One of the worst playgrounds in London has been branded “heartbreaking” and “ridiculous” by local residents – and you can see why. The tiny park in East London has just one small rope swing for kids to play on, and rusty barbed metal covering some stepping logs.
Sitting in the heart of Bow, the so-called park is possibly the least fun you can have in the capital. As well as dangerous barbed wire lying next to some underwhelming wooden steps, the playground is also covered in beer cans and crisp packets.
Unsurprisingly, no one seems to have ever used the play area. The Tower Hamlets playground has sat on Morville Street for years, as new flats have been built around it as the area develops.
Residents say they almost never have access to the park, but they wouldn’t use it even if they could. The tiny play area used to be overgrown with trees and bushes, making it completely unusable, which have recently been cut away to reveal very little.
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Would YOU bring your children here?
(Image: Facundo Arrizabalaga)
The playground on Springwood close is not popular with locals
(Image: Facundo Arrizabalaga)
Some residents who just moved to the area said they didn’t even know the park was there and no one seems to have seen a single person use the rope netting. Tess Werling, who has lived in the neighbourhood since May, said she was disappointed not to see any improvement to the playground. She said: “We moved here end of May 2021 – the playground was in a horrible state then, covered in beer cans, trash, and barbed wire.
“Our building was still very much a building site itself so we figured it would be cleaned up when the building started to take shape – it hasn’t. We have seen people clean it up once, one day only, barbed wire and much of the trash is still there. It’s sad and heartbreaking.”
Natalie Quesnel, who also lives close to the park, said she didn’t even notice it before the overgrown trees were hacked away. She said: “I think they just cut down the trees. I definitely haven’t seen anyone in there. I mean, just get rid of it all – it seems ridiculous. Maybe have an allotment there for the community or something, grow vegetables and stuff, get a community thing going.”
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Fellow resident Emmanuel Eze echoed Natalie’s comment and said that something else should be done with the land. He said: “I haven’t seen anyone use it – not at all. They definitely should [replace it] because I moved here for the parks in the first place.”
Another resident added: “I’ve never seen any children in it at all. I wouldn’t even call that a playground not gonna lie. I have lived around here for five years and no one uses it. It makes no sense having that, you could do something else with it.”
Residents said the park was owned by a housing association but also called on the local council to help fix the playground. The Local Democracy Reporting Service contacted housing associations and Tower Hamlets Council were both contacted for comment.
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