£22,500 makeover to perk up Boscombe park (From Thisisdorset)
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£22,500 makeover to perk up Boscombe park
11:00am Friday 22nd June 2012 in News By Melanie Vass
FACELIFT: Churchill Gardens in Boscombe is due for a revamp
A PARK in the middle of Bournemouth’s most deprived area is about to get a £22,500 facelift.
Churchill Gardens park in Boscombe will benefit from new play equipment, picnic facilities and planting as the council seeks to clean-up the area.
Boscombe Central, where the park is situated, is officially the most deprived area in the south west region, according to national figures. It is also the 113th most deprived area in the country.
The improvements include: • The creation of a toddlers’ play trail, with wooden play animals, bridge, stepping stones and balance beam.
• The removal of old fencing from the perimeter of the park.
• A new improved park entrance, including new railings and path.
• New grass and safety matting under the climbing frame.
• The installation of a new basket swing.
• The installation of two new picnic tables and bike racks.
The work will start on Monday and will be complete by the school summer holidays at the end of July.
Last week, the Echo featured a drawing done by a child who lives close to Churchill Gardens.
He had drawn images of a prostitute, a fight and a man urinating in public – things he said he saw from his bedroom window.
Cllr Jane Kelly, cabinet member for partnerships and regeneration, said there were ambitious plans to transform the area.
“Churchill Gardens is a well-used and popular outdoor space and following residents’ feedback we want to do all we can to make improvements there to make it even better,” she said.
“This is just one of the many projects set to improve and tackle some of the issues that face Boscombe.”
Strategy for regeneration
CHURCHILL Gardens is the first target in the council’s sights as it seeks to regenerate Boscombe.
The draft Boscombe Housing Strategy, which is about to go out to public consultation, describes the square as a “hub for HMO’s” with 86 properties, subdivided into 345 homes. The vast majority of these – 191 – are bedsits, just 13 are family homes.
The action plan for the area includes plans to carry out more inspections of privately-rented accommodation in the area to drive up standards, convert 76 bedsits into self-contained flats, bring an empty HMO back into use, refurbish the exterior of all 86 properties, try and increase the number of owner occupiers and try and rehouse families that are in overcrowded accommodation.
Get more Boscombe news in our dedicated Boscombe section
Comments(18)
Redgolfer00
says...
11:34am Fri 22 Jun 12
Nickolai
says...
11:48am Fri 22 Jun 12
BournemouthMum
says...
11:52am Fri 22 Jun 12
Waste of our money.
old git 2
says...
12:12pm Fri 22 Jun 12
You are all very quick to put boscombe down but until something is done, which usually involves spending money, it will never get any better!
BmthNewshound
says...
12:14pm Fri 22 Jun 12
BoscombeBloke
says...
12:24pm Fri 22 Jun 12
contric
says...
1:00pm Fri 22 Jun 12
Tom 'Boscombe' Jones
says...
1:22pm Fri 22 Jun 12
Huey
says...
3:06pm Fri 22 Jun 12
Or pin your hopes on some railings and a nature trail.
Hmmmmn.
mysticalshoelace
says...
4:14pm Fri 22 Jun 12
This isn't an area for kids at all, there are drug users, needles, people drinking and all topped off with a liberal coating off pit bull pooh.
makingsenseofitall
says...
6:25pm Fri 22 Jun 12
The living standards provided by landlords in these properties have to be seen to be believed; they are so poor they are almost Dickensian.
Many of these families work and get by with a top up credit and the Council pay rent on their behalf so the Council have a Statutory Right to insist the properties are maintained properly.
Cllrs. Jane Kelly, Chris Wakefield and Phil Stanley-Watts are a complete waste of space. They trump out a lot of noise about small projects and never - not once - do they tackle the Council about dealing with the real problems.
How they sleep in their beds at night only God will know.
HRH of Boscombe
says...
12:49am Sat 23 Jun 12
old git 2 wrote:I think they should get new equipment. Idiots here think it will encourage the evening toerags like a new suite from IKEA. We'll see!
please could one of the posters from above explaine why the children and young people of Boscombe shouldnt have new play equipment?
You are all very quick to put boscombe down but until something is done, which usually involves spending money, it will never get any better!
politicaltrainspotter
says...
8:41am Sat 23 Jun 12
It's not about shrubs,picnic area and play park,it's about the poor accomodation that surround that area.And will Bournemouth Council make the landlord bring his accomodation to accreditation standard's as currently they are not.Not even his new builds.
As for the three Boscombe West Councillor's they shy away from the real issue's of the area and it is coming more apparent to the local people.
I doubt whether all three will confront Dave Well's as to the condition of his properties as in the local election,he wrote to his tenants asking for their votes on the Conservative Candidates.So i very much doubt they will want to upset their main backer.
It's all vanity and good publicity for Bournemouth Council,the ward councillor's and Dave Wells Properties,who will also gain financially through higher rent.
pete woodley
says...
9:25pm Sat 23 Jun 12
Tom 'Boscombe' Jones
says...
4:00am Sun 24 Jun 12
SophieRJ
says...
9:39am Sat 30 Jun 12
SophieRJ
says...
9:39am Sat 30 Jun 12
muscliffman says...
11:15am Fri 22 Jun 12
First at the Crescent now at Churchill Gardens, still it will add to the ambience for the usual low-life culprits as they continue unhindered about their business.
Still fiddling while poor old Boscombe burns. When will anyone get a grip on this suburb?