A new year is more than just a change in the calendar - it’s a chance to begin again. It reminds us that no matter how the past year went, we’re allowed to grow, learn, and try once more. Wishing everyone a Happy New Year filled with pleasant moments especially in our parks, laughter in our play areas, and peace in our homes.
Parks and play areas
I have been actively working on identifying and proposing improvements to our parks and play areas, many of which are currently not in a suitable condition for regular use by residents, particularly children and for adult activities such as park runs, walking, exercising and general outdoor recreation. The anti-social behaviour in the parks directly affects the safety of residents using green spaces in Hounslow.
Several of these parks and play areas are located near schools and are frequently visited by children after school hours. However, due to the lack of appropriate and sufficient play equipment, children are finding it difficult to use these spaces safely and meaningfully.
This issue particularly affects parents of children with Special Educational Needs (SEN). In some cases, parents drop one child at a nearby mainstream school and then need to wait before dropping their SEN child at the school for additional learning needs, as it starts slightly later in the morning. During this waiting period, parents often rely on nearby parks. However, the poor condition of these spaces and the lack of inclusive, engaging equipment mean they are not suitable for SEN children to use during this time.
Improving these parks and play areas would greatly benefit families, provide safe and inclusive spaces for children of all abilities, and better support the needs of the local community. We are progressing to the next steps in the Bear Road park redesign and developments, however, the concerns remain across many parks in the borough.
“Our park in South Road, Hanworth has been neglected for years. The council have made excuses about the removal of equipment, whilst they built flats nearby and have never repaired or replaced the equipment. The park used to have a mound and tunnel, monkey bars, balancing boards and large round swings. They are all missing. The local children deserve to have a safe local park to play and keep fit. We also need more accessible play equipment for the less able children. If we improve our local parks, it helps adults and children's health and builds better relationships with each other and gets our lovely community together.” — Gail Grant, Representative for Parks and Green Spaces (above in the picture).
The image below illustrates the current condition of the play equipment in South Road Park, which directly reflects the concerns raised by our residents regarding its disrepair and its unsuitability for regular use by children and families.
“The offering for residents at Crane Park South is in dire need of a refresh. The play equipment due to its discreet setting has suffered due to ASB and the outdoor gym now has visible signs of rust. Both are at the end of life according to the councils last review and need to be replaced. We have raised these as much needed concerns for over two years.” — Mentioned from Ronnie Gill, Community Champion.
The photo below is the view of Crane Park South, shows just how unsafe the play equipment highlighting the concerns shared by local families.
Najia Oulkadi, who is a great supporter for most of the community initiatives, echoes the above comments from Gail and Ronnie.
Housing – Multiple Occupants
There has been a noticeable increase in conversions of family homes into small HMOs using permitted development rights or without licensing from the planning department. This means some houses originally designed for single families are being let to multiple unrelated tenants without full planning oversight. Long-term residents worry that frequent turnover of tenants and a lack of connection to the local community can weaken neighbourhood unity. This creates pressure on waste collection and management, leading to issues like overflowing bins and fly-tipping. Residents across the borough link poorly managed HMOs with noise and anti-social behaviour complaints.
We look forward in the coming year of well-maintained parks, active play areas, and comfortable community housing.