Six North East parks are set to be made safer in a bid to protect women and children’s safety following survey results.
Northumbria's Police and Crime Commissioner, Kim McGuiness has unveiled plans to create a safer environment for women in the North East.
The increased safety measures will cost £377,237 with changes including increased street lighting, cuts to vegetation and help points connected to CCTV control rooms. The chosen six parks include:
Mowbray Park, Sunderland
North Marine Park, South Shields
Saltwell Park, Gateshead
Leazes Park, Newcastle
Richardson Dees Park, Wallsend
Hirst Park, Ashington
The changes follow as the Safer Streets Survey found that 62% felt unsafe in parks at night and a further 89% felt unsafe due to men/boys and groups of people. The survey, initiated by Northumbria's Police and Crime Commissioner Kim McGuiness was created to establish the sectors that needed improving the most to make women feel safer.
McGuinness is keen to improve other elements of the North East following the murder of Sarah Everard earlier this year. There are plans to make public transport safer for women with increased safety volunteers onboard to patrol the Metro with an £800,000 budget set aside for the scheme.
Following the proposed changes, Kim McGuinness said, ‘I love how lucky we are in Northumberland, and Tyne and Wear, to have so many really good parks – great for walks, for families, but people have told us they don’t always feel safe using them. We have to change this’.
‘Parks should be at the heart of communities and places of escape – safety fears should not and must not prevent people from using them.’
‘To make sure parks are safer for women we must listen to their stories – and we are. And the things we are making happen to improve safety will benefit everyone’. McGuinness also hopes the park will reduce crimes including drug dealing, hate crime, and ASB.
Newcastle University student Hannah Parkinson told The Courier, ‘I think it’s a good call, if these changes will make us a little bit safer than I’m all for them. A lot of students walk through the parks on their journey home from university, especially Leazes, and with it being darker earlier it can be quite scary, so I think many residents will appreciate this’.