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Nurseries, clubs and play areas could shut

from Cathy (cathyvpreece@aol.com)

South London Press

Nurseries, clubs and play areas could shut

Dec 24 2002
By Vicky Wilks

CHILDREN's nurseries, oneo'clock clubs and adventure playgrounds could face the axe as cash-strapped Lambeth council tries to balance its books.

Three of Lambeth council's five day-nurseries could be shut down by the end of next year, saving the council £1.2million.

Instead, tots under five would be put into two "centres of excellence" in deprived parts of Lambeth.

A written proposal for the cut points out there is already a vibrant private sector market for tots in Lambeth. Existing council-run nurseries are in Norwood, Streatham, Kennington, Brixton and Clapham.

Sue Wallis, whose son goes to Streatham Day Nursery on Garrads Road, fought to keep that nursery open last year when it was under threat of closure. She has vowed to fight again. "Why should day-nurseries all be in deprived areas?", she says.

"Just because we live in Streatham it doesn't mean we can afford private nursery fees of between £150 and £200 a week. "We are paying our council taxes so our children should have the right to go to day-nurseries."

It has also been proposed that Lambeth's 12 afternoon clubs for tots under five are handed over to the voluntary sector, to make a saving of £321,000.

And some council-run adventure playgrounds could face the axe in a bid to save £320,000.

Labour's lead councillor for education, Nick Cattermole, said: "This just shows in Liberal Lambeth, nothing is sacred.

"Young children and their parents will suffer for these cuts. They will be mostly in deprived areas and the last thing they need is another kick in the teeth from the council."

But Lambeth's executive member for the environment, Lib Dem councillor Anthony Bottrall, said the proposed cuts were a response "to the appalling overall financial situation of the council his administration has inherited".

He pointed out a Youth and Play Strategy has been drawn up and said: "The strategy is based on a longer-term plan for the council to retreat from direct provision of services to facilitating the voluntary sector to take over more responsibility in these areas."

He added that voluntary organisations can draw in extra funding --whereas the council cannot - and pointed out some adventure playgrounds are already being well run by voluntary groups.

He said: "We are committed to working with the voluntary sector and Lambeth Play Association to develop a whole range of services for children of different age groups. "These are the kind of unpleasant decisions we have to make under financial pressure. "I have worked with children's services since I was first elected in 1994. We are not doing this blindly and without thought about how we are going to improve these services over the medium to long term."

The final decisions on the proposed cuts will be made in February.

"What do YOU think about plans to close nurseries? E mail the South London Press at: newsdesk@slp. co.uk or write to 2-4 Leigham Court Road, London SW16 2PD

(posted 7765 days ago)

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