Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Haringey playgrounds affected by cutting of Playbuilder Scheme
The cutting by government of the Playbuilder scheme, launched 2 years ago and from which Haringey received a million pounds in April 2009, has meant that many new playgrounds have been scaled back or axed
I dropped a line to cabinet member for Children's Services, Lorna Reith, asking if any schemes are affected here in Haringey. Sadly, its bad news. Although she did not give me details, she did confirm that some schemes will suffer.
Lorna Reith's response from the 12th August was as follows:
Yes it will. A couple of weeks ago we were asked by Govt for information about our current Playbuilder schemes which we supplied. We were told there was a national review and expected to hear the result at the end of this month. It appears the govt may already have made it’s decision about ending the scheme.
A letter is being sent to the Secretary of State by Cllr Dogus (who has the lead on this as the schemes are being developed by our Leisure Services officers) pointing out the need for facilities in the borough and the amount of consultation with local residents which has already taken place. I’m afraid I am not very hopeful that this will make any difference.
Has anyone working on a local playscheme been affected so far by this?
I dropped a line to cabinet member for Children's Services, Lorna Reith, asking if any schemes are affected here in Haringey. Sadly, its bad news. Although she did not give me details, she did confirm that some schemes will suffer.
Lorna Reith's response from the 12th August was as follows:
Yes it will. A couple of weeks ago we were asked by Govt for information about our current Playbuilder schemes which we supplied. We were told there was a national review and expected to hear the result at the end of this month. It appears the govt may already have made it’s decision about ending the scheme.
A letter is being sent to the Secretary of State by Cllr Dogus (who has the lead on this as the schemes are being developed by our Leisure Services officers) pointing out the need for facilities in the borough and the amount of consultation with local residents which has already taken place. I’m afraid I am not very hopeful that this will make any difference.
Has anyone working on a local playscheme been affected so far by this?
Tags for Forum Posts: playgrounds, public spending cuts
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Adam on
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Ducketts Common has been affected by these cuts. The play area that had been widely consulted upon, has been put on hold until further notice
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Permalink Reply by Liz on
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Happy to do so Fred. Let us know what local playgrounds have been affected and what action people can take please.
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Permalink Reply by Mr Growbag on
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Just out of interest, could I just clarify whether the million quid you mention has already been invested in playgrounds in Haringey or is it this 2009 money that's at risk?
I can't imagine anyone takes any pleasure from cutting funding for improving playgrounds, (or cutting free leisure swimming for kids as discussed recently) but given the widely reported state of the national finances it seems fairly inevitable (to me) that things like this were going to have to be laid off.
Still, I suppose one thing that might be some consolation to Harringay parents is that although DC's upgrade may be unlikely to go ahead, at least there's a lovely new park with brand new play equipment nearby at the top of Falkland and Fairfax...
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Yes, Mr G it would appear that the new austerity message is that society can only afford play areas for children during the affluent times and that somehow safe and exciting places for children to play are a luxury, although I would venture to suggest that vibrant public spaces of which quality local playgrounds form a part, help to build communities as people meet and socialise, as well as providing a place for those without private open space, i.e. gardens, to take their children (and themselves) to meet others.
As I understand it, very imperfectly no doubt, Haringey were offered the money as part of the year 2 funding of a 3 year programme. Year 1 was concentrated on 10 deprived areas around the country developing 28 playspaces. Year 2 beginning 2009 was to offer up to 1 million to more areas to develop their play areas.
Haringey has been working with lots of local groups to design and develop play spaces which does involve consultation (how many times have we heard complaints about councils just putting up equipment without asking the parents/kids?). Some of those schemes have now been mothballed as central government "de-ringfences" the money meaning that unless a contract has been signed, all new programmes had to be halted even if they were at the stage of advanced development that Duckett's is at.
As one of the Groundwork team tweeted to me yesterday, for those members of the public who have given up all that time to this work it is very disillusioning. If the Big Society manifestations such as Parks groups that already exist are not supported then what hope for future schemes? It will take a lot of cake sales and beetle drives to for the community to find that kind of money for themselves, even supposing they have the resources to organise on such a scale. Remember this isn't just parks this is any sort of playscheme, including on local estates, skate parks for older kids and so on. At a time, when everyone is wringing their hands about children playing less and the problems that causes , this would seem like a very short-sighted move on the part of the DoE
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Looks like Gove has listened?
Message from the Save Playbuilder group:
So it looks like the majority of playbuilder funding has been saved. Playbuilders - speak to your local authority now!! See the letter from Michael Gove in the link attached!
Gove Letter
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Permalink Reply by Francis Martin Hall on
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looks very promising LA's awaiting own letter from DOE. Urgent work to look at project costs and which externally approved sites can be taken forward. As award is for 75% of original sum do LA scale down each area and provide for all or make a choice and deliver to original plan.
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Permalink Reply by Dave Morris on
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Hi
I just checked with Recreation Services and the Council are waiting for the official confirmation before deciding on the next steps (ie is their original 'match' funding still available?) and issuing a statement etc etc
Dave Morris
- for Haringey Friends of Parks Forum
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Here's the latest good news about the Playbuilder scheme from the Haringey website:
"Eight schemes to build play facilities in Haringey are to go ahead, despite the Government imposing cuts of more than £200,000.
The schemes are at Down Lane Park, Sandlings Estate, Wood Green Common, Thetford Close, the Markfield Project, Ducketts Common, Carlton Lodge and Stationers Park.
Three other schemes have been put on hold – Partridge Way Estate, Bailey Close and Stamford Close.
Initially the Government was going to provide £603,000 for the 11 schemes. That has been cut to £376,924. Haringey Council is to contribute £275,000, with outside organisations providing another £136,000.
In addition to the £136,000 from external organisations, Haringey Council has worked with partners to submit bids for an extra £154,000, but no decision has yet been taken on those bids."
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There are a few more snippets of information about what Haringey Council has done to get so many schemes through.
See the story on the Hornsey Journal's new web site: http://bit.ly/bZ1jxp
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