Teenage girls have given politicians a glimpse of how they would want ‘their’ park to look – as they briefly converted a barren patch of concrete into a fantasy oasis.

Whether the fantasy could become reality will be up to the councillors and officers who attended a celebration event at Cowley Marsh Park on Saturday (June 10).

The event was the culmination of a months-long collaboration between girls in East Oxford, Name It youth project, artists, a charity aimed at opening up public spaces for young women and government quango Natural England.

Bronwyn Thompson, 11, was one of the girls involved in sharing their plans for how to transform a patch of concrete in an eastern corner of the recreation ground.

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The design, turned into a wooden model by artist Nor Greenhalgh, featured a fountain-crowned pond, toilet facilities, ‘social seating’ rather than more traditional park benches so youngsters could face each other while talking, and separate play facilities for young children and teenagers.

“The next stage is to actually help build it. We want to get involved. We want to build it and make it better,” Bronwyn said.

The park developed by the girls, who had been brought together by youth workers from the Name It project, was intended to be used by everyone – not just teenage girls. Bronwyn said: “The park that’s actually here already is for both [boys and girls]. Everyone should be able to enjoy it. We’re making sure girls can be included.”

The project originally began last year as part of a Natural England-funded project asking young women what would make them more likely to use parks and greenspaces.

That 'Greenspace and Us' scheme resulted in the construction of an eye-catching shelter in Cowley Marsh, specifically designed as a space for girls and young women to spend time. On Saturday, the girls described the colourful structure as a ‘safe’ space that was already being used by them and their friends.

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Youth worker Nafeesa Hussain, a project manager at Name It, said the girls’ response when they first started the project was to ask ‘who cares’ as ‘no one listens’. The fact that they had been listened to had proved empowering, she added.

Looking on at the model park, arranged on the flat concrete of a tired-looking tennis court, Susannah Walker of charity Make Space for Girls, which campaigns for public spaces for teenage girls, said: “When we put stuff for teenagers in parks, it tends to be skate parks and things like that – fenced games areas – which are almost entirely used by boys.”

Artist Nor Greenhalgh, who built the model park after speaking to the young women, said: “Really, today is about showcasing…what the girls are asking for, which I think is quite special because they often don’t get asked – and actually show something concrete to decision makers.”