Spoil Sports
July 25, 2008
Thursday morning around 8.30am, and I found myself walking around Hale Park taking photographs of the current landscape and fixtures of how it looks now, before the work commences on the rebuild and renovation near the end of the year which should revamp and change the park for good.
I bumped into several familiar villagers who where also out walking by the top football pitch near Hale Hall Gardens,, our conversation turned to the pile of discarded empty water bottles that could be seen on the side of the pitch, from the bund near the fork in the track. It appears that these bottles are the left-overs from the previous evenings Hale football training,, on closer inspection there must have been around 10-15 bottles (without counting) on the touch line?
It would have nice,, if these bottles were picked up and put in the near by waste bin just by the side of the track, probably about 50/75 meters away?
Also peppering the area and on the football pitch, is dog muck’, this can be seen on both pitches.
Several thoughts crossed my mind,, that do these people who leave such waste lying on the ground, appreciate the £800.000 that is going to be spent on the parkland, lets hope they do-and clear it up in future? Also,, with wildlife and children in the parkland,, if such waste was harmlessly picked up/touched/played with, stood on or chewed,, some harm to the inquisitive one could be inflicted.
Another danger,, is that when the grass is mown and the driver of the tractor pulling the mowers goes over the plastic bottles by mistake,, the bottles are cut up by the mower blades into a thousand and one pieces and left on the grass surface . Professional mower operators walk an area to be mown,, but should they waste their time by picking up such large piles of bottles in their way, when those who have left them could have easily picked them up themselves, put them in a plastic bag and then into a near by bin before leaving ?
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1. Karen Wharton | July 28, 2008 at 7:45 pm
I was at the football match on Wednesday evening and to be honest only noticed the mess when the away team had left, otherwise I would have gone and asked politely for them to put their rubbish in the bin. It may be useful for extra bins to be put either side of the pitch for future games (something to be organised by the home teams) and this should alleviate some of the problem. As for the dog muck – this will only improve when we have a dog walking area in the park, and even then we will have to rely on the owners actually taking their dogs in there!
2. Joanne Hilton Hale F.C. C&hellip | July 28, 2008 at 10:24 pm
I totally agree that the rubbish should never have been left there. I was at the Park myself that night and did not notice it. Hale F.C. use drink dispensers. Looking at the pictures it was the away teams rubbish which now Im aware of the problem I will be letting them know my concerns. In future I will personally put a bag on either side of the away line so this never happens again. I would also like to suggest that you contact myself for any issues concerning Hale F.C. as I think it was unfair to direct the blame straight away without getting the correct information. On the same day over 100 local children from Hale F.C. used the park, without furthur incident.
3. William | July 29, 2008 at 5:56 pm
Thanks for your responses.
Sure makes a difference to when my Uncle played for Hale FC down on the old Carr Lane pitch,, all he got was an orange and away games they got nothing.
I too think it would be a good idea to organise a collection for the bottles.
Good thing about the comment widget, is that both sides get a say, thus the correct information being in the public domain!?
4. Helen | July 31, 2008 at 12:14 am
While I am looking forward to seeing the planned improvements to the park, I hope the comment about having a dog walking area isn’t meant to suggest that dog walking should be restricted to this area alone, or that cleaning up in that area will be optional! Especially since I believe the owners who make no effort to clean up after their dogs are mostly the ones who drive into the park and just let their dogs out to run around, make a mess and cause a nuisance. For the rest of us, I hope the improvements will also include keeping the grass short so that we are able to clean up properly after our dogs.
5. Andrew | July 31, 2008 at 12:21 pm
I have only lived in Hale for a few years and visit the park every morning and afternoon with my dog, I always clear up after her, by bringing a plastic bag to scoop up the mess and dispose of it in the bins. However, there are several people who let their dogs wander around the football pitches not clearing up.
I agree that the cutting of the grass should be more regular so that when your dog decides to do it’s business, you can actually see it.
The only other issue I have about the park, is the parking situation infront of the gates and the Post Office, cars are parked all over the place obstructing the driveway and foot paths.
This is a dangerous area, especially now the children are off school and are in and out of the park every five minutes. Some form of traffic calming and parking prevention is needed I feel, before anyone gets hurt.