The Parks Protection Service is one of the best things to happen in our parks. By the end of their first year in 2011, they had already made their presence known, by addressing serious misuse of parks by motorcycles and other vehicles, which were openly flouting our local Byelaws.
This improving trend has continued into 2012 with reduced risk to the public and further prevention of unacceptable behaviour, minimising disturbance to park users and wildlife. Generally they have helped to make Havering green space areas more peaceful, attractive and friendly.
We do need to continue to assist them to maintain peaceful, attractive parks. As with all our stretched council departments, the Parks Protection Service is limited in its resources. The team requires public support to keep the information flowing, ensuring that they are patrolling, as far as possible, in the right areas at the right times of the day, to be most effective in their community safety support role.
The Parks Protection Service need us to report issues promptly to them, so they can respond quickly and problem solve any developing local issues, as early as possible.
They should always be your first port of call if an issue of concern develops in any park in Havering, unless the matter is obviously one which calls for the 999 Emergency Services. Should such a thankfully rare situation occur, the Parks Protection Service would still like to be made aware of the fact, as soon as possible, in case they can also provide any specialised open spaces assistance.
As a example, they have assisted the London Ambulance Service in several instances where an ambulance has not been able to access a muddy site to reach a casualty. They are also their to support The London Fire Brigade to ensure that they can work in the most swift and effective manner. The team also carry water rescue equipment, dog control kit and a defibrillator for potential heart attack victims!
The Parks Protection Service can also arrange for fly tipping to be investigated and removed and are grateful for any details which can be supplied regarding those offenders involved.
So, if you see a problem in any of our parks, contact the Parks Protection Service, please do not leave it to someone else to do so because if we all did that, then it wouldn’t be reported. They would prefer to get half a dozen calls about the same thing than none at all and will always give you feedback regarding your call.
Please add the Parks Protection Service number to your mobile and help keep the service going in an effective manner for many years to come.