Say No to skateboarding in Charlton Park

Charlton Park has become a much loved treasure to local people over the last few years. With a cricket ground, a coffee shop and play facilites for children, it has grown from strength to strength and is no longer a haven for gangs and muggers.

However, the citing of a skateboard park in Charlton Park is now being pushed on Charlton residents as the Woolwich skateboard park is moved there through redevelopment.

We believe the skateboard park will be at odds with the splendour of Charlton House, and the amiable, inclusive nature of the facilities currently on offer.

The skateboard park will undoubtedly bring some problems and we believe that it should be located in another place, where there can be monitoring and supervision......

1) It could be noisy and, being in an open, 24/7 unlocked park, the noise can go on into the night. (This will be worse if the site is near a wall). There is enough ambient light for skateboarding to go on into the early hours of the morning.

2) It is likely to intimidate the vulnerable, particularly women, the elderly, and children who use the park for access to bus routes to and from Hornfair and Kidbooke, especially at night.

3) It may attract graffiti and litter - as is the case with the current skateboard park in Woolwich, which it replaces.

4) It is likely to attract gangs from surrounding areas, making the park feel unsafe and anti-social. (Until recently, gangs congregated at or near the proposed site from Woolwich, Shooters Hill and Cherry Orchard.)

5) If floodlit, it will add light pollution and exacerbated noise on still eveings for as long as the floodlights are on. Turning the lights off will not necessarily prevent continued use.

6) It could adversely affect other facilities and trade at the coffee shop

Other issues:

A) Local residents and park users have not been consulted.
B) 50 percent of people polled did not want the skateboard park on site A.
C) The existing facility has failed. Under what circumstances might the new facility be deemed a success or failure?
D) The local poll attracted less than 80 votes. This hardly an endorsement of the new facility. In fact many of the voters were not in favour of the project but were just voting for the best of three choices given.