A brand new playground in a Swansea community has been vandalised with graffiti already, to the dismay of people living in the area.
People living in the Penlan area were delighted to see a new playground installed at Heol Frank in Penlan, part of a £2 million package of investment in parks across Swansea. The money was to see playgrounds dramatically enhanced or replaced. You can read more about that by clicking here.
Located in Heol Frank, near the area's library, it has been a huge hit since it was introduced, with many mums, dads and grandparents taking their young children there to try the new equipment.
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But the brand new facilities have already been hit by vandals. Graffiti has been daubed over the equipment, including crude terms and illustrations and scrawled names.
Community leaders said they would be forced to fence off the new facility as a result
Local councillor June Burtonshaw was among those to express her disappointment. She said: "I was very annoyed to hear what happened. I have contacted the council about it who are going to go up and look at cleaning it up.
"It's been very well used since it was installed. My message would be for people to take care of it and watch what's going on and report any vandalism they may see. We're going to have to have fencing put around it."
Reacting to the graffiti, one concerned member of the public, who asked not to be named, wrote on social media: "This is terrible. If you have kids that go out and about, tell them this park is for children to play and have fun not to be vandalised. No wonder we are always the last to have a new playground because of bored kids hanging about vandalising new equipment. Teach your children to respect objects that others use."
The full list of play areas which were upgraded in June are located at the following places: Montana Park, Parc Williams, Knoyle Park, Llanyrnewydd Park in Penclawdd, Heol Frank in Penderry, Gowerton, Weig Fawr, Kingsbridge and Dunvant Park . Next month work is due to start in Ravenhill, Cwm Glas, Port Tennant Park, Polly’s Park and Newton Park in Clydach.
A spokesman for Swansea Council said: “It’s an unacceptable criminal act which we’re sure local residents would join with us in strongly condemning. It was reported to our graffiti team on Sunday and they fixed it this morning. The new play area at Heol Frank has been welcomed by families and young children and is being treated with respect by the vast majority of local people. We’d urge anyone who witnesses vandalism anywhere, including at any of our parks, to report the people doing it to us and the police.”
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