| |
MP says teenagers priced out of using sports pitches
Claims that wealthy clubs from outside borough are using facilities
TEENAGERS are being priced out of using sports pitches in Maida Vale, Karen Buck MP has claimed.
The Labour MP for Kensington North and Regent’s Park, speaking in a Westminster Hall debate, said pitches at Paddington Recreation Ground were being used by wealthy clubs from outside Westminster.
She blamed Westminster Council’s private contractor Cannons for edging out the community with high prices.
Ms Buck said: “The pitches funded by the Football Foundation in Paddington recreation ground is consistently let out to high-paying sports clubs from outside the area when local children could use them.
“Many of the children are from deprived backgrounds and they are pushed away from those facilities because they are not able to pay the kind of charges that are demanded by Westminster Council’s private leisure contractor.”
She added: “The vast majority of young people in Westminster live in flats and have very limited access to outdoor space, and with exceptionally high levels of child poverty in inner London, few can afford the fees and charges of commercial providers. Perhaps it is not surprising, therefore, that Westminster has the second highest levels of child obesity in London.”
During the debate, Sports Minister Richard Caborn called for a campaign to increase access to facilities.
In a letter to the minister, Regent’s Park Tory councillor Daniel Astaire stated: “Cannons supports a variety of sports development opportunities at Paddington Recreation Ground, including the recent Unity in the Community football event, which Karen Buck herself was involved with and attended.”
Ms Buck said her experience of the tournament was “undermined” by her “intense irritation”.
She said: “The extensive pitches elsewhere in the park – many upgraded with the help of £1.4 million in grants from the Football Foundation – where being commercially let to, in this instance, hockey teams from outside the area.
Cllr Astaire said: “We need to provide opportunities for the contractor to generate and protect income streams. This is done by charging affluent clubs and individuals for the use of our facilities. This is a careful balance which we constantly monitor and seek to maintain.”
|
 |
| |
