Playground in Gütersloh is being sold as a building site
A wooden seesaw, a silver metal chute and a square sandpit; everything framed by trees; this is what it currently looks like on the children’s playground on Marconiweg in the Gütersloh district, Spexard. But this will soon change as the town of Gütersloh has now decided to sell the playground as a construction site. This means money will be saved. This is quite usual, says Christine Lang, Finance Officer for the town of Gütersloh. Gütersloh has a clear goal: About 54,000 EUR is to be saved, and this means that 17 playgrounds will be disappearing from the townscape. The town isn’t an exception as other local authorities are cutting down on playgrounds too. For example, in Hagen they are supposed to be losing 30 to 40 of 180 playgrounds, and Dortmund has been attempting to get rid of 87 of its 372 playgrounds for years now. In all instances a construction site or a green area are to be developed where children now swing and slide. Parents in Gütersloh are not backing the town’s plans.
Savings with playgrounds
Nevertheless, there have hardly been any protests from parents in Gütersloh up to now. They were not easy to implement because there is no nationwide, uniform regulation relating to playgrounds, only recommendations.
Thus, the towns in North Rhine-Westphalia are trying to save money by having fewer, but better, playgrounds. In front of the playground on Marconiweg some children are playing badminton on the street. They know about the Gütersloh town’s plans and are not exactly thrilled that their playground will soon be gone.
(WDR 2, Westzeit, on 8 November 2010, information by Christoph Münch)
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