THANET MATTERS

By Trevor Cooper

The “I LOVE DANE PARK” campaign, will it achieve its aims or will the inept councillors in Thanet scupper yet another initiative of the Thanet people?

I’m a great fan of the “I LOVE DANE PARK” campaign. Local people interested in their park have taken the lead and started this great campaign group. My hope is that the council will approve give the go ahead to improve it and that they include the following features.

1. Where they build the teenage play equipment they build it sufficiently difficult for the kids to enjoy. Councils tend to shout Health and Safety and take the fun out of the climbing frames and slides.
2. There has to be a Zip Line kids and adults alike enjoy the thrills of the fast wire.
3. How about a Parkour wall, see the internet and see what kids are doing.
4. I want to see a pond, there is not a single park in Thanet which has one. Parents enjoy taking their young to feed the ducks and they grow up respecting it.
5. The placing of the proposed restaurant should be within the parks maintenance yard overlooking the play areas. They could have tennis courts behind and control the putting up of the nets and there removal at night.
6. The maintenance yard should also have formal/informal garden with beautiful flora and trees and places to sit.
7. Adults must be allowed on the play equipment. I’m 44 but enjoy climbing equipment and chasing my kids.
8. Younger and older play equipment to be adjacent to enable the big kid to view their younger siblings.

If anyone has been to the city of Bath and visited Victoria Park or viewed it on Google images, that is my vision for Dane Park. The park has excellent play equipment; a fantastic botanical gardens; a large pond; open space for activities; restaurants and tennis courts and all this is free.

Come on Thanet Facilities for kids not Flats for Fat cat profits.

30 March 2007