The indoor critic and I visited my daughter and her family this last weekend.
Because of access issues for the wheelchair and other constraints, these days we usually stay in a budget hotel by night and visit by day.
The dog needed walking and the children needed exercising.
So off we went to Poo Park.
We called it Poo Park when we lived nearby.
Often when visiting our daughter I would exercise the dog round the park, every visit was an obstacle course, the grass, the paths and the verges were soiled with the mess left by the many dogs that were exercised in the park and not collected by their owners.
This was a park which was used by the local school as a football pitch, it was a park where children played on the swings, roundabouts and parallel bars.
As such it was a health hazard.
In the mornings children would hide in the bushes around the perimeter to smoke before the school bell called them in.
There were weeds, it was overgrown, it was smelly, you had to check your shoes after any walk and there were no bins if you scooped your dogs poop.
The park was managed by the local council and as the notices reminded you was subject to local bye laws.
I have been visiting the park for almost fifteen years and most visits have been pretty depressing.
Then, a couple of years ago a new person moved into the neighbourhood, he and his wife bought a house in Park View, opposite the entrance to the Park.
Slowly, beginning with a few daffodils, the person in question began to exercise some interest in improving the amenity that the park represents.
Over the past four or five years the general ambiance has changed.
In part because of the voluntary effort initially of an individual and then of the group that the person began to recruit to his cause.
Now on this most recent visit the improvements are really noticeable.
The surface of the paths has been relayed and extended right around the perimeter of the park, the grass is mowed (still by the council but it seems more regularly), around the verges, planting boxes have been constructed and planted with wild flowers, annuals, perennials and herbs, each bringing pleasing scents and aromas.
Around the football pitch new young trees have been planted and miraculously not torn down.
Some graffiti on the paths has been removed and the culprits identified and spoken to.
Litter bins and a supply of bags to safely remove dog litter have been installed.
The park has been awarded a plaque to celebrate the transformation.
I lift my hat to the individuals who have been responsible, they are genuine civic leaders.
The transformation of Poo Park to New Park is an example of Big Society in action.
Big efforts. Big difference. Big change. Big improvement.
Holding the local council and Government to account, creating a partnership in which public and private (volunteers) work together for mutual benefit.
As the leaders of the three main parties begin to bicker over the fall out from the Scottish referendum, as we imagine devolution, England for the English, Scottish MP's unable to vote on English Issues, new constitutional settlements and the West Lothian Question, it seems to me, that we need to move towards a new public/private partnership which encourages the kind of responsible citizenship that can in a few short years transform a public park, with modest effort, some local investment and with the local council playing its part fully with the essential support, both financial and political from central government.
We need to re-imagine and re-energise what it means to be active citizens, co-operating in the renewal and regeneration of our communities.
Because of access issues for the wheelchair and other constraints, these days we usually stay in a budget hotel by night and visit by day.
The dog needed walking and the children needed exercising.
So off we went to Poo Park.
We called it Poo Park when we lived nearby.
Often when visiting our daughter I would exercise the dog round the park, every visit was an obstacle course, the grass, the paths and the verges were soiled with the mess left by the many dogs that were exercised in the park and not collected by their owners.
This was a park which was used by the local school as a football pitch, it was a park where children played on the swings, roundabouts and parallel bars.
As such it was a health hazard.
In the mornings children would hide in the bushes around the perimeter to smoke before the school bell called them in.
There were weeds, it was overgrown, it was smelly, you had to check your shoes after any walk and there were no bins if you scooped your dogs poop.
The park was managed by the local council and as the notices reminded you was subject to local bye laws.
I have been visiting the park for almost fifteen years and most visits have been pretty depressing.
Then, a couple of years ago a new person moved into the neighbourhood, he and his wife bought a house in Park View, opposite the entrance to the Park.
Slowly, beginning with a few daffodils, the person in question began to exercise some interest in improving the amenity that the park represents.
Over the past four or five years the general ambiance has changed.
In part because of the voluntary effort initially of an individual and then of the group that the person began to recruit to his cause.
Now on this most recent visit the improvements are really noticeable.
The surface of the paths has been relayed and extended right around the perimeter of the park, the grass is mowed (still by the council but it seems more regularly), around the verges, planting boxes have been constructed and planted with wild flowers, annuals, perennials and herbs, each bringing pleasing scents and aromas.
Around the football pitch new young trees have been planted and miraculously not torn down.
Some graffiti on the paths has been removed and the culprits identified and spoken to.
Litter bins and a supply of bags to safely remove dog litter have been installed.
The park has been awarded a plaque to celebrate the transformation.
I lift my hat to the individuals who have been responsible, they are genuine civic leaders.
The transformation of Poo Park to New Park is an example of Big Society in action.
Big efforts. Big difference. Big change. Big improvement.
Holding the local council and Government to account, creating a partnership in which public and private (volunteers) work together for mutual benefit.
As the leaders of the three main parties begin to bicker over the fall out from the Scottish referendum, as we imagine devolution, England for the English, Scottish MP's unable to vote on English Issues, new constitutional settlements and the West Lothian Question, it seems to me, that we need to move towards a new public/private partnership which encourages the kind of responsible citizenship that can in a few short years transform a public park, with modest effort, some local investment and with the local council playing its part fully with the essential support, both financial and political from central government.
We need to re-imagine and re-energise what it means to be active citizens, co-operating in the renewal and regeneration of our communities.
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