Finally the government is going to stop spending our money on these silly community playground schemes.
Hundreds of community playground schemes in England are being scrapped or scaled back because of government cuts.
Education Secretary Michael Gove has frozen grants to 122 councils for building and running up to 1,300 playground schemes, many designed by youngsters.
Only schemes where construction has already started are to be allowed.
Mr Gove named play as a key area affected by his department's contribution to reducing the public deficit.
He said he was reducing funding for play projects to protect frontline education services.
He also scrapped targets for the number of play facilities councils have to provide, and removed the protection from playground building budgets, saying any unspent money could be retained by his department.
Typical New Labour. Councils have "targets" for the number of play areas to provide.
Cue the moaning lefties:
Steve Chown, programme development manager at the charity commissioned to aid councils with their schemes, Play England, said many schemes would not now go ahead.
And good bloody riddance. Play England is a typical fake charity. From the website: "Play England aims for all children and young people in England to have regular access and opportunity for free, inclusive, local play provision and play space."
I don't know how they can call it free. It may be free to the end user, but not to the rest of us.
He said: "Communities are going to be disappointed that these play areas that they have worked so hard to set up are not now going forward.
I'm sure there will be many people who are disappointed that their personal hobbyhorses will now be abandoned. I'm sure they will get used to it.
Parent Emma Kane has worked with children in Hook Norton to set up a playground scheme which is now unlikely to go ahead. She said: "It's insane to cut what is such a small amount of money."
She said playgrounds were a "soft target" for the government's "drastic cuts."
If it was your own money and you were close to bankruptcy, I'm sure you would want to make cuts in any area you could. But it's not your money is it?
She added: "Playbuilder is unique in that communities had to come together and work together to get the funding, in a perfect example of 'Big Society'.
I'm not sure but I don't think the idea of "Big Society" is for you to club together, steal other peoples cash and spend it on your fancies. It's more about you spending your own hard earned money.
"There's lots of disappointed children out there, they keep asking me what's happening and I just don't know what to say to them.
Ooh, I have an idea. How about, "Shit happens kid. There's no money left. You will understand when you are old enough to pay taxes and get a mortgage."
"Furthermore, as everyone knows, playgrounds fight childhood obesity. What does it say about the government's strategy to cut projects that promote both health and communities working together?"
Playgrounds do not fight childhood obesity.
It's a pity. All this has come a few months too late for me.
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