PARENTS and children near a new housing development are “at their wits’ end” that a piece of grassland that kids used to play on has been fenced off and neglected.
Residents in Snellsdale Road next to the Coton Park development say the overgrown land is no longer suitable for their children to play on during the school holidays, and broken fencing around it is a “nasty accident waiting to happen”.
They say the land hasn’t been maintained since October 2017 when Persimmon Homes started work on nearby housing.
Snellsdale Road resident Margaret Hood said: “It’s destroyed a beautiful grassed area. The parents are very angry that their children have nowhere to play.
“The local children of all ages used it – little ones playing, older ones playing football. It was a happy safe place.”
She said when developers put a six foot fence around it, the wooden knee-high fences around the land were damaged and left in a dangerous condition, with loose nails and sharp metal exposed.
Snellsdale Road children Caitlin Winter and Leah-Paige Thacker-Kessna show how fencing around the edge of the land has been damaged, leaving sharp edges exposed. 31.019.005.rug.jm3
“They left an access point open but it is unsafe for the children or any walker to go too near the fence.
“The field has been left to grow waist high – or higher for most of the children. It is no longer a grassed area but an area covered in large waist-high weeds.
“It is the summer holidays, but the children can not come out to play.”
A Rugby Borough Council (RBC) spokesman said: “We are aware of the work, and in dialogue with Persimmon to make sure the work does not exceed the permissions granted.”
He said an agreement between the developer and the council was in progress which would transfer the land back to the council for maintenance when work was complete.
“Until then, it remains a matter for Persimmon,” he added.
A spokesperson for Persimmon Homes said the company was in negotiation with RBC regarding the open space, and was working towards an agreed timetable.
They added: “The fencing is part of health and safety measures to protect people from straying into the area around the site’s compound and construction areas. All parties are aware of this.
“Coton Park benefits from a significant area of open space, together with a children’s play area that remains open to the public.”
