Greenwich Council is pressing ahead with controversial plans to transform its adventure play centres, despite strong warnings from campaigners and parents that the changes could jeopardise the safety of the borough's children. The council's Cabinet approved the 'Transforming Youth Play' proposals on Wednesday, January 28, which will alter how five adventure play centres (APCs) operate across the area.
Supervised Play to Be Removed from Two Centres
Currently, all five APCs in Greenwich are staffed and provide supervised play sessions for local children. Under the new plans, two centres will lose this supervised element entirely, while the other three will either remain unchanged or be developed into community and youth hubs with additional activities. The council has stated that these proposals are necessary to achieve savings while also aiming to make the centres more accessible, inclusive, and sustainable for the future.
Specific Changes to Each Centre
- Plumstead: No change to the current staffed operation.
- Woolwich: Adventure play centre will become unsupervised.
- Meridian (Greenwich): Centre will be maintained and converted into a community and youth hub.
- Coldharbour: Centre will be maintained and converted into a community and youth hub, with £1.5 million earmarked for development.
- Glyndon: Adventure play centre will become unsupervised.
Council Defends Plans Amid Public Backlash
Councillor Sandra Bauer, Greenwich's Cabinet Member for Equality, Culture and Communities, presented the proposals at the Cabinet meeting. She acknowledged the need for savings but emphasised that the plans are broader in scope, aiming to address years of funding cuts and declining usage, particularly among girls and young women. Cllr Bauer stated, "Our aspiration at the start was about transforming adventure play to extend access both in terms of hours available and for those with mobility issues too."
She also addressed concerns about closures, clarifying, "The narrative that some have been touting is that this is about closure and an end to services for young people. It is not and it never has been about closure. It's providing play that's available to all as well as being accessible for more than 30 hours a week."
Campaigners Voice Serious Safety Concerns
However, campaigners have raised significant alarms about the removal of supervised play from two centres. Lara Ruffle Coles, a leading campaigner, argued that this move eliminates a "critical pathway for our young people to seek advice and get help." She posed a direct question to the Cabinet: "Would you let your children go out on their own, in the dark, to an unstaffed, unsupervised outdoor play area?"
Another campaigner, David Monteith, highlighted that the council had not adequately considered evidence from organisations like the Met Police, Play England, and London Play, all of which expressed concerns about curtailing supervised adventure play. He shared a personal story to underscore the value of staffed centres, revealing, "My own daughter was involved in a misunderstanding which led to a threat of physical violence from another child's older sibling. My daughter was saved from a beating by the intervention of paid professional staff."
Monteith added, "This is the value of staffed adventure play centres. We are playing with the safety of the borough's children and under scrutiny, the message is that their safety is not valuable."
Political Opposition and Next Steps
The decision has faced strong political opposition. Conservative Group Leader Cllr Matt Hartley labelled it "egregious" and criticised the consultation process as "flawed." Green Councillor Lakshan Saldin also called for the decision to be deferred. In response, Council Leader Anthony Okereke defended the plans, stating, "I really do think this decision does do the best for our adventure playgrounds and it continuously offers things for our young people whilst also committing a £400,000 grant that is going to be flexible across the whole borough."
As a result of the approval, both the Greenwich Conservatives and the Independent and Green Group will be calling in the decision for further public scrutiny. Campaigners expressed disappointment but not surprise at the outcome, and they are now looking ahead to the call-in process to continue their fight for supervised play centres.
