Sir, I wish to object in the strongest possible terms to having my views labelled as ‘selfish behaviour’ by spokespersons for, and supporters of, the proposed play park at Mill Meadow in Earlston.

To me this is symptomatic of personalisation by people unable to recognise that the scheme has split the community, and that a large number of Earlston residents hold a legitimate viewpoints which oppose this development.

Claims that the project represents the interests of the whole community are at best spurious, given the sectional interests that were consulted, and the fact that the current users of Mill meadow were not directly consulted until the planning phase, when claims and partial statistics claiming community support had already been sent to the lottery funders.

This was amply demonstrated by the opposition recorded through the planning process, where the numbers of objectors and supporters making their views known to the planners was more or less equal, in spite of the use of Facebook by the proposers to encourage supporters to write to register their support with the planners.

Whilst I do not wish to see the meadow sold into private hands, I also do not want to see the atmosphere of the only flat, green open space available in Earlston changed beyond recognition through development of a range of structured play facilities which include covered meeting places for young, unsupervised people, well away from the centre of population. This latter concern about the attraction of people to an isolated site is only exacerbated by the recent anti-social behaviour committed, unobserved and unheard, at Mill Meadow.

In these times of stringent cut-backs in council spending, I object strongly to the possibility that council tax monies may be used to pay for the purchase of the land to support this venture. If the council are so supportive of this development, an acceptable way forward would be for the council to provide an alternative venue for the playpark, close to where the main population of Earlston live, possibly near the new high school, or on the grounds of the old high school, and to leave the Mill Meadow land in the hands of the crown.

I am, etc.

Chris Rainger Earlston