IT HAS has been a few years since I was tempted to put pen to paper, but after visiting Crayford Waterside Park, I just could not resist writing.

There are no park benches to rest, relax and repose upon, just lumps of concrete, very hard on the old bones, with no backrests.

They are also low to the ground and should any elderly person be inclined to sit down, he/she would find it difficult to get up again.

The river looks as though it is being used as a landfill site, it is so full of rubbish and overgrown.

This is the river which from Roman times gave Crayford its status, and gave life to the surrounding farms and homesteads of yesteryear.

It should be dredged to give it a proper water flow. This river has struck in the past by putting Crayford underwater, we should respect its past and future.

If the whole design of the small park is supposed to reflect how Crayford was, then it fails on all counts.

We need a focal point in Crayford and unfortunately the design of the Waterside park has missed the mark by miles.

It is not too late to salvage a bad job by putting in benches and some colourful flowers instead of the rushes which look like overgrown weeds, and clearing the river.

I imagine I am not the only born and bred Crayfordian to have noticed this total waste of our resources and money.


James Seffens, Martens Avenue, Barnehurst