THE LOOK Out’s controversial ‘stay and play’ trial fee should be permanently scrapped, a councillor has insisted.
Parents currently have to pay £5 for use of The Discovery Centre’s play area — a fee that was reduced from £10 after an outcry from the community.
READ MORE: Council halves The Look Out fee after parent backlash
Families get £5 credit for The Look Out's cafe and Bracknell Forest Council said the scheme was introduced to manage visitor numbers and to comply with social distancing guidance.
But critics said the idea would mean children from poorer families are excluded from using the play space.
READ MORE: Children's charity says The Look Out fee is 'social cleansing'
Labour councillor Mary Temperton was one of those critics, and now she is calling for the trial fee to be made a “one-off”, and “not a test case for future charging of play and recreational areas in Bracknell Forest.”
She told the News: “I am opposed to charging for children to enter play spaces.
“If the Council was afraid of hundreds [of families] descending, and had to limit numbers because of social distancing, then the booking could have happened without the charge.
READ MORE: Community reacts to council's decision to halve The Look Out fee
“The town council has successfully opened cafes with play areas and there is no changing here.”
Councillor Temperton’s call to scrap the fee will be debated by her colleagues at a council meeting on Wednesday, September 9.
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