POOLE Council spent £360,000 they shouldn’t have on a garden – the green at Ashley Cross – that didn’t need it.

This money, (developers’ contributions), was meant for roads around large out-of-town shopping centres but councils found they could demand cash for what are now called Granny Flat developments under the Section 106 rule.

Community Secretary Eric Pickles says these are unauthorised and should stop and is changing the law to do so but councils are worried they will lose control over all the money they have collected, but there are restrictions on what they can use it for.

So they surrounded this whole park with railings, pretended the paths were roads, had so many dumper trucks, diggers, excavator and lorries on site, it looked like the footings for a power station, and kept the public out for the whole six weeks in case they fell down the holes of the diggers or crushed under a bulldozer.

A breakdown of the cost of machinery and equipment and actual gardening would be interesting.

With the horticultural side they had to be very careful. Only plants that could be used by a roadside are allowed, so no flowers – pity, this is a garden. So all the plants that were allowed are behind a horrible wooden fence.

This is, principally a dog walkers’ park and just needed a tidy up. There was nothing wrong with the paths in the first place. I assume when they spoke to the locals before they started, they did not tell them they were going to spend over quarter of a million – and yes, the pond and water feature are very nice but no, they are not worth £360,000.

I have said it before and will say it again, this is the same council that saved a few thousands, stopping children getting their hands dirty in the schools Poole in Bloom competition. They should be ashamed.

KEN ADAMS, Glen Road, Parkstone, Poole