The argument over the closing of two play centres and two after school clubs looks set to dominate May's local elections. Crawley's Conservative-run council says they are underused and so don't justify the cost. Opposition councillors as well as hundreds of angry parents say the Tories are cutting vital services in the quest to save cash.
Many stories we report have a fairly obvious right and wrong but this one is more complicated. If the centres are underused, maybe the council is right to divert the £185,000 cost of running them to other services. Unfortunately, the people hurt by this decision will be parents and kids and many of them might rely heavily on the centres.
Labour leader brenda Smith makes one very good point in today's News - she says the benefit to so-called "latch key kids" may be worth more than the cost of running the centres. Giving vulnerable children a place to go where they can learn and socialse may be worth a huge amount in the long term.
I'm afraid I can't make a clear decision either way on this one. Hopefully the poll on our website will reveal what Crawley people think of the possible closures...
