Hoxton playgrounds locked for years as Labour councillor launches campaign to reopen them
Labour councillor Ben Lucas is calling for “vital” play areas in his Hoxton West ward to be reopened as part of a newly launched campaign.
Two children’s spaces on the Wenlock Barn Estate in Hoxton have been locked shut — one for more than a year, the other for several years — with only one of them in line for repair.
Cllr Lucas’s Unlocking Play campaign is demanding a firm timetable for the reopening of the two spaces, as well as for any others in the ward that are currently closed.
Cllr Lucas said: “Every child in Hoxton deserves a great place to play locally, yet families on our estates have been forced to look at locked gates while their playgrounds fall deeper into disrepair.
“Keeping these vital outdoor spaces chained shut without a clear reopening date is unacceptable — especially when so many families lack private gardens during long, hot summer holidays.”
Buxton Gardens has been closed for over a year after foxes burrowed beneath the safety surfacing and created a trip hazard.
Bletchley Court play space has been shut for considerably longer, after timber equipment failed a Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents inspection.
Asked at a full council meeting on 28 July whether the council would commit resources to reopening the sites, Deputy Mayor Dylan Law said repair works at Buxton had been ordered and were “expected to be completed shortly”, after which the space would be “assessed for reopening”.
Bletchley Court, Cllr Law said, had been closed for much longer because its timber equipment had deteriorated and was unsafe, requiring “a more substantial solution than a routine repair”.
He added that he had asked officers to work with the Wenlock Barn tenant management organisation (TMO) and residents to draw up a plan for the site and establish what investment would be needed. A timeline would follow, he said, once all parties have reached an agreement.
Three further play areas on the estate — at Sylvia Court, Graphite Apartments and Wimbourne Street — remain open.
Cllr Lucas added: “I’m pleased campaign pressure has already forced a council commitment to fix Buxton Gardens, but the job isn’t done.
“I launched Unlocking Play to secure the same for every locked space in Hoxton West, and I won’t stop until those gates are unlocked and given back to our community for good.”
Cllr Lucas is now consulting Hoxton West residents on their access to local play space.
Both closures on Wenlock Barn Estate date back to a period in which Labour ran Hackney Council. The party held the Town Hall until May this year, when it lost the mayoralty to the Greens’ Zoë Garbett.