SAVE OUR PLAYGROUNDS!
Newbury Town Council is asking residents to help to save children’s playgrounds around the town. Vandals continue to maliciously damage the equipment or deface with graffiti, often leaving it in a dangerous condition.
The Council is calling on residents to be vigilant and where they see people damaging or graffitiing play equipment to report it to the Council or the Police.
“This selfish vandalism is really frustrating and dangerous. Some people are setting out to deliberately endanger children by removing nuts, bolts or screws. They actually go out with the tools needed to do this damage to the play equipment so loved by children. We are so disappointed. This is malicious behaviour. It’s hard to understand the mentality of these people,” said Cllr Sarah Slack, Chairperson of the Council’s Community Services Committee.
She continued, “These attacks could potentially cost the Council and the taxpayers of Newbury tens of thousands of pounds. The more we spend on playground repairs, the less we have to spend elsewhere. We are spending the allocated budget for our playgrounds on repairs and maintenance twice as fast as the budget allows. At this rate the entire budget for the year will be spent by September.
This activity could result in damaged equipment being removed and playgrounds being closed, which would be such a shame for our children. Our playgrounds are located all over Newbury and are loved and valued by the Community. That’s why we are calling on residents to help us stop this by reporting it to us or the Police. Thank you”.
We really need your help. Please be vigilant for any acts of vandalism and report it directly to either Newbury Town Council by calling 01635 35486, messaging us on social media, by email: towncouncil@newbury.gov.uk or by reporting to the Police on 101. You can also report vandalism anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Contact:
Cllr Sarah Slack, Chairperson NTC Community Services Committee sarah.slack@newbury.gov.uk 07970 790808
Hugh Peacocke, CEO Newbury Town Council hugh.peacocke@newbury.gov.uk 01635 35486