Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
200 Playing Fields Sold off
Ministers have approved the sale of more than 200 school and community playing fields, despite repeated promises to protect them. Even in the four years since London was chosen to host the 2012 Olympics, the Government has allowed the sell-off of 49 school sports fields. In total since Labour came to power in 1997, 203 pitches have been lost.
Read the full story in the Daily Mail.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on
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THIS is regrettable.
It reflects the pressure of developers which in turn reflects the pressure on land in this crowded island. The pressure is real but unless it is resisted our landscape will tend toward no open space and we will all be the poorer for it. There is a ratchet effect at work, whereby parks, playing fields and open spaces switches to built-up area – but the reverse could only happen at great expense.
London has been fortunate with its parks, but the pressure is to nibble away at them, if not worse. The local council wants to sell off the open space behind the Hornsey Town Hall for property development – in my opinion, this would make a near-ideal site for a park. There is currently a Planning Application for a commercial facility within the grounds of Alexandra Palace park, as another local example. The council regularly (temporarily) privatises part of Finsbury Park during the summer.
The policies to sell off open space seems short-sighted to me. Surprisingly, it is a Labour government that appears to wish to limit the choices in sport and exercise of pupils in the public sector; the playing fields of Eton are unlikely to be sold off for quick cash ...
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