Parents have expressed their horror over plans to allow open access to the grounds of Helmshore Primary School (LT, June 24).
As the number of children grows, there is surely a case for providing more land for them to play on.
Fencing off the biggest field in Helmshore does not help.
Parents at the top end of the village may not want children to go to the Memorial Gardens.
For 70 years, the school field and the park provided playgrounds for the youngsters living close to them.
The money that has come from the developer of the Holme Field estate – now for some unknown reason called Weaver’s Dene – could be used on both sites.
I understand Rossendale Council is willing to spend the windfall in this way.
The Action Group would like to see at least a part of the field returned to public use (what’s wrong with that?) and also the reopening of the footpaths, which offer some of the best views in the village now that so much of Helmshore is covered with houses.
Before the fences went up, I often took people on to the field to point out the features of the historic Musbury Park.
Paths are more than the shortest way from A to B. They can offer visual refreshment, and in this instance, some local history as well.
The Action Group is as keen as everyone else that children should be safeguarded. Their point is that the field is big enough to be divided by a fence and enjoyed by children both during and after school hours. The public, they believe (as does the minister), should be able to walk across the field as they used to. Is this unreasonable?
Chris Aspin (via website).
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