wightdogs.com ISLE of WIGHT DOGS and OWNERS

I have been contacted by a concerned resident regarding the ongoing dangerous situation at Simeon Street Recreation ground in Ryde. In the south-western corner there are skate ramps directly adjacent to the perimeter boundary of the park. At this point there is a hedge with a large gap in it, on the other side of which is a very steep bare earth slope leading down to the Monktonmead brook.

The resident who contacted me had seen two young children standing looking down this slope when one of them tried to shove the other down the slope. He later went to the fixmystreet.com website to report the obvious danger to the council and discovered that it had already been reported on the site back in May of this year, yet nothing has been done.

If you aren't aware of the fixmystreet website it is a great idea, just put the post-code in and navigate on the map to where you wish to report a problem to the council. Click on the exact spot, give brief details and the website will email it to the council for you and also archive it on the website. But in this instance nothing appears to have been done about this very serious hazard.

On the 14 May this report was sent to the Isle of Wight council:

"There is a clear path between the side of the skate park and Monkton Mead Brook - I am unsure as to whether there was a fence blocking this before or whether it was a sturdy hedge. This represents a serious danger to children. Please fix ASAP, thank you."

According to the site this was forwarded to the council 4 minutes later.

Yet today, 13 November, I have taken the following pictures to illustrate the dangerous situation.

As you can see from pictures A & B there are three red metal fence posts remaining but the fence they supported is completely missing and according to the report on the website this situation has existed for six months.

From Picture C it is difficult to see the perspective of the drop but picture D is taken from the road bridge on Rink Road and you can clearly see the steep fall down to the stream. Worse still at the bottom there is a short brick wall. A child falling down could hit their head on the wall and fall unconscious into the water, with disastrous consequencies.

According to the isle of Wight council website

"The Recreation, Leisure and Public Spaces Department are responsible for Playgrounds, Parks, Amenity Land Hire and Beaches & Esplanades here on the beautiful Isle of Wight. Our dedicated team take great pride in ensuring that the quality of many of the Islands natural amenities are maintained to the highest standards so both local residents and visitors alike can enjoy sites that are entrusted to our care"