How is this a Green Flag park?

When I read that Victoria Park had once again been awarded the Green Flag I thought the inspection must have taken place when there was pea soup fog or in the dead of winter when the ground was blanketed by snow and the lake was frozen over, for how else could the inspectors possibly miss seeing the abysmal state the park is in?

Ask any regular park visitor and they will list litter, piles of putrefying dog poo, grassed over flower beds, a collapsing perimeter wall and crumbling rockery, overgrown shrubbery, ploughed up earth and flooded paths and lawns.

With regards to the latter, after even modest rainfall there are so many lakes in the park I am surprised Pendle’s tourist department does not advertise cruises and as for the others, well the SAS would find the park ideal for training purposes.

In a Liberal election leaflet the candidate said he had received many complaints about the state of the park so nothing new there then.

From my experience, the problem with Victoria Park is that it straddles a fault line between Nelson and Barrowford. Complain about problems that afflict the park and both authorities say it is not their fault!

For heaven’s sake ladies and gentlemen, Victoria Park is in Pendle, so let it be given the same level of care and attention the other parks get.

The Green Flag scheme is a total waste of taxpayers’ money and like so much else of what is happening in this country, standards are dumbed down year on year so boxes can be ticked and councillors can get headlines/sound bites about how well they are doing their job.

What I and other park users would be interested to know is (1) the date the Green Flag team inspected Victoria Park and (2) when did Coun. Nadeem Ahmed, the portfolio holder for parks and recreation, last visit it?

D. O’Donnell

Barrowford