Linwood park wrecked by vandals

A £300,000 Linwood play park that was created through a decade-long community campaign has been wrecked by mindless yobs who set fire to equipment.

The basket swing at Kintyre Park has been left completely destroyed after callous thugs piled up wood and food packaging around it before setting the structure alight.

The park was opened up seven years ago by parents involved in the Linwood Active group who spent 10 years fundraising to ensure kids in the area had somewhere to play.

And the swing – which cost £5,000 – was a particularly important piece of apparatus as children who struggle with their movement were able to use it as well.

Lesley Compston, who has been involved with the group since the start, said she was devastated to see the damage after investing so much time and effort into getting the park open.

She said: “We are absolutely gutted because the swing was an integral part of the park. It was inclusive and less able-bodied children could use it too.

“We invested a lot of money in the park and it’s upsetting to see it get vandalised.

“I don’t think some kids realise this stuff was bought by the community.”

But Lesley insisted she did not want to simply point the finger at the culprits and instead wants to work with the council and cops to help them understand what they have done wrong.

She is also keen to engage with them about what they would like to see in the park to ensure it is a facility everyone feels they can use.

She added: “When there is not enough for the children to do then they are going to get up to mischief and unfortunately on this occasion, they have targeted the basket swing.

“I don’t want this to just be about blaming people. What we really want to do is educate these children, show them how wrong this is and how much it costs to replace equipment like that.

“We want to reach out to them and see what they want from the park because we created this park for everyone and we think this behaviour can be changed.

“If they don’t feel part of things, then perhaps we need to try and meet their needs.

“I have had talks with Councillor Alison Dowling and Councillor Audrey Doig and I’ve spoken with environmental services at the council and Police Scotland. I hope we can work together to resolve the issue.”

Renfrewshire Council has said it will undertake repairs to ensure the swing is replaced.

Linwood Active was established as a charity in 2006 by parents who felt frustrated there was not enough for kids to do around the town.

But the group had spent two years prior to that consulting with residents about what they’d like to see in the park before applying for funding and raising cash within the community.

After the fundraising effort and its opening in 2014, it was handed back over to the council for maintenance.

Councillor Dowling, who represents Linwood, added: “Linwood families make regular use of Kintyre Park and to discover destructive vandalism like this has provoked anger that anyone could behave so selfishly.

“After visiting the site myself it was clear that effort had gone into setting the fires, with charred wood and food packaging piled up at two areas of scorched ground."

“It’s even more upsetting given it was the effort of local people, led by Linwood Active parents, who raised funds to build the park in the first place. Hopefully, the people responsible will be held to account.”

Inspector Damian Kane, from the Renfrewshire community policing team, said: “For someone to vandalise a children’s play park is just despicable. It is mindless thuggery.

“We have been contacted by outraged residents and elected members and local officers are carrying out enquiries to identify those involved.”

A council spokesman said: “At a time when we are investing £1.25million to transform 14 play parks in Renfrewshire, as well as refurbishing seven others, it is disheartening to see vandalism to an inclusive swing take place.

“We want our play parks to be inviting places for all young people and families and we will undertake the costly repairs required to ensure it is available for local people in Linwood to use safely once again.

“If you have any information on this incident, please contact Police Scotland.”

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