Letter: Questions over parks’ budgets
In response to J Hennah of Sussex Gardens Trust, I don’t disagree that public parks are one of the great glories of British life. Parks are places that anyone can relax and find enjoyment in.
What I am not sure about is the merit of some of Crawley’s parks having their budgets cut, while another park – Worth Park/Milton Mount Gardens – will have its budget dramatically increased.
It follows that this increased budget will come from cuts in the overall parks budget, as there is no increased proposed to the council tax. In effect, money will be taken from parks like Tilgate Park to pay for Worth Park/Milton Mount Gardens.
Why does the council attach a greater importance to Worth Park, already a very pleasant park, than Tilgate Park, which has been a popular attraction for many years?
And is it really the job of Crawley Borough Council – an arm of the State – to use Crawley public’s money to promote a very narrow view of history, a dewy eyed view of the Victorian era which just happens to chime nicely with the ideology of the Conservative Party?
Let’s discuss and celebrate the town’s history, but please, Crawley Borough Council, don’t emulate the nostalgic fantasy of former Tory PM John Major who tried to conjure up a form of Britishness based on ‘warm beer, shadows on county cricket grounds and old maids cycling to Holy Communion’.
Our history surely means much more than that.
Cllr Ian Irvine,
Labour, Broadfield North & Shadow Heritage Co-ordinator
Sorrel Close
Broadfield
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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