'Small minority ruining a green space for everyone'

A mining charity is calling on residents in Doncaster to help protect a community green space hit by vandalism, fly-tipping and anti-social behaviour.

The Coal Industry Social Welfare Organisation (CISWO) said it recently spent "tens of thousands of pounds" to help secure Market Street Field in Highfields.

Despite this, the charity said security bollards preventing vehicular access had been vandalised and it still faced repeated incidents.

Nicola Didlock, CISWO chief executive, said: "People are on there with cars, quad bikes, they're racing around, there's obviously issues with fly-tipping and we keep trying to deal with it and remove the things that are dumped.

"At the moment it's not a safe place for people to be able to use, you wouldn't send your children along there."

The land is located in the centre of Highfields, a former coal mining village in the north west of the city.

It was previously owned by British Coal before being taken over by CISWO in the 1990s, with the charity taking over the stewardship of the site in 2019 after the closure of the local miners' welfare club.

"Our priority is to make the site safe for everyone, so we can begin developing long-term plans that truly benefit the people of Highfields," Didlock said.

"But we cannot move forward while the site remains vulnerable and unsafe."

CISWO said it had spent £11,000 in the past year alone on security improvements and clean-ups.

Didlock said: "We've installed fencing previously, that fencing was stolen within the day.

"We have also put security bollards across the entrance area to try and restrict access. Those were basically cut down and removed."

The chief executive believed there was a reluctance from local people to speak out about the actions of a "very small minority".

"I think there is fear within the community of broaching the subject with people," she added, with residents concerned about potential "repercussions".

A woman who lives nearby, who asked to remain anonymous, said: "It's disgusting, it doesn't feel like a home anymore.

"We're not seen as other villages are seen."

Another woman, who had lived in the village for more than a decade, said if City of Doncaster Council and CISWO "started doing up the land" then locals would take more "pride" in it.

"They need to make the first move," she said.

"If they built a nice playground for the kids, nobody here would mess around."

Insp Sebastian Dent, of the Doncaster North Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: "We continue to carry out proactive patrols of Market Street Field and the surrounding area and have utilised other resources available to us, including a long-range camera and specialist drones.

"We continue to work closely with CISWO and members of the wider community to protect this vital green space, and I would urge anyone who has witnessed criminal damage or theft to please report it to us.

"The more information and intelligence we receive from members of the public about this, the more we can do to target those involved in this criminality."

City of Doncaster Council was also approached for a comment.

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