Battersea Park Charges Temporarily Scrapped, Remember to Have Your Say While You Can
On Wednesday 29th June Wandsworth Council announced it would be looking into its proposed plans to charge children £2.50 for playing in the Adventure Playground in Battersea Park. Just three days before they were due to be introduced on the 4th July.
The Lib Dems ran a campaign against the charges and have collected numerous signatures on their petiton against the park charges which the Battersea Lib Dems felt would unfairly disadvantage children from poorer children.
However, while it appears that the charges have been scrapped for now there will be a period of consultation with local park users. I am pleased the council have listened to the masses of local park users opposed to charging children to play in their park. But we must not give up fighting until the council have permanently shelved this idea. If you would like to sign the petition against the park charges please visit www.drricharddavis.co.uk/play4free.
What next for the Adventure Playground?
Despite the large scale opposition to parks charges Kathy Tracey, Wandsworth council’s children’s services spokeswoman, said they may yet introduce the charges for the playground.
Over the summer the council will be asking park users which cost-cutting measures they would approve of to save some of the £200,000 annual cost of running the park.
Possible suggestions may be removing some of the more expensive equipment which requires staffing.
The report will be published in November, if you would like to feed into this report contact the Local Lib Dems at info@wandsworthlibdems.org.uk or leave comments below.
