Have your say on barbecues in the park

I'm for. Let's have a quality BBQ area and encourage an ever more vibrant park with people form all walks of life using it for all kinds of things.

Whatever you try to do in life a few idiots will always try to abuse your good nature or hospitality. Let's not stop doing great things because a few idiots might not clean up.

I agree with the above comment, introducing draconian measures won't help and the current offenders will continue anyway so the losers will be the law abiding, tidy people.

As an employee of East Cheshire Council I would have to say NO one Health & Safety grounds.
Hot ash in a public park !

Jon, France is full of parks with barbecue areas, however they tend to be an area pupose built.

My view of a council is that they should focus on making their area a better place to live rather than getting in the way of everything that the people want!

It's a yes from me. Other places have BBQs in public spaces so why not Alderley Edge? I think it would be a positive thing for the park especially if a designated area was set aside.

Pull yourself together Cheshire east health and safety man, the worlds a dangerous place!

A yes from me, there are stands in the Carrs park in Wilmslow that get used fairly often.

I do hope that something that started as a reasonable enquiry about feelings on litter and smoke doesn't result in an expensive job that takes up valuable resources only to conclude that once the council are involved the practice of bbqs in public must be stopped on health and safety grounds (or you need to buy a license and pay for a training course :-p). As pointed out, dedicated areas would be a positive move to guide people and much more reasonable than 'stopping this' or 'banning that'.

if it was a purpose built brick bbq type thing why not , better than singed bits of turf everywhere off disposable tray bbqs. a stack of health and safety reports at the side to get it going with and it could double up as a waste paper recycler.
dogs in parks are usually more of a nuisance .

"Health & Safety" is it not healthy to eat fresh grilled food in the fresh air with plenty of room for your family and friends to excercise?

The cafe in the park idea is still moving along; wouldn’t this be a good alternative? Very fresh food, in the open air if you so choose and all health and safety matters properly covered! As importantly and something which seems to have been slightly overlooked; a cafe would necessitate the loos being opened on a regular basis
As you rightly say Duncan, AEPC does not run the park, it does support the cafe idea though. Please continue to give your support as well and we can properly use this idyllic public space
BTW (Stephen) we had hoped to install one or two pieces of exercise equipment in the park; please support this as well and then you can justify eating all those sticky buns/sausages!
Friends of Alderley Edge Park

Designated area would be great - lighten up all who look at everything as dangerous - there's more danger that people won't be able to cope with a crisis if all their life they've been shielded from making any judgements for themselves! ( Barbeques all over the place could be messy, and perhaps inhibit children letting off steam.)

Yes great fun. Designated area would solve a lot of issues - rubbish disposal and keeping bbq contained. I think councils are there to facilitate people having fun in leisure time, not prevent them.

Healt & Safety! We may as well close the park, what if someone trips up on the path or a child falls playing on in the play area. You cannot wrap everything in cotton wool, how about the public exercising common sense.

Jon Williams PLEASE!!!! Health & Safety??? Why do you thing people go Bungee Jumping? Because there is no excitement left in life due to regulations and Health and Safety people!!

My vote is a BIG YES! The park is not a museum and should be used by the community as a whole and not just a few.

BBQ ban is axed so Islington can enjoy a sizzling summer Date: 27-May-11 by Chris Roe

A ban on barbecues in Islington's parks has been scrapped so residents can savour the flavour of outdoor cooking this summer.

Islington Council is taking the lead in London by getting rid of rules that ban barbecues in its parks and green spaces.

This week, "no barbecue" signs have been taken down and from today residents can head to the park and start cooking.

"We believe we can trust our residents to use barbecues responsibly and clean up when they leave, without endless rules and regulations."

So why not in Alderley Edge??

I took my young daughter to the park in the village yesterday morning and the amount of litter was an absolute disgrace. I can only assume that the park was busy on Saturday due to the good weather....there were bottles, takeaway coffee cups and food wrappers everywhere. I have no issues with people having barbeques in the park at all but who is going to clean up all the mess that will inevitably be left?

I agree, I think allowing BBQs provided they are used sensibly is a great idea, but the litter situation is often really bad in the park, often the bins are overflowing after a day of sunny weather.

Would it really cost that much to install a few more bins spread out through the park and move the collections to include weekend evenings in the summer?

Having more bins are good but unless the rubbish are clear daily from these open bins if not then there will be high risks of attracting pests (Ants, Wasps, Rats, etc.)

It wouldn't take long to establish when the bins usually get most use and adjust the collections to suit. There must be a trend and then the bins could be kept as empty as practicably possible.

I was down at The Carrs on Saturday evening and the bins were overflowing with litter spread about as well. It's frustrating that people drop litter but in the main it was obvious that people had tried to use the facilities provided, even filling the extra bags that were tied to outside of the bins. I'm not sure when the bins were emptied after that but one would hope that it was before Sunday lunch time when no doubt the already full bins would have been in demand but no use at all.

The reality is that most things we want (not need) have a cost. If you would like to BBQ in a public space such as the park, then the cost is that you take the rubbish generated home with you. Surely this is only sensible and reasonable. To contemplate instructing CE to attend to this is potty. It is apparent that they don’t keep up with regular bin collections anyway and they are already juggling finances. Please can we take a bit of social responsibility for our wants and desires; the alternative is increasing taxes and we don’t want that, do we?

BBQ would be good - but I'd much rather we had loos!! I thought these were being organised, but there seems to be little progress to date - no doubt lots of issues regarding cost of cleaning/upkeep etc. Shame!! It makes it impossible to stay in the park for more than an hour or so.

It's all well and good for the conscientious to take their litter home but a small minority will always spoil it for the rest. I would challenge anyone to show me that the bin collections could not be optimised without an increase in taxes. It just needs someone in CE to give it a priority for ten minutes and a common sense improvement could be found.

The Parish Council debated BBQS during June's meeting. There was a great diversity of opinion between 'good idea, a benefit for the people of A/E' and 'over my dead body we'll have those smelly, dirty things in our little jewel of a park'. In the end, until such time as C.E. hand over the park to the Parish Council (which may well happen sooner rather than later) so that we have authority over the park, the 'Great BBQ Question' is on a back burner.

Adrien: getting more bins in the park truly ain't easy... it took me months of nagging to get the last increase of 3, currently the bins are emptied on Mondays & Fridays. The Parish Council MAY be able to arrange a bin-bag empty on Wednesdays, in addition, for at least the summer period.

By the way, if a BBQ is ever erected in the park, where should it be placed? Away from the childrens' area? Away from the bowlers? Away from the footy area? Away from the tennis courts?

Susan: you are so right about the litter droppers. If anyone wishes to 'snap' the toe-rags that drop bottles etc. then give that to the PCSO or police and we'll try to prosecute (Devil's Island?).

Another by the way; the Parish Council is beavering away to try and produce a sensible bye-law re. alcohol in the park... one that allows sensible family picnics etc. and special events but stops the late-night boozing by the young soaks who leave their bottles/cans etc scattered around the park (I don't actually care if they drink... that's a parents' thing as far as I'm concerned... if they'd just put their rubbish in the bins!).

Almost lastly: yes public toilets would be a good idea... cost is astronomical alas... each time, in the past, that the toilets in the bowling pavillion have been open to the public, they have been vandalised. Any good ideas out there? Or a philanthropist who would like to donate a toilet to the park (we'd name it after you!... the Jones Evacuation Suite?).

Lastly: some comments seem to suggest that the Parish Council tries to stop things... a bunch of killjoy boring old farts... No!... we try to make things happen, but sometimes getting things done is like wading through treacle.

There's a lot of talk about the Parish Plan on this site. It seems that the 'over my dead body' brigade only want to read the bits that they agree with. It clearly says "Encourage more social facilities for all ages" and encourage greater and wider use of the park. What could be more social than eating together? The comments on this site seem to suggest that a lot of people would love to have a BBQ in the park.

Parish Councillors please remember that you have been elected to serve the people not to serve your own prejudices. Both the Parish Plan and public opinion are telling you what stance you should be adopting.

Very interesting and informative feedback there I'd say. Thanks.

O.K., views made clear... I make it about 11 FOR and 2 ANTI and 1 In-the-middle.
Malcolm: we were inded elected to 'serve the people'... please remember that is all of the people... the above views are very much FOR BBQ in the park... on the other hand, the people in the park to whom I put the question have been strongly AGAINST any permanent BBQ site. Short of a referendum, it is difficult to work out what the people want... of course the Parish Councillors have their own opinions on this subject... why is your view an opinion and the view of any Parish Councillor who disagrees with you are prejudice?

When C.East give up the park... whether to the Parish Council or some other body... there will be the political power (and hopefully some funds) to do BBQ (or not)... hopefully we will have come up with some way of consulting the people/voters of the parish.

If its of any interest, I'm slighjtly against a BBQ but if a clear majority are in favour of a BBQ then I will try to make it happen.

Remember that Parish Council meetings are open to the public so anyone can come along and try to make their views known.

As to the Parish Plan... it has several well-intentioned generalities but alas is a tad short on concrete proposals. My experience of dealing with the C.East Officers is that when they are presented with a clear idea/plan (especially if its been approx. costed) they are quite positive/helpful... but jusy saying 'must improve parking' (for example) doesn't really give them much to chew on... I should emphasise that this last bit is my opinion, not that of the Parish Council as a body!