Ten playgrounds planned for Leeds could be axed after the government froze funding pending a review.
The education secretary, Michael Gove, has written to Leeds council bosses, 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.
A council spokesman said:
"The original Playbuilder budget was £1.1m to help pay for 22 new or refurbished play areas across Leeds.
"So far, 11 have been completed and one more will open in the next couple of weeks.
"We have provided details to the Department for Education on money already committed and the remaining 10 schemes are on hold until the DfE makes its final announcement on the future of Playbuilder at the end of August.
"We are committed to improving play areas across the city and will consider all other options to continue this work if the funding is withdrawn by the government."
The suspended schemes 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.
Deputy leader of Leeds council, Labour Middleton Park councillor Judith Blake, labelled the potential cuts as 'shortsighted'.
Playbuilder was part of a government play strategy unveiled by the then children's secretary, Ed Balls, who is now MP for Morley and Outwood. The plan highlighted evidence suggesting that one-third of parents of eight- to 15-year-olds did not allow their children to play away from their own homes or gardens.
Gove yesterday told councils the cost of spending on completed sites would be covered and councils would be able to carry on with projects on which work had already started.
The education secretary said the government believed play was "an important part of childhood" but stressed that leisure facilities had to be subject to budget cuts alongside other services.
Playgrounds already completed and opened in Leeds under Playbuilder include:
The Bumps, Roundhay; Gipton Square; Richmond Hill; Potternewton Park; Brookfield Rec, Farsley; Meanwood Park; Smithy Lane, West Ardsley; East Ardsley; Deepdale, Boston Spa; Cross Flatts Park, Beeston and Horsforth Hall Park. Tinshill Garth is due to open later this month.
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