SAVE OUR PLAYING OUR PLAYING FIELDS-SIGN THE PETITION

A well and highly respected local resident activist has written this letter on a personal basis. It is interesting to see, in the context of the local sales, the Local Government Association firing a broadside at Gove. Why? Because Pooter Cockell is chair of this impotent quango and it was Pooter behind the three sites the writer refers to.

The Telegraph describes Fields of Pleasure the scandal of flogging of assets, which give so much pleasure to the young, to greedy developers.

Dear All, Even though we are all still reeling from the successes of the Olympics and team GBR the Government appears to be relaxing the already minimal protections of our playing fields.  We have seen the playing field of Holland Park School sold, minimum open area space for the new Chelsea Academy and now even less for the proposed Kensington Academy.  Please sign the petition and have our voices heard. Many Thanks It’s just emerged that over a million children could lose the fields where they play.The Education Secretary, Michael Gove, has quietly relaxed the rules protecting school playing fields. Many people are worried that this could open the door for them to be sold off to developers. Without playing fields it’s hard to imagine the children of today - the Team GB of tomorrow - will ever match this year’s record Olympic medal haul. If playing fields are sold off and built on, there’ll be no way to get them back. Once they're gone, they're gone. Right now David Cameron and his Government won't want a scandal about school playing fields taking the shine off the Olympic legacy. [2] There’s a great chance that if tens of thousands of 38 Degrees members create a public outcry by building a big petition, Michael Gove will back down to make sure the Olympic after-party continues on a high. Click here to sign the petition to Michael Gove to save school children's play areas: https://secure.38degrees.org.

uk/playing-fields

For lots of people, playing outside at break time left them with some of their happiest memories of school. But happy memories aren’t the only long-term benefit of having proper places for children to play. Running around outside gives children the chance to get into good exercise habits early in life. And it can help them concentrate in class the rest of the time, so they learn faster. [3]

The Government is already feeling the heat - already a national newspaper has launched a campaign on this issue. [4] We can build on this pressure and, together, we can make that final push to persuade Michael Gove to do the right thing.

We’ve already had one great success around the Olympics - our massive petition persuaded sponsors not to take advantage of a tax-break available to them. Together, as the Paralympic Games approach, we have a great chance of persuading the Government to protect the play areas of our future Olympians.

Click here to sign the petition:
https://secure.38degrees.org.