​New community group launched to put the love back into a neglected Worthing park

People living in the area feel Pond Lane Recreation Ground has been 'forgotten', while other parks in the town have seen investment.

Love Pond Lane Park Durrington Project was formed just a few weeks ago and it has already seen results, following a presentation to Worthing Borough Council.

Colin McHale, chairperson, proposed 12 'quick wins', including repainting the litter bin, replacing the missing gate on the children's playground, replacing the goal net in the multi-sports area and adding additional seating.

Worthing's agricultural past explored on heritage trail for Durrington and Salvington

He said: "A group of us Durrington locals have got together to form Love Pond Lane Park Durrington Project. The park has been somewhat neglected for many years, unlike others in the borough, and we've formed the group to get improvements made.

"We have presented a paper to the council with what we've called 12 Quick Wins, and things are starting to happen already. Graffiti has been removed from the shelter in the park. A small thing but it’s an improvement. Now for the other 11.

"The door to the play park has been closed for an inexplicable amount of time and we have been told it is with the engineering team now."

Colin, who is a governor at Hawthorns Primary School, said the play area is 'a beautiful space' but there is very little in it for toddlers and the seating is inadequate, plus there is only one picnic table.

"It is a good space, it has just not being looked after properly for a while and needs some work doing on it," he added.

"What we are trying to do is get the local community involved in redeveloping and refurbishing the park. We are working closely with the borough council and other potential sponsors to get things done here. It needs some improvements, it's looking a bit dated, and that's what we are trying to do here."

A public Facebook group has been set up, called Love Pond Lane Park Durrington, and events are planned to get more of the local community on board.

Colin said: "We are trying to get more people involved in what we are trying to do here. We have got a list of community events. On Saturday, June 15, here from 10am to 12pm, we have got a litter pick and the park rangers are coming along. Please do come along to join us."

Other improvements on the list include tidying up the car park in Pond Lane, repainting the lines and discouraging commercial vehicles from occupying it.

Colin said: "We formed three weeks ago and we have already seen some action. We are just at the stage of looking at the quick wins and then go from there.

"Our message is 'don't forget us'. It is about getting people to believe that somebody cares. It has a lot of history and people like that, and Durrington Community Cycle Project is based here. The wildflowers are beautiful and it does get well used."

One of the more long-term issues is flooding, which has left part of the park unusable.

Mary Mernagh, a founder member of the group, said: "We would like the park to be more usable outside the summer because it is then that it tends to get very wet from the pond. It is a massive open space with nothing in it. We want people to turn up and see the potential."