Council to stop funding Leicester's adventure playgrounds

The sites - like Goldhill Adventure Playground - will have to become "self-sustaining", Leicester City Council said

Leicester City Council will stop funding nine adventure playgrounds, saying they need to be become "self-sustaining" sites.

The council said it would only fund the playgrounds for another year.

It will make "some grants" available in the first part of the 2024-25 financial year, but then expects the groups to fund themselves after that point.

The playgrounds have an annual price tag of £1m, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

The council did not share details of the grant funding, but said services would have to meet certain conditions to get the cash.

The groups will be asked to set out how they plan to become self-sustainable by 2025, the authority added.

'Important role'

The future of the playgrounds was thrown into doubt in February, when the council's Labour-run executive refused to pledge financial support beyond this year after being called to do so by Castle ward councillor for the Green Party, Patrick Kitterick.

He said: "[The adventure playground network] is special and it is as valuable to this city as the bones of any old dead king. The simple facts are adventure playgrounds are a valuable part of city life, they have been for 50 years, and I wish for them to be for another 50 years."

The council's decision follows a warning that every service area would have to be considered for funding cuts due to what mayor Sir Peter Soulsby called "severe budgetary problems".

Councillor Sarah Russell, deputy city mayor responsible for children's services, said: "We value the work of all of the city's adventure playgrounds and we know what an important role they play in their communities.

"That's why we want to work with the play associations now to help them develop their business plans and identify new sources of funding, as we know that the council is going to have to review all of its non-statutory services by next year."

Laurence Jones, the council's strategic director for social care and education, said the council would be speaking to the playgrounds about how to get funding from other sources.

"We will also be talking to them about the option of making a community asset transfer, where the council would transfer the land and building to the ownership of the adventure playground management committee, based on it being able to demonstrate that it could continue to provide the service without council funding," he added.