Family fun shows park 'heading in right direction'

A park blighted by anti-social behaviour has become a place for summer fun, the local community has said.

Walker Park in Newcastle was recently described as "lawless" by locals frightened to use it because of repeated incidents of arson, vandalism, and groups of youths riding bikes and motorbikes.

Walker Outdoor Week (WOW) attracted hundreds of local people who took part in fun activities, proving the facility was "starting to head in the right direction".

The initiative was aimed at helping families at the start of the school holidays and also boosting public confidence in the park.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service understands an estimated 1,600 people took part in a raft of free activities, including a rock-climbing wall, football session, and giant inflatables, with more than 50 local organisations involved.

Stacey Davidson, organiser at WOW - which has been running for 20 years - said: "We are working with the young people who have been creating this anti-social behaviour.

"We want to give them a safe space to take them away from that."

Julie Cooper, secretary of Walker Central Football Club, which has taken over the running of the park's cafe, said: "It is all about bringing the community into the park and turning it around from a place where people didn't want to come into.

"We see all the boys on their bikes and the troublemakers, but they have been no problem with us.

"They come in and they are respectful and polite, we have a really good relationship with them.

"Some of them might go and cause issues elsewhere, but we don't have those issues."

Newcastle City Council bosses have decided to start closing the park at dusk every night in order to deter anti-social behaviour.

Cooper believes that shutting the gates has made a "real difference", even if it has not been a universally popular policy, and has stopped people coming in on quad bikes and tearing up the park's football pitches.

The park is one of only four in Newcastle to to hold the coveted Green Flag award, with the others being the flagship sites of Jesmond Dene, Exhibition Park, and Leazes Park.

Connor Campbell, a coach at the football club, said: "I think the park did go downhill a bit - looking at social media in the last few months, I think people have felt intimidated about coming here.

"When I was a kid there used to be different events on all the time and there is a lot that could be brought back.

"Maybe that has been absent for a bit too long, but things are starting to head in the right direction."