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Help and complaints

Parks, green spaces and community services

Parks, play areas, allotments, public rights of way and community centres. This guide explains your rights, where to get urgent help and how to complain.

We cannot make a complaint for you

SocialCareScore cannot make complaints for you or take up individual cases. Rating a council is not the same as making a complaint. To have something put right, contact the organisation that runs the service.

Councils in Wales look after parks, play areas, allotments, public rights of way and community centres. Community and town councils run some local facilities too. Councils also work with the police on anti-social behaviour.

Getting urgent help

If someone is in danger
Call 999 if a crime is happening now or someone is in immediate danger. Call 101 to report something that is not an emergency. Source
Telephone: 999 (24 hours a day)
More information
Crimestoppers
Report crime anonymously if you do not want to speak to the police. Source
Telephone: 0800 555 111 (Any time, day or night, any day of the year)
More information

Your rights

Asking for allotments

Where a council considers there is demand, it must provide a sufficient number of allotments and let them to local residents. Six registered electors or council tax payers can put a written request to the council, and it must take that request into consideration. Source

Enough places for children to play

A council must assess the sufficiency of play opportunities for children in its area, and must secure sufficient play opportunities so far as is reasonably practicable. Source

Public rights of way

Councils have primary responsibility for public rights of way, including maintenance, preventing obstruction and keeping the legal record. If you have a concern about a path, contact the council. Source

If the council does not decide about a path

If you have applied to change the definitive map and the council has not decided within 12 months, you can ask the Welsh Ministers to direct it to reach a decision. Requests are handled by Planning and Environment Decisions Wales. Source

Asking for an anti-social behaviour case review

If you have reported anti-social behaviour and nothing has been done, you can ask for a case review, once called the community trigger. The threshold should be no higher than three complaints, and local agencies may set a lower one. Someone else can apply for you with your consent. Source

How to complain

  1. Report the problem to the council first

    For a blocked or poorly maintained path, an unsafe play area or a problem in a park, contact the council. Welsh Government says concerns about a right of way go to the relevant local authority. Source

  2. For anti-social behaviour, ask for a case review

    Each complaint should be made within a month of the behaviour, and you must apply for the review within six months of making the complaint. Source

    Time limit: 1 month to complain; 6 months to ask for the review

  3. Use the council’s complaints procedure

    If the service itself does not put things right, make a formal complaint to the council and keep copies of what you send. Source

  4. Then go to the Ombudsman

    Complain within a year of knowing about the issue. The Ombudsman thinks 12 weeks is a reasonable time for the council to give a final reply. Source

    Time limit: Within 1 year; allow the council about 12 weeks

If you are still unhappy

Public Services Ombudsman for Wales
Looks at complaints about councils in Wales and how they handled your complaint. Source
When: After you have complained to the council and given it time to reply.
Time limit: Normally within 1 year of knowing about the issue
Telephone: 0300 790 0203
Planning and Environment Decisions Wales
Handles rights of way casework for the Welsh Ministers, including requests for a direction where a council has not decided a definitive map application. Source
When: When a council has not decided your application within 12 months, or has refused it.
Telephone: 0300 123 1590

Free, independent advice

Advicelink Cymru (Citizens Advice)
Free, confidential advice on your rights and how to complain. Source
Telephone: 0800 702 2020
Open Spaces Society
A charity defending commons, greens, paths and open spaces in England and Wales. It normally advises where public access land is affected. Source
Telephone: 01491 573535
ASB Help
A charity giving advice and support to victims of anti-social behaviour, including how case reviews work. Source

Share your experience

You can rate your council’s parks, green spaces and community services anonymously. Ratings help other people and are published as monthly scores.

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Last reviewed: 15/09/2026