Play Partnership this afternoon brought some disappointing news. Last month we'd been told by the new government that the ringfencing was being removed from grants such as Play builder from which Stockton has benefitted so much and which gave part of the funding for the St Margaret's Play area. The Parish Council is well on the way with planning improvements to Amberley Way play area and were promised £10,000 towards the cost of that from the PlayBuilder fund. Today a letter has arrived from the minister saying that unless work has actually started they will be asking for the money back! I know that there are really important big projects which are desperately short of cash thanks to labour's mismanagement of the country's finances over recent years but I can't help being very disappointed that the hopes of the children from Durham Lane school and beyond will be more difficult to fulfill now.
I reported briefly to the Parish Council tonight and we are all agreed that Amberley Way play area is important and we will do our level best to get the funding sorted out and do the improvements those children so richly deserve.