Goring playground yobs feared

A Big Lottery Fund grant has given Worthing Borough Council 200,000 to spend on children's play areas, and Goring has been allocated one of the three schemes planned.

But Goring Residents' Association is mustering support against what it fears will cause a fresh upsurge of rowdyism and vandalism in the area.

Association chairman Frank Lee said he had heard there were going to be two areas there '“ one for over-twos and the other for over-12s.

"The one for older children is described as a 'challenging play area', but nobody seems to know what that means.

"The main problem has been a lot of anti-social behaviour on the greensward where they propose to put this 'challenging' playground, at the bottom of Aldsworth Avenue," he said.

"Over the last couple of years, the local action group, with help from the police, has more or less got on top of the problem. Now, we are faced with the council putting this 'challenging' play area, which we think will just attract these lads to come down and break it up.

"The council put a fence around the new barbecue stands, but it has been smashed to smithereens. We are not against a playground, but this is in the wrong place," he said.

John Thorpe, the council's assistant director (leisure and culture services), said the Goring scheme was not due to start until 2009/10. The facilities would be for children aged two to 16, but the design was not yet decided, and there would be full consultation with local people.