Battersea | Richard Davis

Wandsworth Guardian has reported today how the Council are looking to close all three of their adventure playgrounds (York Gardens, Kimber Road Gardens and Battersea Park).

Earlier this year the Council was looking to start charging children to use the Adventure Playground in Battersea park. But facing widespread opposition from a number of community campaigns including the Battersea Liberal Democrats the Council withdrew their plans.

Local Lib Dem Richard Davis says,

“At a time when the Council is looking at the causes of the riots they should not be closing services for children in the area. It is outrageous that Wandsworth is seeking to cut services for those most in need of them at a time of such economic hardship.”

Caroline Pidgeon AM reports back that people are being overcharged on their Oyster Cards by more than £1 million every week with overcharging occurring at every tube and train station across the capital. Last year Oyster users in Clapham Junction were overcharged by £540,000!

Liberal Democrats on the London Assembly have uncovered that Oyster Pay As You Go passengers were overcharged nearly £60 million last year, affecting every tube and rail station in London.

“This level of overcharging is totally unacceptable. There is something very seriously wrong when each and every week of the year Londoners are ripped off by more than £1 million” commented Lib Dem Leader Caroline Pidgeon.

“Of course in some cases passengers might forget to touch in and touch out, but such huge levels of overcharging clearly demonstrate that there are some structural problems with how Oyster is operating. TfL must take immediate steps to make it far easier for people to claim a refund when they have been overcharged”.

Battersea Park Charges Temporarily Scrapped, Remember to Have Your Say While You Can

On Wednesday 29^th 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 4^th 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.

In a recent blog I reported that one of the main problems reported in a resident’s survey of Shaftesbury was the amount of dog fouling on the streets.

I have been in touch with the Council’s Dog Control Officers with regards to this. Wandsworth has a 5 strong team of officers who patrol the borough 7 days a week. One of the many duties of the officers enforcing bye-laws relating to dogs against those breaking the laws.

Mike Callis, the Dog Control Services Manager said,

“We are aware of problems relating to dog fouling on the Shaftsbury estate, and this is constantly monitored. With regards to the streets between Lavender Hill and Clapham Common, we find this to be a seasonal problem. During the darker winter months irresponsible dog walkers exercise their dogs around the block, and obviously disregarding the dog fouling laws. In the lighter spring and summer months they tend to walk onto the common to exercise their dogs, thus shifting the problem there.”

Anyone who is caught breaking bye laws may be liable to prosecution or a fixed penalty notice. So it looks like the Council is aware of the problem and the Dog Control team are doing their utmost to catch irresponsible dog owners.

I believe this is only one side of the problem though. While it is good to enforce laws with regards to dog fouling (as well as other dog owner related crimes), something should be done to make it easier for dog owners in the area – and shifting the problem to Lambeth isn’t the answer! On my regular walks around Shaftesbury I have noticed that while there is a lot of fouling on many streets, some semi-responsible dog owners have bagged it up, but have left this on the street! Part of the problem is that there simply aren’t enough dog bins on the estate. With more bins and access to disposable scoops/bags more dog owners will clean up after themselves. We need to make it as easy as possible for dog owners, so that the irresponsible ones really have no excuse!

Any resident who wishes to contact the Dog Control Service should do so directly on:

Tel: 0208 8717 606 (leave a message if no answer – the officers are often out on patrol)
Email: dogcontrol@wandsworth.gov.uk
Web: www.wandsworth.gov.uk/dogs

From July 2011 Wandsworth Council will start charging children to use the adventure playground in Battersea Park.

Details for the Battersea Park Adventure Playground Charges

This is an additional tax on families in the area which will hit the poorest in society the hardest. Today some of the Battersea Lib Dem team were down at Battersea Park talking to parents and children to see what they think of the charges.

One local Battersea woman we spoke to said that with the charge the Adventure Playground will become the preserve of the middle classes.

The charge is £2.50 which although not huge is an additional cost at a time when people are already suffering. But if you start to think about the average family with more than one child this is when the bill really starts to rack up.

David Walden, Richard Davis and Layla Moran launch the Play for Free Campaign

Over the next few weeks I will keep you up to date with how the campaign progresses and our proposed solutions and responses from the Tory Council with regards to this campaign. For now we need to start building a register of people who are opposed to the disgraceful tax on children’s play.

Council Plans to Close all Adventure Playgrounds in Wandsworth

Clapham Junction Oyster Card Users Overcharged by £540k in 2010

Battersea Park Charges Turn Around

Fouling Shaftesbury

Play for Free – Campaign Launched in Battersea Park