Tuesday, July 09, 2013

Oakham Town Council, To Consider Change of Use Willow Crescent Play Area



This week Oakham Town Council will consider what to do with the play area in
Willow Crescent.

Despite its neglected state the play area is used by young and older people.

Young ones in the day and later in the evening by older people to smoke and drink.

The council leased the land from Rutland County Council for a term of 299 years back in September 2000
The lease states the land can not be used for anything else apart from a Children's Play Area. So I wonder why The Town Clerk and Cllr Guthrie are asking members to consider an alternative use for the site?



The play area has been neglected for year by Oakham Town Council

The council thinks the play area is not well used and this could be
because it is not an attractive place to visit or because that there are few parents or carers with young children in the area. (the play area is next door to a primary school parents sit in car with children
for long periods of time on a daily basis during term times)

It is also the case that the facilities at Cutts Close are currently much better and are only 5-10 minute walk away. (Oakham Town Council always assumes and rarely speaks to residents)

(for months a gate has been broken and a piece of equipment broken and covered in hazard tape
and the rubber all looks mouldy in Cutts Close)







Once the Clerk said in a report "we don't do much at Oakham Town Council but what we do, we do well"
That is a false statement, for many years they have carried out just one high profile project a year
to gain local media publicity for the egotistic Mayor at the time. Often this features Royce Recreation Ground
or Cutts Close. Last year it was Royce Recreation Ground again that project for the first time has given Oakham Town Council a huge debt. A loan was required after the council spent over a quarter of its income setting up the private gym, next door on top of that they have just spent thousands of pounds of public money removing their fence and replacing it, but not to worry the clerk confirmed the gym owners will be responsible for the future upkeep of the replacement.