St Mary's Island residents furious after Chatham Maritime Trust removes chalk drawings by children in playground
06:00, 28 November 2020
Children's chalk drawings in a playground have been removed by managers causing uproar after residents compared the move to being like something from The Truman Show.
The pictures of butterflies and bees drawn on the surface of Shark Park on St Mary's Island in Chatham appeared earlier this week.
But eagle-eyed CCTV operators from the Chatham Maritime Trust (CMT) – the charity which manages and maintains the island – spotted the artworks and a Facebook post telling people the park required a deep clean sparked outrage.
The post shared on Tuesday morning said: "A reminder that the play parks are for everyone to use and are maintained by CMT. Please reframe [sic] from drawing over the surface as now need to be deep cleaned and removed."
Some 90 comments have been left under the post, many of which criticised the trust's decision as it was done by children showing their creative spirits during lockdown.
The actions have been defended by the Trust after its reaction was accused of being "over the top" and similar to the scenes from the 1998 hit movie starring Jim Carrey in which a utopian community is created and controlled by television executives.
"They're getting to the point of being Draconian and Big Brother like," said mum-of-four Lianne, who's lived on the island since 2004.
"It's like the Truman Show where it's lovely and picturesque and residents are lovely but it's almost like they want to manufacture how people are living.
"The children have gone around and done some really cute drawings of butterflies and bumble bees outside, as they should be rather than staying in and playing on a computer all day.
"It was chalk not spray paint and washes away. We had rain that night.
"It's really important for children's mental health at the moment to be out. They need to be using some creative energy."
Other comments on the CMT post questioned the use of rent charges and why deep cleaning had not been taking place routinely during the pandemic.
Lianne says residents feel the official St Mary's Island Residents' Association (SMIRA) – established when the first houses were built – has not been paying attention to concerns and raising them with the trust for several years.
"It's like the Truman Show where it's lovely and picturesque but it's almost like they want to manufacture how people are living..."
"It's as though if someone has a question they just close down and people felt a bit fed up about being censored. The point of residents associations is for people to have a say.
"But unless you're in a specific group, it's like they're not interested in their views.
"It's about people being able to have their say."
The trust, which manages three parks including Shark Park on the island, says it has dealt with several cases of anti-social behaviour throughout the year leading to damage to play equipment, safety matting and recently installed Covid-19 control measures signs.
CMT chief executive Julian Perry said: "The Trust maintains all parks to a high standard along with complying to all playground safety regulations.
"The Facebook post was highlighting the need for all park users to comply to general etiquette as stated for the benefit of all residents and general public. The safety matting in question can be marked easily but is essential from a safety point of view.
"The additional cleaning now necessary to remove the markings will use Trust funding that is scheduled for maintaining other public infrastructure on St Mary’s Island.
"The chalk markings in question have been undertaken not only by children but also by adults and so there is a need to specifically highlight the issue of etiquette in the public usage of these playparks.
"I do appreciate that this seems to be an overreaction from the Trust to a relatively minor issue and the Trust has no desire to unnecessarily limit residents’ leisure activities.
"However, this issue needs to be seen against the overall responsibility that the Trust has to maintain the parks to a high standard.
"The chalk marking is just one of the many play park anti-social related issues that the Trust has needed to respond to over the last few months.
"The noted response comes from the Trust’s desire to keep the play parks in a fit and suitable condition for all residents to enjoy and I do hope that residents will understand this from the Trust’s perspective."
