Park petition prompts action

Tuesday June 2, 2009

Play for today: Anna Hundal, Georgina Webber, Nagham Jawad and Susanne Reisacher hand Cllr Paul Bristow their petition to improve Marcus Garvey Park.

A petition organised by a group of local mums has led to a council pledge to improve Marcus Garvey Park in West Kensington.

The mums, led by Nagham Jawad, organised a petition signed by more than 100 residents who use the park.

When sending the petition, Nagham, 35, asked for help making the park off North End Road 'a safer and more enjoyable place for our children'.

She told h&f news: "My son and daughters go to the schools next to the park, and there's half an hour between each pick-up, so we use the facilities all the time.

"It's a really busy little park and needs some effort put in to improve the facilities.

"Because so many kids use the equipment, quite often they have to queue up to take turns, so some more equipment would help."

After receiving the petition, H&F cabinet member Paul Bristow met a group of parents at the park in May and asked the mums to point out the areas of improvement they wanted to see.

He said: "I wanted to go down to the park and talk to them to see for myself what needs doing." During the tour, hot topics such as dog fouling, antisocial behaviour, improved seating and planting were discussed.

Now, the council is planning a public meeting to allow more local residents to come down and have their say.

Fellow petitioner Georgina Webber, 35, from Ravenscourt Park, Hammersmith, said: "The park is perfectly positioned so close to the schools, but it just needs to be made a bit more user-friendly."

And regular park user and Fulham resident Anna Hundal, 36, said: "It's a very well-used park and I don't think there is enough equipment for the numbers of children who regularly use the park."

Watch this space for details of an open day.