I they charge at the weekend local amilies can't avoid it if both parents work.

Sure enough a 'small charge at weekends' would soon become high days and holidays then Fridays then why not all the rest then the charge would go up then there would be above inflation increases then it would be outsourced to a private company and the charges would go up so that they could pay a 17$ return to shareholders, then we'd all start getting fined for not bringing the correct change

we've seen it all before

Personally I think it's wrong and unfair, at the weekend we go to Clapham common a lot I'm not aware Lambeth council are thinking of making me pay, is Wandsworth considering an annual lump sum to offset those costs? Ditto for the lady Di one in Kensington. Maybe we should all tatoo our postcode on our children so that they can prove their right to go to the local park.

(dreams longinly when I could park outside my house at all never mind for only a couple of pounds)

Has anyone actually had a look at the adventure playground that they're talking about? It's an amazing facility, and frankly one which you might expect to pay a lot more to get into. When I first saw it I couldn't believe it was free! In my view £2.50 isn't an unreasonable contribution to make towards staffing and maintaining the facility - a lot of playgroups charge more! The pictures in the Guardian article are really misleading and make it look like the borough are planning to charge for access to a normal playground - which as I understand it is absolutely not the case.

What would you prefer? A small charge to get in (which I think most people could afford once in a while)? or presumably opening times/access to be more restricted because of unaffordable staffing requirements?
At a time when things like the park ranger service and libraries are at risk, honestly, can't we swallow this one?

Agree totally with pp, that it is better to have a charge than outright closure. There is always times in the week when it is free making it still accessible to everyone.

Also, I did wonder if the park was to open now and we be told there would be a charge, would we be outraged or would we be quite pleased that we had such a great facility? I think maybe people's lines have been blurred by having such a great thing for free for so long.

This has had enormous coverage in the press, pretty much blanket coverage on the nationals. Yet if you go to the e petition there are only 638 signatures.

Having read around the opinions, I am for the charge.

I've got to be honest and say that I think it's a good idea to charge at the weekends.
The staff need to be paid and I'd rather have the playground being well maintained than another poorly managed park.
and I think a lot of people are using it from outside Battersea....

I think it's totally fair to charge, and it's not exactly going to break the bank if you go once a weekend, is it....
I take the children to Battersea Park Zoo, mainly for the great playground... Yes, I have to pay, but I think it's worth it...

But that's just my humble opinion hihi...

Sorry folks, but I think this is actually quite a good idea and I should add that I am a raving leftie by most people's standards.
They are only charging on the weekends so local families in need can avoid the charge if necessary and the out of towners will help to subsidise their fun.
Let's face it, the other option is outright closure or closure by stealth whereby they underinvest in it over the years until it is no longer the type of place we would want our kids to go.

C at C: You have a good point about referencing it to a boating lake or a swimming pool as it does have specialised equipment and staff to maintain h and s in the plyaground. My five year old had an 'incident' at said playground, so it has never been my favourite place anyway!

But ... Tooting Lido, children are free (under 5, I think) but it costs me £5 to go in, she obviously can't go in on her own.

Latchmere with it's fab wave pool and elephant slide, children under 8 for free but obviously need to be accompanied by adult £4.50 (?)

The playzones at Tooting, Latchmere, Wandle - £3 ish

Even though I like your "speedy bins" analogy I think we're being a little unfair to the council.

As i understand it there are other adventure parks in london where they insist you pay, as they're expensive to main and you need trained safety staff.

A better analogy might be a swimming pool or a boating lake.

Have to say, though, its been a real PR nightmare for them.

But I BET they've considered charging people more for being able to park outside their own house!

Marvellous!

I think this makes Wandsworth Council the "Ryanair Council."

Charging for all those things that we would expect to be part of the council tax.

Access to a park? Couple of quid please!

You want to park outside your house? Couple of quid please!

Where will it end???

You want to send your child to a state school? Couple of quid please!

You want to walk on our pavements? Really? Couple of quid please.

Not sure why we're suprised as they're all tories, but even still its very sad.

I'm very proud of my RyanAir council comment so if Mr Labour party wants to borrow it you have to credit me

Now where did I put my speedy boarding pass, I want to be first in my road to have my bins emptied.

Hello Everyone
There were two seperate conversations on NappyValleyNet about the plans to charge for access to the adventure playground.

I have merged them into one thread as there were comments by Wandsworth Council and the Labour Party that I felt should be in the same conversation.

Thank you

Annabel

We, Labour Party members, here in Battersea and Wandsworth are outraged at the Council’s plan to charge £2.50 to play at the Adventure Playground in Battersea Park. Wandsworth Tories are a throw-back to the Nasty Party of the Thatcher years and we hope to force them to back down. If you want to help then please sign the e-petition at http://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/moderngov/ ... ID=1480328 .

The story has been on every radio station from Radio2 to Radio Jackie and got very wide coverage in most of the newspapers. We are collecting signatures at Asda on Saturday morning. Everyone we have spoken to is against the proposal. We even got a Tory councillor’s wife to sign our petition.

I hope you agree with us that this really is heartless, short-sighted Toryism at its worst..

Tony Belton, Labour Councillor

you're even

but if your a resident do you get in free?

Hi
Just read this conversation and was also shocked myself when I read the news on the front page of some newspapers (can't remember which one though)...
I did a bit of research. They are not talking of every playground, only about adventure centres in general and the one in Battersea Park particularly. It doesn't sound good but it does sound less catastrophic, imagine a world where you ll have to pay (however little the fee is) to enjoy some nature!!!
My own view is that yes Battersea Park adventure ground is packed at w-e and one day a few of us couldn't even go in although we live in Wandsworth... Battersea Park is very popular and a fantastic place we are lucky to have it, if it is the price to pay to keep it then I am in! Although Wandsworth children should have a free pass I agree.

£2.50 for 5~16 year olds.

I think its disgusting. All this lottery money, and parents have to pay for a public park, absolutely disgusting !