Alexandra ward councillor Wayne Hoban has welcomed progress in discussionsaimed at securing a new playgroup centre at The Grove, N10. The move followsa meeting between Council officers, parents and Cllr Hoban this summer.

The meeting was the result of a long campaign by The Workshop User Group, supported by Cllrs Lynne Featherstone and Wayne Hoban. The group has beencampaigning hard since they lost Council support and the use of The GroveWorkshop building in Alexandra Park in October 2003, from where they used tooperate their after school and holiday workshops for the under-fives.

Since then the group has moved to two different temporary sites, and iscurrently based at the Baptist Church, Muswell Hill. However, parents andplaygroup organisers have expressed concerns about the quality of temporaryvenues, while Haringey Council has previously claimed that there was notsignificant demand for the service.

Lib Dems point out that the refurbishment of The Grove will be expensive,but the Council has now secured some external funding from the Lotterysponsored New Opportunities Fund, with the remainder from the Educationcapital budget. Architects are currently working on developing the plansfurther, having taken into account parents’ comments, particularly inrelation to their concerns over security and access to site.

Cllr Hoban is pleased with the progress and productivity of the meetings buthe says there is still much work to be done. He will continue to workclosely with the Council and local residents to resolve the next issueregarding staffing of the new group.

Cllr Wayne Hoban comments:

“All the evidence indicates that provision of good quality playgroupfacilities for young children significantly improves their chances ofdeveloping good social and behaviour skills. “

Cllr Lynne Featherstone adds:

“I am very pleased to see that the council has now accepted our argumentthat the Grove playgroup service must be properly supported.”