Wild mess bushes left to cover play park in 'broken Barry'

Residents cannot even see the ground on land between Dyfan Road, Hywel Crescent, Caradoc Avenue and Herbert Street.

Bramble bushes and other weeds have grown to completely cover the ground that used to hold a play park, and now the bushes are reaching over into people’s gardens.

The land is owned and maintained by Vale Council, however some residents say they haven't seen the council there for almost a year.

David Sharpe, 67, said it’s sad because he remembered his children playing in the park when they were young.

Under those bushes is a playpark! (Image: Newsquest)

‘Broken Barry is becoming a tip’

One resident has described how he is sad to see the way his area has become, describing Barry as a nice place, but becoming a “tip”.

David Sharpe, who’s lived on Hywel Crescent for 40 years, said: “It's frustrating because I can remember our children growing up here. The kids would be playing on the swings and slides.

“Now we have grandchildren and we can’t go out in the field with them. Barry is a nice place to live in general, but I call it broken Barry now. The place is becoming a tip. Nothing is being maintained.”

David Sharpe has described Barry as a lovely place to live, but nothing is maintained anymore (Image: Newsquest)

The bushes have taken over land between Hywel Crescent and Caradoc Street (Image: Supplied)

Where is the overgrown park?

‘Bushes as high as buildings’, well not quite… but the bushes have overtaken the land between Dyfan Road, Hywel Crescent, Caradoc Avenue and Herbert Street in Barry, with residents not even able to see the ground.

It’s quite a sight, a sea of bushes packed in like soldiers clamouring over each other taking up a substantial piece of council land that used to be used as a play park. One resident says Barry has become a tip, with nothing maintained anymore.

The land in Barry (red box) (Image: Google Maps)

A substantial bit of land (red box) (Image: Google Maps)

Watch the video below and see just how long the bushes have got!

Bushes aren’t a mess, they’re an anti-social deterrent, with the council making a ‘conscious decision’

Not everyone is upset with the bushes, with some residents saying they are a deterrent for anti-social behaviour and people using the land as a cut-through.

Vale of Glamorgan Council say it was a “conscious” decision to allow the land to re-wild, with the idea of residents taking a more active role in maintenance and building a community garden not taken up.

The bushes have taken over! (Image: Newsquest)

The council say they will cut them back so they don't reach into people's gardens (Image: Newsquest)

The council did say they would cut a perimeter round the bushes to stop them reaching into people’s gardens.

A spokesperson said: “It was a conscious decision to allow this council land to become overgrown after consultation with local residents. They had experienced anti-social behaviour relating to individuals congregating there.

“Further discussions indicated that some residents wanted it to remain that way. An alternative suggestion involved residents playing a more active role in the space, for example maintaining it as a community garden, but there was little interest in this.

“Recently, a few residents have again been in touch on this matter and a meeting will take place shortly to hear their thoughts.

“The perimeter boundary will be cut shortly to prevent growth into neighbours’ gardens and the council will visit the site to establish whether further action is appropriate.”

A sad indictment of the times when a former playpark has to be covered over by bushes to stop anti-social behaviour? What do you think of the situation? For the bushes, or against them? Is Barry becoming a tip with nothing maintained anymore? Let us know at harry.jamshidian@newsquest.co.uk.