Community wardens branch out to parks

The Royal Borough's multi-skilled community wardens are branching out to take on a new responsibility from today (Friday 21 January) - keeping an eye on local parks and open spaces in their patrol areas.

Sporting distinctive yellow 'park ranger' armbands while on park patrol, the wardens will be the community's eyes and ears in the borough's parks which are used by thousands of local people every year.

Cllr Simon Dudley, Cabinet Member for Adult and Community Services, explained: "Now that the wardens have reached their full complement of 14 we are able to extend their remit to cover parks in their respective patrol areas.

"The council has invested around £4million in parks and play areas over the past four years and the wardens will be extending their community outreach to help us ensure that these fantastic amenities are treated with respect and are available for everyone to enjoy."

Cllr Colin Rayner, Cabinet Member for Community Safety, said: "Community wardens have been patrolling local parks for a couple of years but today they take over the responsibility formally. This is another great example of how our wardens are adding to their growing list of responsibilities so they provide an even better service to local people.

"These patrols will make our parks safer for residents of all ages and people should not hesitate to ask for help and advice as the wardens are in radio contact with the council and the police. We want to ensure that our parks are litter free so wardens will also target anyone dropping litter and issue fixed penalty notices to offenders."

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