{"id":1548,"date":"2014-02-14T10:21:57","date_gmt":"2014-02-14T10:21:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/?p=1548"},"modified":"2014-02-14T10:21:57","modified_gmt":"2014-02-14T10:21:57","slug":"riverside-play-centre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2014\/02\/14\/riverside-play-centre\/","title":{"rendered":"Councillors Neil McEvoy and Iona Gordon clash over Riverside play centre"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_1551\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1551\" style=\"width: 430px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/riversideplay.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-1551 \" title=\"Riverside Play Centre\" alt=\"Riverside Play Centre\" src=\"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/riversideplay-1024x768.jpg\" width=\"430\" height=\"323\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1551\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1551 \" title=\"Riverside Play Centre\" alt=\"Riverside Play Centre\" src=\"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/riversideplay-1024x768.jpg\" width=\"430\" height=\"323\" \/><\/noscript><\/a> Riverside Play Centre<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left\">Labour and Plaid Cymru are engaged in a war of words over proposals by Cardiff City Council to close Riverside Play Centre.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Neil McEvoy, Plaid\u2019s leader on the council, has organised a public meeting for Sunday in protest at the move.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">But Iona Gordon, Labour councillor for Riverside, said that Coun McEvoy could not stop the closure.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cNeil is jumping on the bandwagon, he has no influence whatsoever,\u201d Coun Gordon said.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cI am concerned for the residents and the mothers of the children at the play centre. He cannot influence the council. Our party has much more influence because we are leading the administration.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">But Counc McEvoy accused Iona Gordon of \u201cdoing the dirty on the community\u201d and urged residents to jump on the bandwagon with him.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">He said: \u201cThe meeting in Riverside will aim to get fifty signatures to force a the council to hold a referendum in the ward on the issue of the Play Centre<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cI invite everyone with a social conscience to jump on the save the play centres bandwagon. It\u2019s rolling already and the plan is to force Labour to abandon their plans by mobilising public opinion and organising in our communities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Riverside Play Centre, one of six which will close under council plans, will lose its council funding, and all staff have been given termination of contract notices.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1503\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1503\" style=\"width: 225px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/playcentre.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1503  \" alt=\"A protest banner outside the Play Centre \" src=\"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/playcentre-225x300.jpg\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1503\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1503  \" alt=\"A protest banner outside the Play Centre \" src=\"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/playcentre-225x300.jpg\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" \/><\/noscript><\/a> A protest banner outside the Play Centre<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The site will be taken over by Flying Start, a Welsh Government scheme targeted at children under four-years-old in the most deprived areas of the country.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">But Claire Chambers, whose three children use the play centre, said it will de damaging for children if it closes.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cIt feels like there is more provision for 0-5 year-olds, we don\u2019t need the Flying Start nursery,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cI think 5-14-years-old is the most vulnerable age and those children need the play centre.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cIf they\u2019re not there they could be out truanting and buying alcohol and drugs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Ms Chambers said that the play centre was worth far more than the \u00a39 an hour the council says it costs per child.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cEach child spends maybe seven hours there during the school holidays and they get fed there, so really \u00a39 an hour isn\u2019t that much\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cAnd if they\u2019re not here and they are out causing trouble then our policing costs will go up, so it\u2019s well worth the money.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Labour and Plaid Cymru are engaged in a war of words over proposals by Cardiff City Council to close Riverside Play Centre. Neil McEvoy, Plaid\u2019s leader on the council, has organised a public meeting for Sunday in protest at the move. But Iona Gordon, Labour councillor for Riverside, said that Coun McEvoy could not stop the closure. \u201cNeil is jumping on the bandwagon, he has no influence whatsoever,\u201d Coun Gordon said. \u201cI am concerned for the residents and the mothers [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":248,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1291,715,194,1831,73],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-1548","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-cardiff-2","tag-labour","tag-plaid-cymru","tag-play-centre","tag-riverside"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Councillors Neil McEvoy and Iona Gordon clash over Riverside play centre - The Cardiffian<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2014\/02\/14\/riverside-play-centre\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Councillors Neil McEvoy and Iona Gordon clash over Riverside play centre - The Cardiffian\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Labour and Plaid Cymru are engaged in a war of words over proposals by Cardiff City Council to close Riverside Play Centre. Neil McEvoy, Plaid\u2019s leader on the council, has organised a public meeting for Sunday in protest at the move. But Iona Gordon, Labour councillor for Riverside, said that Coun McEvoy could not stop the closure. \u201cNeil is jumping on the bandwagon, he has no influence whatsoever,\u201d Coun Gordon said. \u201cI am concerned for the residents and the mothers [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2014\/02\/14\/riverside-play-centre\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Cardiffian\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-02-14T10:21:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/riversideplay-1024x768.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cathyduncan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@cathyduncan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cathyduncan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2014\/02\/14\/riverside-play-centre\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2014\/02\/14\/riverside-play-centre\/\",\"name\":\"Councillors Neil McEvoy and Iona Gordon clash over Riverside play centre - The Cardiffian\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2014\/02\/14\/riverside-play-centre\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2014\/02\/14\/riverside-play-centre\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/riversideplay-1024x768.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-02-14T10:21:57+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/#\/schema\/person\/41c76b1e66d8cf6e57cba8550c3772b1\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2014\/02\/14\/riverside-play-centre\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2014\/02\/14\/riverside-play-centre\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2014\/02\/14\/riverside-play-centre\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/riversideplay-1024x768.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/riversideplay-1024x768.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2014\/02\/14\/riverside-play-centre\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Councillors Neil McEvoy and Iona Gordon clash over Riverside play centre\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/\",\"name\":\"The Cardiffian\",\"description\":\"Just another JOMEC Sites Network site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/#\/schema\/person\/41c76b1e66d8cf6e57cba8550c3772b1\",\"name\":\"cathyduncan\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/d4d0895f6e1f7ccb86d04236a870a18b\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7cd1b1b63598c25c15d3e0d390366ec2ba1c99865b1a23c34339be8c5c396a81?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7cd1b1b63598c25c15d3e0d390366ec2ba1c99865b1a23c34339be8c5c396a81?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cathyduncan\"},\"description\":\"Lecturer, Cardiff University News Journalism MA. 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