Where Can You Actually Play Ball Games?
Verdin Park has six flattish open areas. We surveyed every one of them — on satellite imagery and on the ground — to find out which are genuinely suitable for ball games. Only one is.
Of the six areas assessed, only Region A is genuinely suitable for ball games — flat, open, and unobstructed. It also overlaps the area earmarked for the proposed new car park, marked 'PC' on the map below.
Click a marked area on the map for satellite imagery, ground-level photos, and measurements. The small 'PC' area shows the proposed new car park, which overlaps Region A.
OS map © Crown Copyright and database right. Satellite imagery © Google Maps.
At a Glance
| Area | Dimensions | Suitable for Ball Games? |
|---|---|---|
| Region A | 110m × 90m × 80m | Suitable — the only fully suitable area |
| Region B | 80m × 120m × 170m | Usable |
| Region C | 221m × 80m | Not suitable — ruts, depressions, wildflower meadow |
| Region D | 90m × 87m × 55m | Not suitable — footpath crossing, balls lost over the allotment fence |
| Region E | 40m × 30m | Usable — limited by slope |
| Region F | 30m × 30m | Not suitable — too small, steep edge |
Measurements are approximate, taken on the ground. Region PC (the proposed car park) overlaps Region A.
The Real Percentage
It depends what you call 'the park'
The proposed car park is often described as taking a small percentage of Verdin Park. That figure only holds up if you measure it against the whole 13-acre park — including woodland, slopes, and paths that were never usable for ball games in the first place. Measured against the space that is actually suitable and usable (Regions A, B and E), the picture looks very different.
Measured against the whole park
~2%
The figure usually quoted — the car park set against all 13 acres of Verdin Park, including trees, slopes, and paths.
Measured against usable space (A + B + E)
15%
The car park set against the space that is genuinely suitable or usable for ball games — nearly one in every seven square metres of it.
The Numbers
Areas are estimated from on-the-ground measurements and the marked-up OS map above, not a professional survey. Region A alone would lose roughly half its area to the car park.
This is the evidence behind the campaign
The only area of Verdin Park genuinely suitable for ball games is the one proposed for a car park. Read more about the campaign to protect it.