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BATTLE OVER PLAYGROUP
Parents vow to fight Town Hall to save cherished centre at park
PARENTS awaiting the fate of a playgroup earmarked for closure in Maida Vale have thrown down the gauntlet to the council saying: “Close us and prepare for a fight.”
The Maida Vale Play Project in Paddington Recreation Ground, which has been likened to “Blue Peter every day”, provides activities for up to 40 children between the ages of five and 12 after school and throughout the holidays.
Campaigners, who submitted a 600-signature petition to save the group last month, have accused the council of foul play.
After a sustained defence campaign during a two-month consultation, which won the backing of Karen Buck, MP for Regent’s Park and Kensington North, the council is set to make its decision.
The allegations being levelled at the Town Hall include privatising the park to make money, ignoring parents and children’s views and deliberately obstructing dialogue.
Sean Cotter, whose seven-year-old son and nine-year-old daughter attend the playgroup, said: “In two months we have asked hundreds of questions and had no real answers to any of them.
“Meetings have been cancelled and parents have been misled. We have not been taken seriously and suspect a decision has already been made behind our backs. Put simply, this is not the kind of service that should be cut.”
In February parents were dumbstruck when they learned the council wanted to close the centre due to dwindling numbers – proposing a merger with another playgroup at the Essendine School.
Mr Cotter went on to claim that Maida Vale Play Project had never been in better shape.
He said: “It’s a lie to say numbers are falling. Five new children have joined in the last month alone.
“The consultation has been a sham.
“Will Essendine be able to cope? We think not. We fear the worst, but they’re not going to walk all over us. All the children in the group are like a family and they can’t break us up without a fight.”
Westminster councillor Sarah Richardson, cabinet member for children’s services, said: “The facts of the matter are that I have held at least three meetings with parents to hear their views on play provision in Maida Vale.
“I have made every effort to ensure local residents have been involved throughout.” |
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