Emi Sandberg and her daughter with their ‘save our sandpit’ sign

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A SAVE our sand pit campaign has been launched parents warning the council: Get your padel bats off our kids’ play area!

The Town Hall wants to replace a free children’s fun zone with a pay-to-play court for the up-and-coming racket sport. Camden is proposing to bulldoze the sandpit and set up a permanent facility in Cantelowes Gardens in Camden Road.

Andrew Deans, whose home overlooks the park, laid down parasols, beach towels and sun lotion spray there this week in a bid to draw attention to the potential loss of a “tropical paradise”.

Mr Deans said: “The sandpit is loved by all the children. They always beeline straight towards it. My feelings are shared by many many people here, that this is purely money-making.

They are taking away something that is much loved and free and putting in a pay to play feature. “I would say that all services that Camden outsource, they are failing spectacularly. The whole concept of outsourcing needs to be looked at.”

The padel court would be run by Better, Camden’s outsourced leisure provider. On his attention-grabbing beach parasol idea, he added: “I thought if there is one thing that will grab attention, just get out your beach umbrellas. On Sunday, a lot of people were asking what is this summer vibe going on. I was saying, this is because we are potentially going to lose out sandpit.”

Objectors say the sand is a ‘tropical paradise’

Emi Sandberg, who lives next to the park, said: “I take my little girl to the playgroups around here and they are full. The nearest playground is in Regent’s Park, which is quite far. If they are concerned about how to maintain the park, there are lots of other brighter ideas they could have come up with.

“Padel tennis is a bit of an upper-class sport. Would you pay £25 for an hour? If it was up in Hampstead Heath maybe.”

Padel is a doubles-style cross between squash and tennis that is played with oversize bats. Several temporary courts popped-up across the capital last summer but few permanent court exists in London despite the game’s rising popu­larity, the council said.

Its pre-consultation documents it had “assessed all the parks we manage” and had landed on Cantelowes Gardens sandpit area as the most suitable area in the whole of the borough.

Parents say too much space in the park has already been given over to paid-for-only sport provision.

In 2008, a £1.5million redevelopment of the gardens was completed that included a series of football pitches. A concrete skate park was also built in the gardens and tarmac for new paths, along with a “sports pavilion”.

There was criticism at the time that public space was being replaced by fee-paying sports areas in a money-making ruse for the council.

The redevelopment included the sandpit – that was designed by architects with a fictional storyline to inspire children about science and space exploration.

A 60-tonne Cornish granite boulder was brought in to replicate an meteorite having smashed into the ground, leaving a trail of upturned trees and debris.

The sandpit was supposed to be an impact zone crater and there was a “rock strewn furrow” leading to the space rock that was half sunk in the grass.

How the park in Camden Road was laid out – with its meteorite theme

The council said the strewn boulder field would be remain after its padel court as built, with the surrounding area enhanced with an ecologi­cally superior meadow. Pop-up engagement sessions were held before Christmas and parents organised a public meet­ing in the London Irish Centre last Wednesday.

A planning application is due to be submitted following the past few weeks’ engagement process. A council spokesperson said: “Padel is a fast-growing sport in the UK with a real buzz around it – and with our park tennis courts already in high demand, we know there is strong interest in racquet sports across Camden.

“We recognise that intro­du­cing this new court would mean other areas would become smaller, which is why we are proposing to enhance the remaining sandpit and meadow – bringing in replacement trees and a new hedgerow – so families can continue to enjoy the area. We’re still in an early stage of this process and want to get this right for everybody.”

Comments can be made on We Are Camden website until Friday.