10:21am Saturday 23rd January 2010
By Nicola Fifield
A FAMILY who claims a new play area behind their home has encroached on their privacy say they also fear the park will become a magnet for antisocial behaviour.
Rebecca and Brian Clark, of Bishopthorpe, York, said anybody sitting on the new climbing equipment in Keble Park could peer directly into their kitchen and conservatory.
Rebecca, 32, said she had asked Bishopthorpe Parish Council to consider paying for a fence to protect her family’s privacy, but the answer had come back as “no”.
She said nearly 100 people had signed a petition calling on the parish council to put up fencing and lock the play area at dusk to prevent youths from congregating there at night.
“If anybody is sat on the top of the climbing frame they can see right into our house,” she said.
“Bishopthorpe has a real problem with antisocial behaviour and I know we will get youths sat on the top of the frame swigging lager and shouting at us while we are in the house.”
Mrs Clark, who is a part-time shop assistant at the Co-op in Bishopthorpe, said the wire mesh fencing between her home and the play area was not sufficient and it would cost hundreds of pounds to install a proper fence – money they could not afford.
“We are not trying to be killjoys,” she said.
“We’ve got two young children and we know the village needs some swings and slides, but if you are going to put it behind somebody’s house, the parish council should give us a bit of privacy and pay for a fence. It’s a basic human right.”
Jane Mowat, of the Safer York Partnership, said: “Mrs Clark does have a valid point. We know that in other parts of the city we have had a problem with play parks becoming magnets for antisocial behaviour.
“But if residents start putting up fences, the natural surveillance from surrounding properties will go and that is more likely to increase the likelihood of antisocial behaviour.
“A better solution would be to secure the play park at dusk and properly manage it so it isn’t accessible.”
Bishopthorpe ward councillor John Galvin said while he welcomed the excellent facilities he also had “serious concerns” about antisocial behaviour and called for the area to be locked up at night.
Stewart Harrison, chair of Bishopthorpe Parish Council, said this would not prevent youths from climbing over the gate, but it would stop police from patrolling the play park.
He also said he believed the new play equipment did not lessen Mrs Clark’s privacy, as people using the recreational area had always been able to see into her garden through the wire mesh fencing.
But he said as “a gesture of goodwill” the council would grow some plants up the wire mesh fencing to improve privacy for Mrs Clark and her neighbours.
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