How can you sit back and watch your beloved park result in ruins?

Norbury Park is a fantastic park located in between Green Lane and Norbury Avenue-it is home to a vast space of around 28 and a half acres of open green space. This local park has many great facilities such as a BMX track, large grass areas, two children’s playgrounds and a tennis court. This park has a large variety of trees and plants due to the amount of sunlight this area gets. Norbury Park is particularly popular in the spring and summer months. Norbury’s local community use this space for dog walking, picnics and exercising which in my opinion is great use of this park. In the spring time there are lovely daffodils that grow alongside the path which create a lovely aesthetic .One person said “I like walking around and looking at the allotments.” This shows that many of the local community enjoy this park very much therefore it should be protected.

By Living in such a close proximity to this park, I believe that this park has regressed slightly due to the public mistreating it. This park isn’t locked at night and as a result of this, it has attracted many unpleasant people who don’t particularly care about this park. Because of this, they have left their litter behind creating a bad atmosphere for the local commuters and community who walk through this area on a daily basis. Some examples of litter left behind are alcohol cans, plastic bags and glass bottles. This is not acceptable as there are many rubbish bins around provided by Croydon Council which are there to ensure that the parks are kept clean and tidy. Due to the fact that this litter is ruining the park, it also creates a bad environment for the resident wildlife that lives in the park, in addition to the young children that visit the playgrounds.

The litter isn’t the only problem that Norbury Park faces, many people come to the park to socialise, and by doing this they create an unpleasant environment by standing around the monuments and ruining them.The general public are worried about safety, one person said “I like the park, I would improve the security.” Most of the people that Norbury Park attracts at night are homeless, drunkards and drug dealers which is why Norbury Park needs our help! One person said “Security is bad especially at night and after school but the park has stuff to play with.”

In addition to the untidiness of the park, many people are concerned about security and safety in Norbury Park and around the pathway leading to Granville Gardens. I interviewed some people who were walking through the park and here are some opinions on the park. “It’s nice but some areas are not very useable.” Another person said “They can add more things for older children because there’s more for younger children like toddlers.”

Help us recreate the once loved park that we used to know.