England’s playgrounds crumble as council budgets fall

This is the best summary I could come up with:

In some of the poorest parts of the country, family groups are warning that children face a summer spent indoors because of a lack of safe and free spaces to play.

A Guardian analysis of the collective annual park budget around England – which includes local authority play provision – has found that it has fallen by more than £350m, adjusted for inflation, since 2011.

In one leafy part of the city Labour campaigned with leaflets that said “Queen’s Park children deserve better,” over pictures of the crumbling local playground where shadows on the concrete show where equipment has been taken away.

Parents were reporting a decline in their children’s mental health and more sleep problems due to the hundreds of outdoor play areas closing across Britain.

While one-off grants can help, ultimately it is long-term, consistent funding which will ensure councils can adequately plan ahead and invest to improve facilities.

“Councils share the government’s aim in its disability action plan for the creation of more accessible playgrounds, but this needs to be supported by the necessary resources to improve and maintain existing facilities, if we are to achieve this.”

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4 comments

You just know the government would love to start charging people to use parks.
The idea of a space where people can exist for free is something they seem to want to wipe out entirely.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
In some of the poorest parts of the country, family groups are warning that children face a summer spent indoors because of a lack of safe and free spaces to play.
A Guardian analysis of the collective annual park budget around England – which includes local authority play provision – has found that it has fallen by more than £350m, adjusted for inflation, since 2011.
In one leafy part of the city Labour campaigned with leaflets that said “Queen’s Park children deserve better,” over pictures of the crumbling local playground where shadows on the concrete show where equipment has been taken away.
Parents were reporting a decline in their children’s mental health and more sleep problems due to the hundreds of outdoor play areas closing across Britain.
While one-off grants can help, ultimately it is long-term, consistent funding which will ensure councils can adequately plan ahead and invest to improve facilities.
“Councils share the government’s aim in its disability action plan for the creation of more accessible playgrounds, but this needs to be supported by the necessary resources to improve and maintain existing facilities, if we are to achieve this.”
I'm a bot and I'm open source!
"WhY dOnT cHiLdReN pLaY oUtSiDe AnYmOrE???"
This implies that this hasn't been going on for 30 years.