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Our objective
Our objective is very simple - keep the full time Warden in Brent River Park!
We are not simply whinging because we don't like change, we have looked at the problem from a knowledgeable viewpoint and based opinion on experience of the park over many decades.
The Council are seriously misguided in thinking that removing this Warden is a cost saving move. The cost of the damage that will occur in this park without a Warden will easily outstrip any meager savings made by removing the full time Warden. They are NOT going to save his entire salary, other staff will still have to attend to the park in place of the Warden, albeit in a much reduced manner, but these staff will be mobile with much higher overheads.
Unless it is the Councils intention to knowingly allow this park to turn into something resembling a landfill site, then other Council staff are going to have to spend a lot of time there clearing up the fly-tipped rubbish. Even something as routine as cutting the grass will involve an intensive 'debris' removal exercise before grass cutting starts otherwise the mowing machines risk damage and being put out of service.
Of course, the buildings and play equipment are going to suffer, probably irreparable damage, meaning that they will either be lost to the park, or will require very expensive maintenance or complete replacement at some point - where is the cost saving in that? - where is the logic in knowingly allowing expensive assets to be wrecked? - this is the equivalent of going to a loan shark to borrow money, the cost of extricating yourself from the situation is way out of all proportion to the original sum sought!
It may well be true of other parks, that they will remain functional and relatively safe without a Warden, some of the other parks have staff based in them, some even have staff living in council accommodation within the park, gardeners have much more work to do in some of the parks, maintaining flower beds etc., this means that there are council staff present for much of the time and they provide reassurance for park users, as well as deterring undesirable visitors! Other parks are in areas that do not have the inherent crime risks that blight Brent River Park, so any deterioration will not be as dramatic or as rapid. Brent River Park has NO ONE but the present Warden!
Brent River Park is a special case, it differs from other parks, it cannot be adequately served by a 'one size fits all' solution. We are sure none of the residents of the borough want to lose the Wardens from their local parks, but the simple fact is that some parks will continue to function reasonably well without a Warden, maybe not as well as they could, but still in a useable fashion.
Brent River Park will be totally lost to the community without a Warden, just about everybody who has some knowledge and experience of it says so, including the Police, who are extremely concerned about the unchecked crime wave that is about to hit the area, we all know this will happen because we have been there before. When there was no Warden around 8 years ago, the park was virtually unused, it was simply a very undesirable and dangerous place to be.
Our objective is to get the Council to recognise that their 'one size fits all' solution is a disaster in the making, that the real cost saving is in KEEPING the present full time Warden.
The present Warden wants to stay, he enjoys his job and his relationship with the community, he is self motivated and does his job to a very high standard. We are sure there is scope to give him other tasks that would lighten the load on other Council staff (and reduce cost of service), such as emptying the litter bins, and strimming the extremities of grassed areas, jobs currently done by mobile gardeners.
If some thought was applied to the needs of the park, the capabilities of the present Warden and someone got a real grasp of the costings, then we have little doubt that retaining the full time Warden would be seen as the most cost effective solution to the upkeep of this park.
Are we asking too much of the Council, quite possibly, they have gone for a 'knee jerk' solution to cost cutting, but thoroughly missed the point, their proposed solution does not really save money, it's merely a paper exercise to satisfy the bean counters.
Can we get them to review their plans, we're going to have a damn good try, and we are backed by the whole community!
The neighbouring Borough of Ealing, despite budget cuts of 30% which were even larger than the expected 28%, is actually APPOINTING two NEW Park Wardens! Clearly, some councils can see value in them and have some regard for their residents!