SPACE may finally have been found for a long-awaited playground on an estate.
Children living on the Aldersbrook estate in Wanstead have had to play in the streets and on the opposite side of a busy road since the park there was condemned more than 10 years ago.
Parents have been pushing for a replacement since then, but a space off Empress Avenue was turned down after a public consultation last year.
The Aldersbrook Voice residents’ group asked if a playground could be built near a garage block in Brading Crescent, but was told it would have to pay between £500,000 and £750,000 for the land.
Newham council, which owns the land even though it is in Redbridge, has now offered a piece of land where a few residents currently park their cars, off Brading Crescent, subject to a consultation with neighbours.
Shanell Johnson, chairwoman of the Aldersbrook Voice residents’ association, said the offer was a step forward, but there was still a long way to go before the playground became a reality.
“We just waiting for them to put that in writing,” she said. “It’s now a case of setting out the community consultation and making sure that’s in line with what everybody needs.
“It’s not necessarily what everybody wants, but it solves the problem and makes more sense than to have the children running around. It gives them somewhere designated to play.
"Parents now need to come together."
The group was told by Redbridge Council earlier in the year that it had the money for a playground in its budget, but Ms Johnson said it had not yet asked if the funds would be available this financial year.
Mum-of-two Charity Nunn, 32, who lives in Brading Crescent, said the land offered by Newham was not as good as the patch near the garage block, but the children needed somewhere to play.
“It’s summer time now and they’re out all the time on the street,” she added. “People are starting to moan and they’re getting pushed from pillar to post.
“It’s better than nothing, but there’s still a lot of work to be done.”
There will be a meeting about the playground in the Brading Crescent hall on June 6.
A Redbridge Council spokeswoman said: "The residents are still waiting for permission from Newham Council to be able to use the site as a play area.
"Unfortunately, the Government funding for natural play areas had to be spent by March 2011 as part of the three year programme, therefore, this funding is no longer available in the 2011/2012 budget."
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