Councils cannot allow the neglect of public parks to go on - Yorkshire Post Letters

Recently I visited the top and bottom of Wilton Park, Batley. All I saw was an abandoned park. It was unkept with a tattered green flag. The whole park grass has not been cut for weeks.

There was a job advertisement dated April 18. We do not yet know who has been appointed. The person has roads and other things to deal with such as parking, flooding etc. So they will not be in sole charge of parks. It is a jack of all trades and master of none job.

There should be a person in charge of parks only and this should be an experienced gardener.

When the new council is formed by Reform. We will talk to them and say that there is an urgent need for an experienced gardener to be responsible for the sole job of renewing and restoring the whole of the parks department in Kirklees.

Parks do matter, remember during the pandemic of 2019-22 when people found comfort in just walking at a park. People who had never been to one were full of praise, even politicians - but their support soon faded away when the emergency ceased.

Our parks do matter in all kinds of ways, for health and wellbeing of the people and the community and environmental performance of our towns and cities - which is exactly the reason why the parks movement began from 1840.

The public parks have been handed down to us for well over a hundred years. They were created by gardeners who worked and strove for ever increasing standards and these high standards should not be cast aside by the foolishness of saving a few pounds. Parks cost very little for so much to be gained. The borough of Kirklees could be made so much brighter for very little money spent.

So a Johnny-come-lately with a host of other things to be in charge of will simply not do.

Anyone who has ever had a garden knows that it has to be done with dedication, care and attention to detail and love.

Otherwise the parks system will be lost, this must not be allowed to happen.