Dudley Council admits 'no excuses' for delayed parks response

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 24 Oct, 08:15 · Archive

Dudley Council acknowledged it took too long to answer concerns about communication raised by parks friends groups.

Dudley Council admitted there are 'no excuses' for the length of time taken to address communication concerns raised by parks friends groups. A year after groups complained about the council's engagement at a Communities and Growth Scrutiny Meeting in October 2025, the authority's cabinet approved a new Parks Friends Forum in October 2026.

Council member Cllr Ryan Priest expressed concern about the delay. 'I cannot express enough how much damage it has caused taking a year to get to this point,' he said. 'These groups haven't had any contact from the council since the committee meeting.' He noted that all complaints at the original meeting focused on the same issue: broken communication with the council.

Nick McGurk, the council's group director for communities and growth, acknowledged the problem. 'There is no excuse for the amount of time taken,' he said, citing resource constraints and other work in the area as contributing factors. The forum will be overseen by Dudley Council for Voluntary Service and its first meeting is expected to be held in January, though a date had not been finalised at the time of reporting.

How it is being reported

• Dudley Council chief says 'no excuses' for delay in answering parks complaintsNew forum to bring parks groups together set to get going more than a year after council was told it was failing to communicateBirminghamLive · 24 Oct, 07:30
• ‘No excuses’ for delay answering parks complaints, Dudley Council admitsLack of communication concerns answered a year after they were raised.Express & Star · 23 Oct, 12:12

In this story: Dudley Council · Dudley Council for Voluntary Service · Cllr Ryan Priest · Nick McGurk · Dudley

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