Written evidence submitted by Friends of the Carrs Wilmslow [PKS 329]
The following evidence will
Introduce the park, its status, location and topography
List the features of the park and the contribution they make to the community
Describe the problems currently being faced
Explain and describe the role of the Friends of the Carrs
Discuss the question of the administrative status of this and other parks
Suggest how they may be supported
Consider additional or alternative funding
Consider alternative management models
The Carrs Park, Chancel Lane, Wilmslow SK9 4AA is a 70 acre public country park owned and managed by Cheshire East Council. The recently formed Wilmslow Town Council also makes contributions both financially and in the form of advice to Cheshire East Council. The park stretches for approximately 1.5 kilometres from the edge of Wilmslow Town Centre to Styal Woods, a National Trust property. The principal features of the Carrs are the River Bollin, which runs the length of the park, a multi-purpose, all-weather footpath running alongside the river, woodland and grassland areas kept as natural as possible, two children’s play areas, a skateboard area, two tennis courts and a mini-football pitch. The park also has a picnic area beside the river, numerous benches scattered around all areas and a car park at each end of the park. Local estate agents describe the area of the park as being one of natural beauty. The woodland areas are left to develop naturally and wet areas in the grassland are left uncut and have become rich in wild flowers, grasses and fauna.
On an average weekday the park has about 250 visitors, mostly locals of all ages, dog-walkers, parents and grandparents with small children, fitness and walking groups, individual walkers and joggers, and older children going to and from school. This number is at least doubled at the weekend and on bank holidays, when the park is used for family gatherings, cubs and brownies and park runs, and it hosts big community events such as the local primary schools’ cross-country races, Fun Dog Show, a Cinema in the Park evening and Party in the Park day. Access is available to all throughout the year, including wheelchair users, small children on bicycles and cyclists, and children are able to run free in a safe place and at the same time enjoy the natural environment. The Carrs therefore makes a major contribution to the quality of life of the local community and attracts visitors from further afield, enhancing recreation, wellbeing and nature appreciation.
In recent years reorganisation and cuts in the face of restricted budgets have made it extremely difficult for Cheshire East Council to provide a consistently satisfactory level of maintenance (grass cutting, litter removal, damage repairs, control of invasive plants,) or undertake improvements. Lack of finance has obliged Cheshire East Council to terminate the security, maintenance and use of a toilet block in the park and close it down. There have also been reductions in community support such as dog warden patrols, community policing and car park wardens leading to problems in the relevant areas. Sadly there has not been a park keeper for a number of years. The lack of wardens and park keepers has undoubtedly led to increased levels of vandalism, graffiti and general unsocial behaviour. In addition, the lack of presence of such persons who would have enabled the smaller, routine maintenance issues to be dealt with promptly has led to damage accumulating.
The Friends of the Carrs is a group of volunteers who use their presence on the ground to work with the council in planning routine maintenance and identifying problems (fallen trees, damage to equipment, drainage issues, neglected corners), and suggesting improvements (the all-weather path, more litter bins, tree renovation planting, scrub clearance). The group has no income so all the volunteers can do is make requests to the council and, where possible, carry out work themselves. We have been successful in acquiring financing from external sources such as local charitable funds and large, national organisations such as Waitrose, Tesco, Natural England and the Woodland Trust for specific projects, but this has only been on a piecemeal basis and there is no guarantee of further funding in the future. We have always found Cheshire East Council willing to listen to our requests and suggestions, but they are becoming less able to respond actively or quickly. For example, some damaged playground equipment has been cleared but not replaced, some tree and bush areas are in need of heavy maintenance which can only be carried out by specialist equipment, and some drains are in need of repair.
Decisions regarding maintenance, capital investment, staffing and other administrative issues are here in the hands of Cheshire East Council. We believe from our direct experience that parks are local issues and need to be managed locally, with particular reference to the communities they serve. Local councils or their agents have the appropriate equipment and are best placed to establish maintenance, replacement and repair schedules, and in consultation with local communities are able to enhance the contribution that such a resource can provide.
We have been encouraged by the availability of external funding through charitable grants, national funding schemes (Natural England, Woodland Trust, Waitrose, Tesco), but this availability is piecemeal, difficult to anticipate and cannot work as a basis for planned maintenance. Moreover, whilst volunteer groups such as ourselves are happy to help where we can, we do not feel that we should carry the responsibility for essential work which involves the public. Scope for generating income is very limited. Most groups who use the parks are local community groups on limited funds themselves and the need to pay for the use of the park would be well beyond their means. Other users are no more than another part of the same local authority, such as schools, so there would be no “new” money. And an entry fee for most parks would, given the open nature of the boundaries and the fact that they can be accessed at all hours, be all but impossible to enforce. We have been able to raise some revenue from commercial users of the park, such as fitness groups and occasional television film companies for example, but again these are piecemeal and inconsistent. There is also every likelihood that any further attempt to generate revenue from park users would incur considerable administrative costs to the owners, in this case Cheshire East Council and it would discourage the public from using the park.
It is difficult to see how any alternative management model would be less expensive and more productive. Cheshire East Council have attempted to reduce costs and improve efficiency through a form of outsourcing, in that they have set up an external company, wholly owned by them, to manage many of their services including that of the parks, and transferred many staff to posts in this company. They have thus retained the economy of scale of having 400 spaces to maintain, local knowledge and a considerable amount of equipment. We do not know what financial benefits this has provided, or whether this move has merely helped to offset the difficulties caused by cuts in funding. We are aware however that staffing issues and lines of communication have become more complex. Privatisation is a highly questionable step. Our park, and quite probably many others, is a resource gifted to the people of Wilmslow for ever and any attempt to hand it over to private enterprise would seriously threaten the benefits currently offered and bring a risk of restricted access and commercial development.