Priced out of the playground: Tory Wandsworth to charge kids to play

Conservative-controlled Wandsworth council is planning to charge children £2.50 each to use Battersea Park adventure playground at weekends. If the pilot is successful, it will be extended to weekdays in the school holidays.

Kid-stuck-indoors Tonight, Tory cabinet member for Education and Children’s Services Kathy Tracey defended the plans – while admitting it won’t actually generate any money.

She told BBC London Radio:

“[It is] not budget saving, just a pilot to see if it affects usage… We have lowest rates in country – we have three adventure playgrounds and one of only authorities that do, we have invested £3 million in parks and playgrounds, battersea park has 3m visitors a year…

“Only because there hasn’t been a charge before. We aren’t charging people to go to the park. This is a separate facility that some children decided to go to.”

Debating her, Labour’s Leonie Cooper said:

“I find it astonishing that anyone come on London radio and make comments that Kathy Tracey has. Why on earth should we implement a charge for playgrounds? All that will happen is people who can’t afford they won’t go to the park. Wandsworth makes a lot of money already from charging clubs…

“The only way they can collect the charge is to introduce another member of staff to collect charges; it isn’t going to generate income and people outside borough who can afford it will come but Wandsworth residents won’t come because they can’t afford it.”

Eddie Lister, leader of Wandsworth council, was recently appointed by London Mayor Boris Johnson as his chief of staff – a point seized upon by Cooper. She added:

“This is a pilot and if it works then Wandsworth council wants to extend it and Eddie Lister has just been appointed by Boris Johnson as his chief of staff and I worry this could be pushed through in other parts of London by the Conservatives; you need to be prepared for this in other parts of London.

“We need play areas for our kids across London which are free and is wrong to have areas just for rich people.”

In November 2009, Left Foot Forward reported how Lister had urged Tory councils to “increase charges as far as possible beyond inflation” and that fees should be used on a “trial and error approach” to test just how much residents will bear.

Earlier today, Labour’s candidate for London Mayor Ken Livingstone criticised the plans, saying:

“Only the Conservative Party could consider charging kids to play. I believe London’s parks and playgrounds should be free for London’s families and I am deeply concerned at this attempt by the Conservatives to turn publicly funded playgrounds into areas which only the rich and privileged can enjoy.

“This appalling proposal will reinforce fears that the outgoing leader of Wandsworth Council, Eddie Lister is set to drive through a hard-right agenda at City Hall in his new role as Boris Johnson’s chief of staff.”

The plans are likely to further de-level the sporting playing field between the rich and the not-so-rich, cooping poor kids indoors while their well-off counterparts play and have fun to their hearts’ content. As the Guardian’s David Conn wrote during the school sports debate last autumn:

“On the day of the spending review last month, Michael Gove, the education secretary, announced he was scrapping the plan to improve sport in schools.

“The schools, of course, are not private, like those attended by Gove (Robert Gordon’s), culture secretary Jeremy Hunt (Charterhouse), sports minister Hugh Robertson (King’s, Canterbury) - or the prime minister, David Cameron, whose alma mater, Eton, offers 12 squash courts, 20 tennis courts, an indoor and outdoor swimming pool, four cricket fields, a nine-hole golf course, and rowing on the lake that will host the 2012 Olympics.”

A point reiterated by former England Test batsman Ed Smith in the Times:

“Top independent schools have spent massively on sports facilities. Even as a former professional cricketer, I’m dazzled - perhaps shocked - by their luxurious swimming pools and perfectly mown outfields. Some schools resemble five-star golf resorts. Many private schools have pitches fit for Olympians…

“The proportion of British Olympic medallists who are privately educated has grown steadily over the past three Olympics to about 45 per cent. The trend is the same in rugby and cricket: more private-school England players, fewer State-school ones.

“If we could map social mobility within professional sport, it would show a clear downward trajectory. You would expect sport to be a model of meritocracy. It isn’t.”

All in it together? Pull the other one.

http://twitter.com/lucycorrander/status/68728894777344000 Lucy Corrander

RT @leftfootfwd: Priced out of the playground: Tory Wandsworth to charge kids to play: http://bit.ly/m1ZgrO reports @ShamikDas
http://twitter.com/cjmcdonald/status/68729560094621696 Chris McDonald

RT @leftfootfwd: Priced out of the playground: Tory Wandsworth to charge kids to play: http://bit.ly/m1ZgrO reports @ShamikDas
http://twitter.com/press_not_sorry/status/68730681429196800 Press Not Sorry

RT @leftfootfwd: Priced out of the playground: Tory Wandsworth to charge kids to play: http://bit.ly/m1ZgrO reports @ShamikDas
http://twitter.com/labour_dave/status/68731168933154816 David Marsden

RT @leftfootfwd: Priced out of the playground: Tory Wandsworth to charge kids to play: http://bit.ly/m1ZgrO reports @ShamikDas
http://twitter.com/therightarticle/status/68735549975953408 Michael

Priced out of the playground: Tory Wandsworth to charge kids to play – http://bit.ly/l8wkwb
http://twitter.com/rankis/status/68736028554440704 ANDREW

RT @TheRightArticle: Priced out of the playground: Tory Wandsworth to charge kids to play – http://bit.ly/l8wkwb
http://twitter.com/conniptions/status/68736421732691969 Wayne Myers

RT @TheRightArticle: Priced out of the playground: Tory Wandsworth to charge kids to play – http://bit.ly/l8wkwb
http://twitter.com/noel_doyle/status/68736681448194048 noel doyle

Wandsworth council to charge kids £2.50 a time to use the swings. http://tiny.cc/lj31i
http://twitter.com/noel_doyle/status/68736989159108608 noel doyle

The chiselling little money grabbing swine at Wandsworth council are to charge kids £2.50 to use the swings http://tiny.cc/lj31i
http://twitter.com/hullrepublic/status/68737480005910529 HullRePublic

RT @leftfootfwd: Priced out of the playground: Tory Wandsworth to charge kids to play: http://bit.ly/m1ZgrO reports @ShamikDas
http://twitter.com/shamikdas/status/68740827874201600 Shamik Das

Shocking RT @leftfootfwd: Priced out of the playground: Tory Wandsworth to charge kids to play: http://bit.ly/m1ZgrO reports @ShamikDas
http://twitter.com/trouse11/status/68741356880805888 Tom Rouse

RT @shamikdas: Shocking RT @leftfootfwd: Priced out of the playground: Tory Wandsworth to charge kids to play: http://bit.ly/m1ZgrO repo …
http://twitter.com/wkrussell/status/68754201060188160 Wendy Russell

Shame on you Wandsworth! MT @leftfootfwd: Priced out of the playground: Tory Wandsworth to charge kids to play http://bit.ly/ixNpF2
http://twitter.com/paulmgleeson/status/68757317218353152 Paul Gleeson

RT @leftfootfwd: Priced out of the playground: Tory Wandsworth to charge kids to play: http://bit.ly/m1ZgrO reports @ShamikDas
http://twitter.com/andy_s_64/status/68757327951577088 Andy S

RT @Noel_Doyle: Wandsworth council to charge kids £2.50 a time to use the swings. http://tiny.cc/lj31i
http://liberalconspiracy.org/2011/05/12/tory-council-wants-to-charge-kids-to-play-at-playground/ Tory Council wants to charge kids to play | Liberal Conspiracy

[...] London Radio on today, the council admitted the proposal wouldn’t actually raise more money. Left Foot Forward got the [...]
Dave Citizen

Nice one Shamik – your article fills in yet another piece of the jigsaw showing the cross roads Britain has reached – to the right is a conservative society of perks, privilege, inequity and selfish individuality. To the left is a people’s society of increased cooperation, responsibility and holding it all together, fairness.

The waste and inefficiency of the conservative model’s ever increasing reliance on a monetised social realm should be a warning to us all. Circulating money via play areas or any other public facility may open up opportunities to cream off ‘profits’ but it doesn’t create wealth. Britain needs to use more, not less of its labour actually producing wealth.
http://twitter.com/shoshanasmith/status/68784835228995584 Shoshana Smith

RT @leftfootfwd: Priced out of the playground: Tory Wandsworth to charge kids to play: http://bit.ly/m1ZgrO reports @ShamikDas
http://twitter.com/nulabournemesis/status/68786537562771457 Νέα Νέμεσις Εργασίας

Left Foot Forward wants free playgrounds in Battersea, yet opposes free schools http://bit.ly/m1ZgrO @leftfootfwd #hypocrisy
http://twitter.com/ranty_man/status/68787248388247553 Mr Ranty

RT @NuLabourNemesis: Left Foot Forward wants free playgrounds in Battersea, yet opposes free schools http://bit.ly/m1ZgrO @leftfootfwd # …
mr. Sensible

Another example of the Tory commitment to an olimpic legacy…
13eastie

The facilities in Battersea Park are fantastic. The adventure playground is no exception.

Parents in Wandsworth enjoy the lowest council tax in the UK, and, by extension, so, therefore do their children.

Do the comparison on both fronts with neighbouring Labour Lambeth.

If you really care about children in Battersea, can I take it that you will be supporting the campaign for them to have the new school the area needs and which Labour failed to deliver?
http://www.arkbolingbrokeacademy.org/secondary/
http://twitter.com/wdjstraw/status/68942994757259266 Will Straw

RT @leftfootfwd: Priced out of the playground: Tory Wandsworth to charge kids to play: http://bit.ly/m1ZgrO << Terrible story
http://twitter.com/anthillel/status/68944649989001216 Anthony Parker

RT @wdjstraw: RT @leftfootfwd: Priced out of the playground: Tory Wandsworth to charge kids to play: http://bit.ly/m1ZgrO << Terri …
http://twitter.com/thabet1979/status/68945041506316289 thabet

Tory scum: Tory Wandsworth to charge kids to play http://ow.ly/1sVCK4
http://twitter.com/dunablue/status/68946004606595072 Allan Siegel

RT @wdjstraw: RT @leftfootfwd: Priced out of the playground: Tory Wandsworth to charge kids to play: http://bit.ly/m1ZgrO << Terri …
http://twitter.com/girishjuneja/status/68946182952595456 Girish c4news

http://bit.ly/k1CsNU wandsworth plan to charge kids entry to playground. Basically, poor kids stay home + get fat.
http://twitter.com/girishjuneja/status/68946931195445248 Girish c4news

http://bit.ly/k1CsNU wandsworth council plan to charge kids entry to playgrounds. Basically, poor kids stay home + get fat? #wandsworth
http://twitter.com/benc4/status/68947320443633664 Ben Monro-Davies

RT @girishjuneja: http://bit.ly/k1CsNU wandsworth council plan to charge kids entry to playgrounds. #wandsworth
http://twitter.com/girishjuneja/status/68947366056706048 Girish c4news

http://bit.ly/k1CsNU Wandsworth Council to charge entry to Battersea playground. Basically, poor kids stay home + get fat? #wandsworth
http://twitter.com/auntie_mabel/status/68947750514995200 auntie_mabel

FFS! When you think they couldn't be any worse… Tory Wandsworth council to charge kids to play in playgrounds: http://t.co/sXt700V
http://twitter.com/joe380/status/68948653783523328 Joseph O’Brien

RT @wdjstraw: RT @leftfootfwd: Priced out of the playground: Tory Wandsworth to charge kids to play: http://bit.ly/m1ZgrO << Terri …
http://twitter.com/howarthm/status/68949078515523584 Meg Howarth

RT @GirishJuneja: http://bit.ly/k1CsNU Wandsworth Council to charge entry to Battersea playground. Basically, poor kids stay home + get …
http://twitter.com/fyrdraca67/status/68950741217325057 m shawcross

RT @GirishJuneja: http://bit.ly/k1CsNU Wandsworth Council to charge entry to Battersea playground. Basically, poor kids stay home + get …
http://teekblog.blogspot.com Prateek Buch

Really not good – not only in terms of how it will affect play and sports as you’ve said Shamik, but it really isn’t good politics either.

The thinking behind the move seems to stem from a strand of market-fundamentalism that say the sole beneficiary of something that was previously thought of as a public good is the person directly using said service – and it’s a strand of thinking that dominates all mainstream political parties. It gave rise to the tuition fee debacle – not just the recent reforms but their introduction and extension under Labour. Too many political movers and shakers see the relationship between citizens and goods/services as a pay-per-use one – a market transaction, not a way of enhancing ones capabilities to live the life one has reason to value.

progressives need to oppose such marketisation, not just because the poor will miss out on using the facility (equality of access argument that could on paper be circumvented by giving vouchers/credits to the poor in a Blairite stylie) – but because, as with many things, parks and playgrounds are a public good that benefit all of us, so should quite simply be paid for through the public purse not just by the user.
http://twitter.com/calamitykate/status/68962267248594944 Katharine S Russell

RT @wdjstraw: RT @leftfootfwd: Priced out of the playground: Tory Wandsworth to charge kids to play: http://bit.ly/m1ZgrO << Terri …
http://twitter.com/blackjaw1980/status/68964698636292097 Sam Coyle

RT @wdjstraw: RT @leftfootfwd: Priced out of the playground: Tory Wandsworth to charge kids to play: http://bit.ly/m1ZgrO << Terri …
Anon E Mouse

Prateek Buch – Have you not realised by describing yourself as “progressive” you immediately make people turn off regardless of the merits of your remarks.

“Progressives” were resoundingly beaten last week yet for some reason seem to think the general public are interested in their silly minority views.

Would you consider in your socialist dream state that Alton Towers should be free? Where does it end and are you serious in suggesting that a local playground “enhances one’s capabilities to live the life has reason to value”.

It’s a playground for goodness sake – not an excuse to spout that type of nonsensical drivel on this fine blog. Get a grip man and lose the stupid “progressive” rubbish while you’re at it….
http://twitter.com/cactusmouth/status/68975974519279617 Highlander

You know you are up shit-creek as a society when you start charging kids to use playgrounds – http://bit.ly/m1ZgrO #ConDem #Tories
http://teekblog.blogspot.com Prateek Buch

@Anon E Mouse – yes, I’m the one spouting drivel. Alton towers is the same thing as a playground it is? Utter madness frankly, and for you to claim that wanting playgrounds to be free means I have a ‘socialist dream state’ is beyond a joke…

And yes, open spaces with opportunities for physical recreation and interaction with a wide range of your peers is exactly the kind of capability-enhancing public good we should see more of.

I could go on but I fear my comments in response to your [REDACTED] would be moderated
Robert

And yet in my small back water Labour have closed more parks through health and safety, then the Labour council decided nobody wants to play on land which is basically empty, so built houses on the playing fields, Labour have sold off more school playing fields.

Pot calling kettle time again.
Anon E Mouse

Prateek Buch – It’s a PLAYGROUND not a fountain of knowledge for goodness sake. Just a playground that’s all. Just one playground.

As Robert above said Labour sold these off week in week out and I didn’t see the “progressives” shrieking, wailing and waving their arms about in horror when that happened…
Ed’s Talking Balls

Well said Robert.

Given that I am still struggling to understand what on earth ‘progressive’ means, perhaps I can conclude that it means ‘opportunistic’ or ‘hypocritical’? Certainly seems to fit in this instance.
http://twitter.com/calumah/status/69033266019176448 Calum Handforth

RT @GirishJuneja: http://bit.ly/k1CsNU Wandsworth Council to charge entry to Battersea playground. Basically, poor kids stay home + get …
gary newman

my twin boys was brought up playing there every day in the holidays& weekends. It gave them a social outlook on life playing with other children. My one son went on to become a political agent for a tory party member& thinks it’s abominable&disgusting. especially with people facing an uncertain future with there jobs on the line& their children can’t play in a most secure environment without paying.
http://www.ohgooutside.com/?p=170 TWIP: | OhGoOutside

[...] Left Foot Forward: Priced Out of the Playground [...]
Dave Citizen

Beastie – I don’t get your point. Lowest Council Tax is good but you want a new school. If charging for the play area doesn’t generate surplus revenue why is it a good thing? Is it some sort of tribalism thing that I’m not getting?

If you really want world class education for all children it is possible. But it won’t happen via more privatisation plus two-tier state/private arrangements like we are currently lumbered with. The few places in the world that have achieved closest to it (like Finland) have done so within the context of a more balanced society in which decision making is not constantly being thrown off target by vested interests and the defence of extreme privilege.
http://twitter.com/june4th/status/69145747534266368 Noxi

RT @wdjstraw: RT @leftfootfwd: Priced out of the playground: Tory Wandsworth to charge kids to play: http://bit.ly/m1ZgrO << Terrible story
http://www.leftfootforward.org/2011/06/tory-bexley-council-to-charge-kids-to-play/ Another day, another Tory council planning to charge kids to play | Left Foot Forward

[...] last month, Tory-run Wandsworth announced plans to charge kids £2.50 to use a playground. Now, Tory Bexley is planning to do the same, [...]
http://www.leftfootforward.org/2011/09/david-cameron-ed-miliband-prime-ministers-questions-14-09-11/ Fees, cuts… Is this what Cameron means by “giving young people back their future”? | Left Foot Forward

[...] to careers services, record youth unemployment, Tory councils charging for poor kids to access playgrounds, cuts to Sure Start, cuts to free school meals… None of these will have made any [...]
http://www.leftfootforward.org/2011/12/hugh-robertson-school-sport-cuts-school-games/ Sports minister: School sport “nothing to do with me… but the School Games are” | Left Foot Forward

[...] • Priced out of the playground: Tory Wandsworth to charge kids to play – Shamik Das, May 12th [...]