Nuneaton campaigner's plea to 'restore our park' and clean-up river

[dutchman]

Dumped shopping trollies and litter now float where people used to enjoy boat rides



A 'restore our park' campaign is underway to bring Nuneaton's Riversley Park back to its former glory.

Dumped shopping trolleys and litter now float where people used to enjoy boat rides along the stretch of the River Anker, which runs through the heart of the town's main park.

Overgrown bushes and shrubbery masks the banks of the river where generations used to flock.

Attleborough resident Callum Ashby is determined to make a change and bring the park back to its former glory.

He has been backed by almost 500 people on social media, many of whom offered to help clean up the river.

But he is calling on the authorities to take action and give Nuneaton a park to be proud of once again.

"I remember going down the park when I was a kid with my grandparents and they used to tell me how they used to get boats down there for 6p," he said.

Now he takes his own 20-month-old son down to the park - but he is saddened by how it looks.

"I want it to be brought back to how it was," he said.

"I have been a on ride out to other parks, like Tamworth and Warwick and Stratford, they have lovely parks, they use their rivers and I think it is such a waste that nothing like that is happening in Riversley Park.

"I rode to Bedworth and went through the park there, it seems that things are done there and nothing in Nuneaton. They have all lovely flowers there and I know that Riversley Park is smaller but it is like there is no pride in the park."

He said that there are other areas, such as the duck pond, based off the bridge, opposite the museum cafe,which has been left to wrack and ruin.

"It has been gated off, I remember you used to be able to get in there, feed the ducks and, I remember seeing goldfish there, now, you can't even get in, plus the whole area is overgrown," said the farmer.

Buoyed by the response on social media, the 29-year-old is planning to launch a petition, once social distancing guidance allows.
Once the lockdown has been eased more, he plans to hit the town centre armed with a petition for people to sign.

"I will get a t-shirt with 'restore out park' on it and I will spend a weekend collecting signatures in the town and in the park," he said.

"It is worth a try, something has to be done."

[dutchman]

Pellet gun thugs hiding in bushes shoot man in the head

Innocent passers-by were hit by a gang of young thugs taking pot shots with pellet gun while hiding in bushes in Nuneaton's premier park.

In just over two hours yesterday (July 13), three people walking through Riversley Park were hit by the teenage terrors.

Fortunately no--one was seriously injured but a man was hit in the head, another in the shoulder and a woman in the leg.

A spokesperson for Warwickshire Police said that searches were made for the gang - but they remain at large.

Witnesses or those who saw anything suspicious in the area are key to catching them.
Police statement

"Police were called at around 2.45pm to a report that a group of youths were allegedly firing a BB gun or similar in Riversley Park, close to Coton Road," said a Warwickshire Police spokesperson.

"A man had been struck to the head by one of the pellets but was not injured.

"At 3.50pm we received a further report that a group of youths had allegedly been seen firing catapults at members of the public on Coton Road and a man was struck on the shoulder.

"At 4.30pm we received another report that a woman had been struck in the leg with a pellet close to Pingles Leisure Centre.

"Officers attended and conducted searches of the area but did not locate or identify any suspects. Investigations are ongoing."