Community group ‘absolutely devastated’ after popular Chesterfield park targeted for the second time - with play area set on fire by vandals

The incident happened about 1.30am on Friday, October 13 in Badger Park, Brockwell, when the play area was set on fire.

The fire brigade attended and put out the flames and green spaces team cordoned off the park this morning due to potential safety issues caused by the fire.

In May vandals destroyed a community orchard planted by children at the park, with a series of trees torn apart.

Katherine Hollingworth, chair of the Friends of Badger Park (FOBP), a community organisation that raised £5,000 to have the play area installed last year, said: “When the council called this morning to let us know, I was absolutely destroyed. The plastic curly slide in the park is completely destroyed, there is nothing left of the slide at all. It has also damaged equipment that was attached to it.

“Badger Park is not a hotspot for any problems, it’s not been a source of any antisocial behaviour so this is shocking for a park that has no trouble at all. To do this and destroy the most prominent part of the park which was the big blue and yellow curly slide is just awful.

"We had just raised funds for benches and they were meant to be installed in the next few weeks. But we made a decision today to not have them fitted before spring because we don’t want to see them vandalised.”

Badger Park has been in Chesterfield for almost 30 years but was on the verge of closing after failing safety checks after Covid lockdowns.

The Friends of Badger Park campaigned and raised funds to save the park and the new £50,000 play area officially opened in 2022.

Martine O’Neill, the secretary of FOBP, said: “We are devastated. We would like to appeal to our neighbours to share any information they have so we can find responsible ones.

"I have been getting loads of texts from people today saying they are sorry to hear about the damage as they know we put a lot of effort into this area, they understand how personal it is.

"We are just a small group of six people, using our free time to improve the park. We don’t make a profit on it, everything we do is for community engagement - to make sure children have something free to do and to raise community spirits.

"What happened last night is crazy vandalism. You see graffiti and bins of fire, but this was very intense, and really, really dangerous. There is The Badger pub next to the park and many families in the area – the flames could have spread.

"We planted trees with children to teach them how to take care of nature, and they did. But they were vandalised a few months ago, we were devastated.

“The very sad thing is we were going to be replanting some oak trees soon but this will now be held off until spring.”

A spokesperson for Derbyshire Fire and Rescue said: “Firefighters from Chesterfield attended a fire involving playground equipment in Badger Park, Brockwell. A joint police and fire investigation has determined the most likely cause to be deliberate ignition.”

A spokesperson for Derbyshire Police said: “Derbyshire Fire & Rescue Service alerted us to a fire at the Badger Recreation Ground off Newbold Back Lane in Brockwell just before 2am this morning, Friday 13 October. At this time, it is believed that the fire was started deliberately.

“We would like to hear from anyone who may have noticed anything suspicious around the time of the incident, or with any information which could help with our enquiries.”

Anyone who may be able to help with the police enquiries is aksed to contact the force on the non-emergency details below quoting incident 62 of 13 October:

Facebook– send a private message to Derbyshire Police Facebook page

Twitter/ X– direct message contact centre via @DerPolContact

Website– use reporting tools on Derbyshire Police website or use online contact form

Phone – call 101

You can also anonymously contact the independent charity Crimestoppers, on 0800 555 111, or by visiting the CrimeStoppers website.