A tax on fun: £2.50 charge to take your youngster to a public park



Parents will be hit with a £2.50 charge for their children to use an adventure playground in a 'tax on fun'.

The pilot scheme at Battersea Park in Central London will see the charge levied at weekends on five-to 16-year-olds.



It comes as boroughs in the city are being forced to make cuts of around £500million this year after a reduction in grants.

The charge comes as boroughs in London have to make £500million in savings

Park row: Parents will have to pay £2.50 if they want their children to use the playground

Wandsworth Council - led by Tory councillor Eddie Lister - claims the fee at the 'almost unique facility' is being brought in because on Saturdays and Sundays half of the families attending it come from other parts of the city.

But local council tax payers foot the bill for its upkeep of more than £200,000 a year.

Former London mayor Ken Livingstone said the move left him 'deeply concerned', while hundreds of people signed a petition against the charge on the council’s website.

Mr Livingstone said: 'I believe London’s parks and playgrounds should be free for London’s families and I am deeply concerned at this attempt by the Conservatives to turn publicly-funded playgrounds into areas which only the rich and privileged can enjoy.'

Council tax payers currently have to pay £200,000 a year for the park's upkeep

The council said the supervised centre 'boasts some of the most challenging and hi-tech play equipment found anywhere in London or the South East' and also hosts dancing, music and arts workshops'.

Its children’s services spokeswoman, Cllr Kathy Tracey, said the proposal had been made because of the 'difficult economic situation'.



Ms Tracey said: 'While we are maintaining our facilities, other councils are simply closing theirs.

'Introducing a pilot charging scheme at weekends will allow us to carry on investing in the centre, recoup some of those costs and allow us to continue providing the best value for money we can for our council tax payers.

'At less than half the price of a child’s cinema ticket we certainly do not believe the fee is excessive, and given that children can spend all day at the centre enjoying a wide range of supervised activities we think this represents great value for money for parents.'



