Labour councillors across Leeds have called on the government to come clean over the future of a national children's play area scheme which has had its funding suspended.
Leeds council has been forced into a waiting game to discover if government cash to revamp play parks across the city will survive public spending cuts.
Civic leaders have become concerned about the future of the Playbuilder scheme after it was announced by the secretary of state for education, Michael Gove, in August that 10 planned play area projects across the city would be placed under review, with a decision about their future due by the end that month.
However, despite efforts by the council to raise the matter with the Department of Education, Labour councillors say no further information has been forthcoming and are fearing the worst when the government announces its comprehensive spending review tomorrow.
Playgrounds on hold
The council received £1.1m to help pay for 22 new or refurbished play areas across Leeds. Ten remain on hold, the other 12 have been completed. They include:
Grove Road, Halton; Temple Newsam; Roundhay Park; Sandford Road, Kirkstall; Armley Moor; Victoria Park, Calverley; Windmill Road, Belle Isle; Seacroft Gardens; Naburn Close Park, Whinmoor and Butcher Hill Area, Kirkstall.
Councillors have now called on the secretary of state to provide an assurance that children across Leeds will not miss out on the facilities.
Middleton park councillor Judith Blake said:
"I am very concerned about the future of these important projects across the whole of Leeds, particularly the ones in some of the most deprived areas, like the scheme proposed for Belle Isle.
"Play areas have such an important role in the development of our children and it would be a travesty if this government scrapped them as part of their sweeping programme of cuts."
Killingbeck and Seacroft councillor Vonnie Morgan said:
"Several projects in East Leeds have been put on the back burner, including ones in Seacroft, Temple Newsam and Whinmoor. These are community-based projects that the East Leeds community have worked so hard to set up, and it will be a huge disappointment if they are scrapped at this stage."
And Armley councillor Jim McKenna labelled the situation 'unacceptable' and added:
"My colleagues and I in West Leeds desperately need to know what is happening with the Playbuilder projects that were identified for both Armley and Kirkstall.
"We have been told that they have been frozen, but we have been given no assurances whatsoever when or if they will be given permission to go ahead. It is an unacceptable situation."
Michael Gove wrote to Leeds council bosses in August telling them the government would have to make savings on playgrounds where the grant had not yet been spent or there was "no evidence of a strong case" to go ahead with a contract that had already been agreed.
The national £235m Playbuilder scheme, launched two years ago, was intended to create 3,500 community playgrounds across England.
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