Concern as park gates could be left open all night

Tauny Southwood, a Street Watch volunteer at Cannon Hill Park, urged the council to work with local community groups on the issue

Plans to remove a service to lock gates at night at dozens of parks in Birmingham have been met with concerns from some community groups.

A third party security contractor currently locks them at 34 sites in the city but as part of a review the city council said it was looking at other options.

In August, several parks were part of a trial which an opposition councillor described as "flawed".

The authority said it would now carry out site-by-site assessments.

Irene de Boo is part of volunteer-group Friends of Cannon Hill Park and said her main worry was the long-term effect of the plans.

"It feels like if you leave the gates open it's inviting [people] to go in when you shouldn't go in," she said.

"There are quite a few people living near these gates or near car parks and I think they will feel more vulnerable because of things happening in the car park which will result, more likely, in more calls to the police.

"[It's] that long-term increase cost that I am worried about."

Volunteers in the area have previously reported seeing people riding quad bikes and parking cars inside the park, Ms de Boo added.

Tauny Southwood, a Street Watch volunteer at Cannon Hill Park, urged the council to work with community groups to find solutions.

"We thought that since there are active community volunteer groups, there is a clear solution," he said.

"[It] involves volunteers working in partnership with Birmingham City Council to help ensure the security of Cannon Hill Park.

"I think the concerns are vandalism and graffiti and destruction of facilities."

Volunteers at the parks said they were worried a lack of security could lead to anti-social behaviour in the future

Izzy Knowles, a Liberal Democrat councillor in Moseley, recently wrote an open letter to the council to say the plans would put an "unnecessary burden on council and police resources".

Ms Knowles also highlighted concerns about what she felt was a "lack of consultation" on the proposals between the authority, emergency services, volunteer groups and other organisations.

The trial of the proposals took place in August and in her letter Ms Knowles described it as "flawed".

“It is not clear from the briefing note what the criteria is for measuring the impact during the trial or what process is in place to ensure all incidents are recorded," she wrote.

“Without more information I make representations the trial is flawed; it is also too short and will not properly show the full implications to enable such an important decision to be reasoned and evidenced.”

Alternative options to the current system were being explored and these included leaving the gates to the 34 parks open overnight, councillor Majid Mahmood said.

The authority's cabinet member for the environment added there was no council staffing to carry out the locking and unlocking service.

"Following a trial at a small number of parks in the summer we will now carry out a site-by-site assessment to detail the impact of stopping gate locking in the 34 parks," he added.

The Labour-run city council declared itself effectively bankrupt in September by issuing a section 114 notice, before signing off on £300m in cuts and a 21% rise in council tax over two years.