Residents in a North London neighbourhood have urged the council to invest in their local park, which has previously been branded a “joke”. 

A petition has been submitted to Brent Council calling for improvements to the Bramshill Open Space in Harlesden. 

The park hit the headlines in January, when locals took to social media to express their shock at the poor facilities there.

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Yolanda Dasouza, who submitted the petition, suggested the park be redesigned to make it more welcoming to families. 

She said the current equipment should be replaced, the graffiti should be cleared off and a specialist area be put in place for dog walkers. 

Yolanda wrote: “There is a fantastic opportunity to enhance one of the few green spaces in the Harlesden and Kensal Green ward. 

“A re-design would help to make the open space more welcoming especially with the current structure obscuring the raised beds from the surrounding roads.

“Greening the space would help to reduce carbon emissions, would give some shelter for those affected by urban heat island effect and increase the health and wellbeing of the local residents and community. Additional tree planting would help to reduce associated flood risk for the area.”

She added there are safety issues with the current playground equipment and called for this to be resolved. 

This was an issue that was brought up by residents when pictures of the park were posted online earlier this year. 

One resident said: “The grass around and under the ‘slide’ looks like there’s a lot of rocks around and under it.

“Feel sorry if a kid falls on it and smashes their face or head etc and the ground under the baby swings is a joke!”

Another explained how they had witnessed a number of “near misses” when children were playing at the park. 

A Brent Council spokesperson explained that playgrounds in the borough are “regularly inspected” and that it would investigate specific concerns at Bramshill.

They added: “We welcome the opportunity to work with the local community to understand any improvements that they would like, and how we can identify any funding to allow any changes to take place.”