A new seaside-themed playground opened on the site of the former splash park in Belvedere last week.

Belvedere Beach was launched to much excitement, with a councillor describing the facility as unique and a “tremendous landmark that will be here for years to come”.

But for how long will it remain a nice place for kids to play when some people aren’t able to respect it?

That’s the question raised by one upset parent who sent us the following letter about her time at the park. See what you think and post your comments below.

Letter to News Shopper, sender’s name supplied:

I visited the new Belvedere Beach on Thursday, July 27 (the opening day) and what a lovely play park it is.

Bexley Council have clearly spent a lot of money and everything is very well done and thought out.

What saddened me was how little respect people treat it with.

i went towards the end of the first day and already the park and the playground was full of litter and bottles that had been thrown on the floor even though there were many bins in the park.

I saw a young girl (no older than 10) squirting foundation make-up in the water and boys trampling all over the new plants and pulling the leaves and branches off.

I also took my son again on Monday and sadly I saw much the same, with parents who seem to turn a blind eye.

There is already a plastic bottle stuck in one of the wooden tubes that feeds water through the water play area.

Parents please teach your children to put their own rubbish in the bins provided or clean up after them.

Teach them that running all over plants means that they will die and teach them to have respect for the play equipment and their surroundings.

When councils are all having massive funding cuts why should they have to keep paying for others to clean the litter and keep repairing equipment that just shouldn’t be broken or ruined in the first place?

When the council decides not to funds new playgrounds and shuts things down you will only have yourselves to blame.