London developer makes last-minute changes to lock poor kids out of "communal" playground

By Cory Doctorow

Henley Homes got permission to build a 149-home development on the site of the Baylis Old School complex on Lollard Street by promising to include some subsidised, below-market-rent units and "a network of courtyards and open spaces ... which will provide attractive areas for informal play. This will emphasise the sense of community within the scheme stressing that the common areas are there for the use of all the residents."

But as the units were being finished, Henley got permission from Lambeth Council to replace the gates that allowed the kids living in subsidised housing to access the playground with a hedge that walled them off. When the first subsidised occupants moved in, they were sternly warned not to allow their kids into the development's playground because it was reserved for the children of the wealthier residents. Henley argued that it had satisfied its duty to provide play space for kids under five by adding a "small gated strip of play equipment near the back of the social housing unit."

Read more at Boing Boing