Hundreds of people are calling for more to be done to stop a park in Hove falling into disrepair.
People using Wish Park in Hove say large parts of it are now unusable because of neglect.
The outdoor gym was removed in 2021, and efforts to replace it have stalled. The football pitch was damaged by the circus in the spring, and not repaired since, meaning it can’t be used.
The cricket pitch was damaged earlier this month when a council van drove over it after heavy rain. And the previously keen volunteer gardening group has all but given up.
The issues have been exacerbated by the loss of its dedicated park keeper, Gerald Flanagan, who was put on the side of a Brighton and Hove bus in 2021 in recognition for his hard work.
Des O’Dell has started a petition calling for more to be done to maintain the park, which has been signed by more than 1,700 people at the time of publication.
He said: “It just gets worse and worse and when we think it can’t get any worse, it does.
“In 2021, the gym equipment was taken away. The Friends of Wish Park got funding from Veolia for replacement equipment and council funding, but then nothing happened.
“They had the circus on the park in April or May this year and when they left they had been there fore about six weeks and the ground was damaged and the council didn’t do anything about it.
“They didn’t repair it at the time. I was playing football and it was lethal – the ball just going off in different directions.
“When the football season started, the kids’ teams first game there was a child concussed and another with a twisted ankle because of all the holes and unlevel ground. The council then stopped organised games being played there.
“The gardening group has lost interest. The park keeper used to help them and organised them and provided strimmers and power tools.
“It’s a really well used park which is not being used because of what the council is doing. They’re totally not interested.”
A spokesman for Brighton and Hove City Council said the money for the new gym equipment wasn’t taken up before because the council couldn’t match the funding.
But he said co-funding with an external organisation had now been agreed and a project manager appointed to work with the Friends of Wish Park.
He said: “We are very aware that there are several issues relating to the management of Wish Park that are causing concerns for residents.
To find a way forward, we will be engaging with residents and businesses concerned about the park in the coming weeks.
“One pitch at Wish Park is currently out of use. This is due to planned events and sports play on this surface during the summer, not a lack of maintenance.
“We’re really sorry about this, and are working hard to get the pitch reinstated as soon as we can.”
Our parks are unsuitable for these ‘events’ and should be very limited. Think it must be lack of maintenance despite what the council are saying. The people of Wish park probably regret voting Labour now. Nemeth would have sorted it out.
Going to say the same despite being Tories Nemeth and Peltzer Dunn would have got this sorted.
Council Leader Sankey has done zero for Wish Ward in the year she has been a Labour Councillor for it. All smoke, mirrors and empty promises. One phone call from her and Gerald would be back at work doing what he does best. She could then suspend the Council Officer responsible for this embarrassing situation.
That same Councillor Officer has also been pivotal in the City Clean rubbish strike and subsequent scandal. There are no recycling collections at all now in vast swathes of the city and no answer when you try and email or phone them.
I’m wondering how Mr Flanagan felt when he was put on the side of a Brighton and Hove bus in 2021. Did they stick him on with superglue? He must have been pretty uncomfortable.
Did Jo Wadsworth not check what she had written before posting this story.
Hi Tim,
We run this site for what ends up being less than minimum wage. We can’t afford proof readers. If you’d like to volunteer, please get in touch.
Why do you need a proof reader? Just read the article yourself and you’ll see it doesn’t make sense.
It makes perfect sense.
Was the park keeper physically attached to the side of a bus and driven around town? Of course not.
Could it possibly be worked out in people’s minds that it was his image that was on the side of a bus? I’m no genius but even I worked that out.
Good journalism shouldn’t need working out. An article should mean what it’s supposed to mean in the first place.
Suspending Gerald for no valid reason is a disgrace and a scandal. He is an award-winning Park Keeper who made Wish Park the go-to Park in the city and head and shoulders above the rest. Maybe someone thought he was doing too good a job. This is Council Leader Sankey’s Ward. She needs to listen to the people and reinstate him immediately.
In recent years it had come to deserve the name Wish Park instead of the alternative, bleaker one of Aldrington Recreation Ground.
Let us hope that it regains the spirit which brought it such things as the Wish Hills.
This has been going on for sometime now and it is obvious that Ms Sankey is not interested in her constituents!l have called her out inthe past to no avail. It is plain to see that she hopes Westminster beckons.
Utterly ridiculous how this has gotten so far. Reinstate the park keeper, the difference he made to the park was astounding. Now he’s been suspended on unsubstantiated claims the entire community is suffering. Just sort it out!
So why was Gerald Flanagan suspended? Looks like the muck has hit the fan with Labour and with two of their councillors not even living in the city, things can only get worse, not that Labour councillors do much anyway. Nathan Adler, why ‘despite being Tories’?, or are they exempted from being protected from hate speech?
If you vote Labour or Green you get incompetence or fraudulent behaviour.
Whereas if you vote Lib Dem or Tory you get super duper efficiency & such squeaky clean behaviour that your eyes are dazzled by the shine ….ha, ha, haaa!
Cllr Sankey has been a boastful individual ever since being elected, and even more so since May. But if she can’t be bothered with those who turned out to vote for her, pride goes before a fall, and she wont deserve to be voted in again.
This could become a hot issue in the South Portslade by-election.
Hi Christopher – when is that election please? – we have received no support for Bella Sankey not even a single message and Paul Nann sounds like he is trying but has been ineffective – this shouldn’t be political but they are making it so as people compare to past councillors performance. They only got 2000 votes to be elected and the are over 1750 signatures on the petition you would think they might notice the number of residents who are concerned about the impacts of their obvious inactivity.
Mate, she won by a landslide. Suck it up.