A joint statement from Cllrs Anthony Okereke, Adel Khaireh and Sandra Bauer:
"This week we announced plans to invest £600,000 into our Adventure Play Centres (APCs), to keep them safe, secure and open for families to enjoy.
We consulted extensively with young people, parents, and partners to ensure our proposals worked for everyone – while making sure we use our budget in the right way. We welcomed comments from the Metropolitan Police who described the approach as ‘well considered’. We met over 140 people in person, including children and young people who use the centres, and had over 660 responses because we promoted the survey through a range of channels.
We visited APCs, spoke in schools and are establishing a working group to speak specifically to the community in Coldharbour about wider plans that could involve youth provision, if that comes through via a separate consultation. We've listened to feedback from families and will keep Plumstead as it is.
As a result we’ve found a way to improve Adventure Play Centres so they’re safe, secure and most importantly – open for fun. Years of funding cuts by successive governments mean we need to think creatively about the services we offer – but while other councils are shutting the doors completely, we’re reimagining sites and keeping them open and safe.
Subject to approval, we're going to improve APCS so they’re safe, secure and most importantly – open for fun. We’re putting our money where our mouth is by investing in Adventure Play Centres because we know they’re well-loved by some families, but the equipment has seen better days. Some of the kit isn’t accessible for children with disabilities, so we need to fix that with investment. That's why we're going to revamp some of the playgrounds and build a new multi-use-games-area (MUGA).
Our budget can’t cover absolutely everything. Unlike other councils we don’t rely on government bailouts, we keep services running through good management. We also secure funding in other ways – like the multi-million-pound grant we won to build Woolwich Waves.
We have heard the feedback and some concerns about our proposals, but doing nothing isn’t an option. Keeping something as it is for the sake of it isn’t fair on families who need a good spread of options as children grow up. There are 70,000 kids in our borough and we need facilities that are relevant for all ages. Traditional Adventure Play Centres are a part of our offer for young people, but they’re not used by every child. That’s why we’re also investing in youth hubs, games areas, leisure centres, and supporting grassroots groups.
This is the place to grow up – and we’re keeping it that way. We provide:
- 120+ free holiday programmes a year, providing 27,000 places
- Free packed lunches during the holidays
- 11,000 childcare spaces
- Activities and classes at nine children’s centres and family hubs
- Four youth hubs, 66 playgrounds, 12 libraries, 14 MUGAs and 7 leisure centres
- Support for youth groups to provide sport, dance, music and other low-cost activities all year round
- Mental health and wellbeing support in schools
- Specialised activities for children with SEND and their families all year round
By investing and reimagining what we have we’re able to improve provision such as developing our community youth hubs which means more young people have a safe place to go and spend time. Our ambition is to have them open longer too moving to seven days a week.
While budgets are limited, we’ve found a solution that keeps play centres open and provides new places for young people to enjoy themselves – whether that’s a MUGA or a youth centre. Not every facility will have a member of staff, but many still do - including our staffed youth hubs."