By D.J. Hiles, via 'Your Say'

Like Patricia Sheerin, I was surprised to hear that Merton Council is in anything but dire straits financially.

I have lived in the area for over 50 years, been a regular user of Wimbledon Park, and have witnessed its decline in recent years.

At one time there was a number of park staff working regularly to keep it well maintained, including a park keeper, who took pride in the way the park looked and what was going on. Now there are only temporary staff.

Cycling has become a real menace because some cyclists are simply using the park as a rat-run.

I often have to tell them to slow down and this usually provokes a tirade of bad language.

The same goes for the dangerous and anti-social practice of lighting fires all over the grass.

This has grown out of all proportion recently because of the hot summers and because Lambeth and Wandsworth do not allow barbecues in their parks. People seem to come from miles away and leave the park looking like a rubbish tip.

As for the extra car park being built on green space, this will just encourage more and more cars - rather like building a new motorway!

In fact, not only is the park served by good public transport but there are already two car parks, one of which near the Wimbledon Park Road entrance has been allowed to become run-down and filled with rubbish.

A fraction of the cost of building a new car park could be spent on re-surfacing and cleaning up this eyesore.

Let us invest in our parks and protect them from becoming as noisy and stressful as our roads and city centres.

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