Plans to transform adventure play centres in Royal Greenwich so they’re open and accessible have been confirmed following an Overview and Scrutiny Sub-Committee meeting on Monday 2 March 2026.
The decision to invest £600,000 into our Adventure Play Centres (APCs), to keep them safe, secure and open for families to enjoy, was approved by the cabinet on Wednesday 28 January, following consultation and engagement with the community. The proposals were designed in parallel with investment into NextGen Greenwich, our wider youth offer.
That decision was ‘called in’ for further scrutiny by councillors. After full consideration of the reasons for the call in and further representations from residents, the committee upheld the cabinet’s decision.
Councillor Anthony Okereke, Leader of the Council, said: “The decision to transform adventure play is about creating a more flexible, future-proofed offer for our children and young people within the budget available. Scrutiny is an important part of the decision process, and we welcomed the chance to reiterate the reasoning behind our proposals.
“We looked at all the options, listened to young people, residents and other stakeholders, and adapted the plans where possible to make the most of our resources – across all our youth services - to best meet the needs of young people and families.”
Councillor Sandra Bauer, Cabinet Member of Equality, Culture and Communities, said: “As part of the engagement process, we spoke directly with children and young people at schools, focussed workshops with girls, and children and young people with SEND and some APC sites. We used this valuable feedback to reshape the proposals where possible.
“This includes keeping Plumstead APC running as a supervised site and looking for alternative sites for investment in Woolwich. We’re also exploring options for the Glyndon to be supported by a community partner, on top of investing into the outdoor facilities. All of this has been considered alongside our newly reimagined youth offer, NextGen Greenwich, which includes staffed youth hubs, giving more young people and families more access to a wider variety of services.”
Councillor Adel Khaireh, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, said: “There are 70,000 kids in our borough and we need facilities that work for them all. Adventure Play Centres aren’t used by or accessible to every child. That’s why we’re investing in youth hubs, games areas, leisure centres, and supporting grassroots groups too.
“Play is only one part of this important decision, but we have also considered accessibility, opening hours, safeguarding, health and wellbeing and financial sustainability and we continually engage with young people through our day-to-day work with them. Without looking at all these factors, then we would only be delivering play for some – not for all.”
What’s happening?
- As part of our new, reimagined youth offer, NextGen Greenwich, the council will repurpose the Meridian Adventure Play Centre site into a new dedicated Community Youth Hub, with better opening hours and supervised activities shaped by young people and delivered by qualified youth workers.
- The outdoor facilities at Glyndon APC will be upgraded, while the council explores ways to collaborate with the local voluntary sector at the site.
- The council is exploring a new location in Woolwich to invest in a multi-use games area for local children and young people to enjoy freely, that’s away from the traffic pollution of the main road. The current adventure play centre site will close, while the nearby Woolwich Common Youth Hub will continue to offer supervised youth activities.
- Plumstead is the most used site and isn't changing - it will continue to serve the local community as a supervised adventure play centre. The council will seek opportunities for targeted investment to address ageing equipment, accessibility and indoor facilities.
- As part of Getting Things Done, the council is also investing £1.5million to develop a new Community Hub at Coldharbour that could include youth services, designed in collaboration with the local community (subject to stakeholder and community engagement).
GLL, who manage the adventure play centres and employ the staff will be consulting fully with staff who may be affected by the changes to adventure play centres, and have stated their commitment to working closely together to minimise impact and protect employment wherever possible.
While other councils are closing play provision entirely, Royal Greenwich is reimagining and investing. As well as the APCs, the Royal Borough of Greenwich already has four dedicated Youth Hubs in Charlton, Eltham, Thamesmead and Woolwich. We're proposing to launch NextGen Greenwich - a new health, wellbeing and youth service shaped by young people that will also include a £400,000 grant.
The council offer Holiday Food and Fun programmes during school holidays for children eligible for free school meals – including children with special educational needs and disabilities. Royal Greenwich is also home to 66 playgrounds, 12 libraries providing free activities, 14 multi-use games areas, 15 outdoor gyms, seven leisure centres and nine Family Hubs and Children’s Centres.