When an ageing playground was dismantled by workmen, people living nearby expected new swings, slides and climbing frames. What they ended up with was . . . a brick wall.
The old play equipment in Audenshaw’s Shepley Wood Park was taken away two years ago.
Town hall chiefs promised to replace it with brand-new facilities.
But when the plug was pulled on government funding last year, the council was forced to think again.
Now it has now replaced the equipment – with a wall for kids to kick a ball against.
Eileen Pritchard, whose house overlooks the park, said: "We can’t believe what we’re seeing.
"Everyone’s been asking ‘What is it?’ We’ve been on to the council and they’ve said it’s a wall to kick a ball against.
"The wall is right in the middle of the playground and all the kids are going to do is graffiti it and climb on it and then fall off and hurt themselves."
But Coun Kevin Welsh, from Tameside council said: "The wall – properly called a kick wall – is for youngsters to use for football practice.
"We would have liked nothing more than to create a play area at Shepley Wood Park.
"There was a project in place but the money was taken from us by the Coalition government which first froze Playbuilder funding and then slashed it."
The brick wall was funded through the Youth Opportunities Fund after consultation with residents on the Stanhope estate and Audenshaw councillors.
But Eileen says she would have rather seen the cash spent elsewhere in the playground.
She said: "Two years ago they took away all the equipment and all they left was a roundabout and a couple of old swings that are usually wrapped around the bar.
"There are two rotting goalposts and I think it would have been far better to replace those than build this wall."
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we don't need no education....
You could not make this up! All in all - just another brick in the wall!
Ha, in the film (1982) of "The Wall", near the start, there's a scene with Pink as a kid (maybe 8 years old?) in a playground, with swings, and kids shouting and having fun in the background, and he feels all alone. The background music is the beginning of "Another Brick In The Wall (Part 1)".
Looks like a well built wall to me. Do the council work men do foreigners? I need a wall built to the side of me gaff.
You should live near the top Labour controlling Councillors,and that would not happen.
Perhaps the MP`s and Councillors expenses would have paid for the kids swings and facilities across Tameside.
In fact the cost of Statue`s alone would have provided all that the kids enjoy..
Nice ,very retro .
Discussions between residents and Tameside Council had been going well. But now they seem to have hit a... well, you know where this is going.
Tameside Council at its best, I am off now to slam my head against the brick wall, as its better than trying to get any sense out of Tameside Council.
Its no wonder kids are having to play football or just play in the streets when money is wasted like this. It would have been better to provide a couple of new goalposts and mow the grass so they could have a pitch.
There are no decent parks in this area for little ones, the nearest is Ryecroft and it is quite a walk if you haven't got a car but what do Tameside care about our little ones?
Look on the bright side, at least the local residents have got a nice new wall to bang their heads against whilst they wait for the apocalypse.
The walls not finished yet, wait till its covererd in grafitti.
You couldn't make this up. It's like when you telephone Tameside Council you are met with a brick wall. Ha! Ha! Ha!.
Who's going to pay the compo when kids climb the wall and fall off?
"kick a ball against a brick wall ",
what a great replacement,,, stand up the dingbat who thought this clever idea up .....
No Thought not....!!!!!
"........all the kids are going to do is graffiti it and climb on it and then fall off and hurt themselves."
Plenty of 'compo' for the Audenshaw kiddies, then! ("Wayne! Get down to the playground and fall off that wall RIGHT NOW!")
I phoned the council about this, but is like talking to a brick wall!
It's in preparation for the re0introduction of pitch and toss as a means of the working class filling their days during the next great depression.
I think Humpty Dumpty should be notified to make this story PC
At least theres a fence to stop it being knicked in the night
Tameside council got almost £250K in playbuilder funding... where did it all go?
Why blame the council over what is a national government funding issue. To complete the proposed project after funding was removed would have meant finding the money from some other council budget with the consequent repurcussions. You just cannot get a quart out of a pint pot so lay the blame squarely where it belongs; at the idiots now in charge (supposedly) of the country. No-one seems to claim responsibility for putting them in power. Obviously there are many but I can't seem to find any when asking people. My own political survey actually puts Labour into a landslide victory, so who's got no courage of their convictions and telling 'porkies'.
Could it be that we are all missing something and are blind to this work of art that is indeed a masterpiece, and when we are all dead and gone be known as the 8th wonder of the modern world attacting tourists worldwide.
love the fencing, is that due to the fact the council have not yet done a risk assessment to make sure ut complies with Health and Safety legislation and are they to put up warning signs because of the hight and will they put fall restraint around it and don't forget the lighting so the children it is meant for can see it properly.
Councils and Councillors destroying communities since time began, take their expenses and build a propper park.
you only need jumpers for goalposts
Given how much a brickie costs are the council really saying that such a substational wall as this along with its foundations is cheaper than a swing and a slide?
Bring on the wall!