RESIDENTS in Forde Park, Newton Abbot, are being lulled into a false sense of security that the tennis courts and pavilion will only be used by police cadets and community groups.

That is the belief of Colin Moore, whose home overlooks the park where residents successfully opposed the commercialisation of the courts and pavilion in 2006.

Now the police are planning to turn it into a multi utility games area, which Mr Moore discovered through a councillor after seeing officers looking at the site in November.

Mr Moore said he rang the police to give them chapter and verse of its history and explaining that residents were promised consultation on any proposed development.

'They then circulated residents with two dates in December. At that consultation it was quite obvious we were being presented with a fait accompli. We were told Devon and Cornwall Constabulary had already agreed to pay £5,000 and had made an application for further funding to the Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership. The council also agreed to contribute,' he said.

Using the Freedom of Information Act he obtained Newton Abbot police inspector Mark Backhouse's funding application.

'Its contents told a very different story to the public briefing. There was no mention of police cadets and the total budget was £29,500.

'What it spelt out was the police were intending to trawl throughout the Newton Abbot area and bring into the park "hard to reach" youth groups for which early intervention and associated distraction schemes are essential.

'I thought CDRP moneys were supposed to be targeted at hot spots of crime and disorder and the regeneration of the 25 per cent most deprived wards in Devon,' said Mr Moore.

He maintained there would be great difficulty in reconciling usage of the multi activity area and the tennis courts at the same time – one or the other would have to be excluded. 'My greatest concern is that the public has been told it would be police cadets using it. Some of our neighbours even think it is young people waiting to join as officers.

'I am puzzled how public funds could be found to spend in an affluent and crime free park when there are other more deserving and challenging localities in Teignbridge which fitted the criteria for CDRP funding – deprived wards and hot spot crime areas.

'The pavilion and activities area will be used for training the cadets once a week in the summer and once a fortnight in the winter,' said Mr Moore who feared that by bringing in other groups the park could suffer from antisocial behaviour and, at worse, more serious crime.

In a letter to Devon and Cornwall's chief constable Stephen Otter, calling for a review, he wrote that he did not want this park to acquire the niggling but stressful problems suffered by residents of nearby Courtenay and Osborne parks.

That correspondence was passed to Insp Backhouse who replied that it was his belief that it would enhance the local environment, provide a modern facility accessible to all and contribute toward reducing levels of crime.

Insp Backhouse claimed that a summary of both the individuals who expressed their views and those who filled in forms at December's consultation, showed there was full support to opening up the facility and maximising its potential for all groups within Newton Abbot.

It could be up and running by April.