Vauxhall election: Unity can save the Triangle

The Triangle is an adventure playground located in the Ashmole estate near the Oval cricket ground. It serves three local estates, and is one of the few spaces left in a densely populated area for young people to gather. The Triangle is a welcome meeting spot and is supervised after school hours.

But recently it has come under threat because of a tussle between the nearby Archbishop Tenison school and the Triangle Adventure Playground Association, which runs the space. Campaigners have been quizzing the Vauxhall candidates on their attitude towards the playground.




Archbishop Tenison School suffers from a lack of space and overcrowding, making it difficult to provide students with open areas for breaks and PE.

The school managers want to expand into the Triangle, with the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) drawing up plans to do just this.

Triangle supporters say the uncertainty over its future makes it difficult to obtain the funding to keep it going.

More funding for youth

The lack of space isn’t just due to the school’s location in a densely populated area. More than 200 school playing fields across the country have been sold off since 1997, with 49 of those in London. Before that 10,000 school playing fields were sold off under the Tories as cash-starved schools sacrificed play areas to cover their financial shortfalls.

Now Education Secretary Ed Balls is planning at least £2 billion more in cuts to education, so it is likely that more playing fields will be sold off.

Archbishop Tenison school and the Triangle Association should both use the Triangle in and out of school hours. The association should not have to rely on charitable grants, but should be properly funded by the local council, improved and expanded.

The school and the association should fight together and draw in the whole community to defend and expand facilities for youth, and for more resources for education – funded by taxing the rich.