On the Friends of Mayow Park Facebook group in recent days there have been a number comments, those in praise of the new facilities and those raising concerns about what some see as a fail. Such opposite views are bound to happen as parents recall the previous facilities and decide in their minds what they would have chosen.
There were several playground improvement consultations with park users over the six years from 2017 when parents started campaigning for better facilities: Consultations reached a couple of hundred respondents each time but could never reach all those people who visit Mayow Park with children.
A small handful of volunteers researched play equipment and play providers.One applied for funding sources with some success but not as much as they would have liked. Lewisham's parks department (the landowners) approved the campaign. When sufficient funds had been achieved, the plans went out to tender to find a firm to build the playground. This work was overseen by Glendale, the contractors who manage many of Lewisham's parks. The play provider Kompan won the tender to build the new facilities and used the outcome of the consultations to design the space within the available budget.
For those parents who are disappointed with the new facilities, it would be good to hold a special meeting to hear all opinions and see what additional improvements can be achieved. Such a meeting must be led by the interested parents, in the same way as the playground improvements project was led by parents. Concerns from these parents include apparent lack of facilities for the youngest children, not enough facilities for children with disabilities, more benches for parents and 'why mend what ain't broke'. Benches were integral to the plans but funds did not stretch far enough so further fundraising is needed. These and other concerns plus the many positive comments would be on the Agenda if such a special meeting could be convened.
Who wants to find any parents with appropriate skills to pull such a meeting together, inviting various people - parents, Council officers and park contractors as well as those with previous experience of playground improvement projects. Some of the original plans have not been included in the final design due to funding limits, so there may still be opportunities for further improvements and further fundraising.
