’ll pop a copy over…a chat in the Parish Council meeting about the post-dietary habits of the bowlers eh? That’ll give us something to get our teeth into (in a manner of speaking!).
Duncan Herald