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Peckham Rye Common Development - Important update

Victoria met with officers from Southwark Council's Park's Team last Friday to talk about the children's facilities planned for Peckham Rye Common. Readers may be aware that the council has £100,000 to spend on a new natural water play area next to the One O'clock Club. Parks officers are already consulting local children about what they want, with a view to start constructing the new play area in the early autumn of this year.

The One O'clock Club on Peckham Rye Common is also due to be rebuilt. The previous Labour Councillors for Peckham Rye had, through the community council and over a number of years, allocated £200,000 of "cleaner, greener safer" money towards the rebuild. Sadly, this is well short of the £400,000-£500,000 that is really needed to deliver an adequate, new One O'clock club. The previous Lib Dem-Tory council had failed to allocate any further funding and there was a real risk that this project would continue to be delayed.

However, a bidding process is currently underway which may deliver the necessary further funding. A bid has been submitted to a larger Sure Start budget which had already been allocated to Southwark Council by central government. In the next few weeks we'll be doing all we can to ensure this bid is succesful. If it is, and if the proposals get through the appropriate planning processes, the new build could start in March 2011. If not, we'll keep fighting until we deliver on our promise to get this long overdue development built.

Watch this space for further updates.

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