http://www.labourlist.org/tory-council-t...en-to-play

I've been to Battersea Park playground. I really enjoyed it (and so did the kids)

But, having researched in a little more depth, it seems that what they are intending to charge for is not the playground (which has wooden pirate ships, a couple of big basket swings, slides, climbing circuit and, frankly, is better than anything in FH), but the enclosed area next to it, which has high fences round it, is only open to the public at certain times of day, dependent on school holidays, and contains the sort of giant climbing structures not usually found in a kids' playground at all. The detailed notices on the entrance gates made it clear, afair, that it was regularly used privately by youth clubs.
The kids and I peered wistfully through the {closed} gates last time we were there, but found plenty to do in the large, unfenced playground right next to it. My 3 year old enjoyed the toddlers' area, while my 6 year old like the giant climbing frame and cargo nets. I find no evidence at all that the council are intending to charge for that, only for the other, assault-course adventure area within its high walls.

This article in the grauniad makes it clear, anyway, that the scheme is to be piloted at weekends only, and that "A survey carried out at the playground by the council revealed that half of the children came from neighbouring boroughs.
"Why should Wandsworth taxpayers subsidise children from other boroughs?" a council spokesperson said.
The borough admits it is not expecting to make much money from the scheme and has no income target in mind but says the playground would have to close if it did not introduce the charge."

I would be happy to pay a charge of £2:50 to use it; it looked amazing, like a better version of the wooden climbing frames in The Princess Di Memorial playground. As the article above says, the "adventure area contained zip wires and 40ft structures". I imagine it requires someone on site at all times, as it looked huge, and had a height/age restriction - not your average park playground at all. I feel you have misrepresented the situation, ros. Would you have even mentioned it if it hadn't been a Tory council?

oops.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/m...playground

Oh tits.

roz. Sorry.

So Roz, Labour get us into the mess which promts drastic cuts so that councils have to start charging and it's everyone else's fault but labour??!!

Explain.

P.S. As has been pointed out the Labour argument re that park is flawed in that it contains elements of "specialist" equipment which needs staffing.

Also, Wandsworth is a little far from FH so why post about it. Sure, if it was an SE23 issue then fair enough or will this be a "thin end of the wedge" issue for you?

No real interest in the original topic but I do take exception to the Wandsworth Council quote about subsidising people from other boroughs. Does that mean that we should not use any local authority funded facilities (parkland, play parks, roads, pavements...) outside of our own borough?!

Labour policies clearly , or rather Gordon Brown, singlehandedly it seems, got most of the western world into a financial mess, starting from the wild west of the US eventually spreading througout the rest of the Americas, then Europe. Gosh, I hadn't realised they had so much power and influence back then. Nothing to do with our general societal predication towards capitalism and innate greed then wanting the goods and benefits of such a system.

Having lived in Wandsworth some years ago it was noticeable then that they charged for everything, and followed the Thatcher model of why should anyone pay for anyone else, apart from subsidising their great council housing sell off, even when we weren't in a recession and during boom times.
Bromley are also notorious for charging for everything, and highly too. Their one o clock clubs charge £1 at least for babes in arms, even though those children are not able to utilise their facilities.

The comment about 'subsidising ' other boroughs is not surprising. I doubt if this move to charge for this playground is as much to do with raising cash to support a service as to just making people pay for something because its seen as a proper thing to do. And of course to stop aliens from Lambeth and Croydon getting in.

londondrz, this is the 'wider topics ' part of this forum so everything exc se23 gets discussed here.

Post: #7Today 08:10 AM

Labour policies clearly , or rather Gordon Brown, singlehandedly it seems, got most of the western world into a financial mess

I think you should have stopped your post there roz.

Guess to much to hope for a simple apology Roz.

You mention councils like Bromley. These Councils get a much lower grant and infact subsidise the likes of Lewisham

Intrigued, not something I know anything about so interested to know how?

Yes Ive been to Battersea Park many times, very good it is also

Not sure what another Borough charging for these things has to do with people living in FH, yes maybe WBC could have worded it slightly better, however what they want to charge for is their business and its up to the people in Wandsworth to vote them out if they dont like it, if you go there and object to paying, then dont go, eat one really

From what Ive seen/heard, Wandsworth is a very good borough and a very well run one, not heard anyone living there making that many complaints, have you ?

Why shouldn't we comment on another borough - your sentiments on another thread seemed more inclusive...

think there is a clue there somewhere = dont think we should let people who live outside FH from posting, where does it state that we should post about what other boroughs are charging ?

the clue is in the title of the sections

No problem with out of SE23 posting but it's just a bash the Tories post and offers nothing new from Roz. It's also not an accurate post with no supporting facts.

It reminds me a little of Piglet's thread on Jim Dowd, or Brian's thread on Undemocratic Liberals, or Ex-FH Pat's attack on Wandsworth council in Trust A Tory - Your Having A Bubble.

Perhaps the best solution would be to remove the park entirely and use it to store dead people. That's what Southwark were contemplating for SE23. Which is worse (discuss)?

Lets bury Maggie there.

Yes please, as soon as possible. No need to hang around.

How would you explain your remarks to your children Roz.

They don't know who she is , Brian. Why would I need to explain to them?