Residents are ‘fed up’ with park vandalism

It comes after damage was caused to a row of bushes near the Bryan Street entrance to Dixon Park recently.

It is believed the culprits used a saw to cut down the bushes overnight on Thursday, July 18. The matter has been reported to police.

The act of destruction is the latest in a string of incidents at the park since it was reopened almost three years ago.

Most recently, vandals caused hundreds of pounds worth of damage to a new polytunnel facility in the park.

And Ann Marshall, chairwoman of the Dixon Park Residents’ Association, said local people are “fed up with the repeated acts of wanton destruction”.

She added: “I know that young people from this area were not responsible for this, as the residents’ association has a good relationship with local teenagers.

“The community group fought hard for 10 years to get this beautiful park reopened, yet someone seems to be hellbent on destroying everything we have worked for.

“These bushes were around three years old and it is going to cost a couple of hundred pound to replace them.”

But rather than replace the bushes, Ann feels the council should now erect a wall at the site in an effort to prevent further acts of vandalism.

“I am very disappointed that vandals keep targeting the park and nothing seems to be being done about it,” she added.

“The council needs to be more proactive in its approach to tackling the problem, rather than just spending money replacing stuff that has been damaged.

“Obviously the council’s warden cannot be on duty 24 hours a day, but something really needs to be done or this will just keep happening.

“Vandalism at this park has become a regular occurrence, – just a few weeks ago there was another crude attempt to destroy the polytunnel.

“I don’t know what the culprits hope to achieve, but I would urge them to step back and take a good long look at themselves,” Ann concluded.