Bunny Park Payback Time |
|||||
National initiative putting offenders to work
Sixteen offenders have put in over 4,200 hours of work at the bunny park (Brent Lodge Animal Park Centre). Following a successful bid by Ealing Council last year, London Probation Service approved the Community Payback project at the site. The team started work in December and has built brand new enclosures and cages for the animals, carried out landscape work on the pond and constructed a new aviary. The offenders have also cut back vegetation, planted new shrubs and replanted the bamboo trees in a new location. Community Payback, which is a national initiative, can be given to offenders as part of a community sentence and means they can be ordered to carry out up to 300 hours of unpaid work. The work benefits the local community and projects can include removing graffiti, picking-up litter, repairing and decorating community centres, clearing undergrowth from paths and other public areas and working on environmental projects. Councillor Ranjit Dheer, Cabinet Member for Safer Communities, said: “It’s important that people see offenders giving something back to the local community. I’m delighted the bunny park has been given a new lease of life and I’m sure the people who visit this popular attraction will be equally pleased.”
June 10, 2010
|