Greenwich Council has confirmed plans to close three of its five staffed adventure playgrounds to save £600,000 per year – despite concerns from police and charities about young people’s safety.
The five centres – Coldharbour, Glyndon, Meridian, Plumstead and Woolwich – offer supervised activities for young people for 30 hours a week.
But only the Plumstead Adventure Playcentre will stay in its current format under the cuts, which are set to be confirmed by the council’s cabinet next week. Meridian is due to become a “community youth hub” which will be staffed, while the others will go.
A report to the cabinet reveals that the Metropolitan Police’s neighbourhood superintendent for Greenwich was among those raising concerns about the closures, as well as the charities London Play and the Playwork Foundation. Detailed results of the consultation have not been released by the council.
There were over 5,200 signatures on petitions against the closures and protests held outside the town hall. The charity London Play said the plans would set a “dangerous precedent for other boroughs”. Greenwich launched a consultation into the plans in November after months of delays and speculation about the future of the centres.
The council has said that it cannot afford to offer the existing service because of years of government austerity cuts – even though neighbouring Lewisham announced in November that it was investing in new facilities for its centres.
The centre at Woolwich will close altogether and be replaced by an unstaffed multi-use games area, although plans to move it to Maryon Park could be changed after a consultation revealed hostility to that proposal. The Clockhouse Community Centre, on the Woolwich Dockyard Estate, could provide an alternative location.
The council said that some equipment at the Woolwich centre, which opened in the 1970s, was broken and its location was unsuitable because of pollution from the nearby A206.
The adventure playground on the Glyndon Estate in Plumstead is set to close altogether and be replaced by an unstaffed playground, although a report to councillors said some voluntary organisations had been interested in taking the site on and this would be explored further.
“Many respondents mentioned safety concerns, including bullying, grooming, gangs, knife crime, or antisocial behaviour if supervision and fencing were removed,” the council report said of Glyndon. “Staff presence was repeatedly named as the strongest predictor of safety.
“However, it is notable that children consulted at schools, many of whom were not current users of the play centre, did not express concerns regarding the absence of staff and were positive regarding investment into the multi-use games area and increased opening hours.”
The only centre in the south of the borough, on the Coldharbour Estate in Mottingham, will also close to be replaced by a broader “community hub” for residents which could feature some youth provision.
The Meridian adventure playground in west Greenwich would be replaced by a “community youth hub”, run by a qualified youth worker, to complement three others in the borough.
The council insisted in the report that “what is proposed is not a programme of closures, but a programme of transformation”.
Matt Hartley, the Conservative leader, who is also councillor for the Coldharbour estate, said: “This decision confirms that the council’s consultation on play centres was nothing more than a sham. Labour councillors made their mind up about ending the staffed play centre provision long ago, and they’re now pressing ahead despite overwhelming opposition from the community.
“They didn’t even bother to visit the Coldharbour play centre and speak to the children who use this vital service as part of the consultation, as they had promised – a complete insult.
“No amount of spin in council press releases can hide the fact that children are going to be worse off without safe, supervised play centres. I don’t think Labour councillors have any idea the backlash this will create from the people they are supposed to be serving.”
The four-strong Independent and Green group branded the closures “a false economy” and criticised the lack of a children’s rights impact assessment, which it said was typically used by the government.
It added: “The council also says it cannot afford to renovate the existing adventure playcentre equipment, but has not responded to offers from Play England, the experienced body advocating for children’s play, to help Greenwich Council to identify funding to keep the centres open. Lewisham Council recently announced that it has managed to find £500,000 in grants to do up its centres.
“Let us be clear – this is a drastic budget cut which will severely limit what is on offer to some of the children in the borough who need it most.”
The Save Greenwich Children’s Adventure Playgrounds Campaign said it was “disappointed but not surprised that our voices have not been heard by the council – despite our active participation in the four-week Christmas-time consultation.
“Staffed adventure play centres are a fun, supportive and positive environment for our children to play in, removing this provision for Coldharbour, Glyndon, Meridian and Woolwich, instead of investing in the existing facilities, is a downgrade of what the council are currently offering in our borough – multi-use games areas are not a like for like replacement, outdoor facilities do not work in the cold and wet months of the year, and without a staffed provision, our children’s safety is at risk.
“We look forward to next week’s cabinet and council meetings where we can continue to make our voices heard, and to challenge the council’s plans to take our children’s right to play away.”
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