Winners and Losers ~ Friday May 13, 2011

Four years ago this month, during a family holiday in Portugal, Madeline McCann went missing. Her story then and still now continuous to touch many hearts – through the years there have been many sightings in different parts of the world – but none came close to solving the mystery of her disappearance. To lose a child is every parent’s nightmare but it must be a million times worst when that child is missing and the parent has no clue where or how they are.

That is why I was not surprised the Prime Minster agreed to reopen their case – first, because David Cameron, more than most people knows first hand how it feels to lose a child and second, because it’s the right thing to do. He is a winner for giving the McCann’s hope. I, for one have huge confidence in our police and their abilities to shed some new light on this case, and very hopeful that this might be the finial chapter in a long and painful journey for Kate and Gerry McCann.

The losers have to be those who abandoned all common sense over Wandsworth Council’s pilot scheme to charge £2.50 for the use of the adventure playground in Battersea Park. During week days the playground is open for residences and non residence alike to use free of charge – the proposed scheme is only for users during the weekend – where the playground is predominately used by non residences. The monies collected will go towards staffing cost and maintenance of the specialist hi – tech playground. Many see it as a small fee to use that part of the park, but of course there are those who don’t. It’s understandable that residences have already paid for the park use (which they still continue to use freely) via their council tax – however the target customers in this occasion are the out of borough visitors. If we think about the proposal from a business sense, £2.50 per visit is a small fee for upkeep and maintain of a good service plus it delivers great value for money which ultimately benefits the residence.