From Bristol City Council’s press release:
Tuesday 2 August 2011
Red tape cut to encourage playing out
A campaign to enable more children and young people to play out safely
on residential streets is being backed by the city council.
The green light has been given for more frequent road closures for a
few hours after school by groups of neighbours and communities, without
having to apply each time. Until now, residents have been allowed to
apply for three formal road closures a year for street parties or other
community activities.
Instead they will be able to do one annual application as long as all
the neighbours are consulted.
The aim is to encourage more resident-organised street play sessions
for children and young people in their streets, based on a model
developed by the Bristol-based Playing Out project, where the street
becomes a temporary ‘play street’, with through traffic diverted but
residents still have car access for parking. Residents ‘steward’
either end of the street to ensure this happens safely.
This will be the theme of this year’s popular Bristol Playday on
College Green tomorrow (Wednesday 3 August) between 12 noon to 4pm.
It will highlight the benefit for communities of seeking more playing
out opportunities for their children and young people, together with a
number of street play events around Bristol, organised by residents with
support from our partners Playing Out www.playingout.net and Streets
Alive www.streetsalive.org.uk.
Alice Ferguson, co-founder and Director of the Playing Out project
said: “There is a widespread feeling that children need to have more
freedom to play outside safely, for their health and happiness. We are
very happy to see Bristol taking a lead in this way and hope that other
cities will soon follow.”
Chris Gittins, Director of Streets Alive said, “During the 100s of
street parties in Bristol every year residents have told us how amazing
it is for kids to be able to play safely for a change in the street. Our
surveys have clearly shown that the events give them courage to support
play at other times in the street or elsewhere.”
Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, Cllr Clare Campion-Smith
said: “Playing is such an important part of a child’s life, giving
them the freedom to run around outside and enjoy themselves with their
friends. It’s healthy, it’s fun and it helps build our communities.
“Bristol has a strong reputation for encouraging street parties, as
was seen for the Royal Wedding. We now want to lead the way in helping
communities organise safe playing out for children and young people in
our neighbourhoods on a more regular basis.”
Cllr Jon Rogers, Cabinet Member for Care and Health said: “This is a
very significant move for a city the size of Bristol, sending out a
clear signal to parents and communities that we will support them
organise street play activities.
“Parents are concerned that our children and young people are living
more sedentary life styles, so initiatives like this are an important
way of encouraging our youngsters to play outside in a safe
environment.”
Transport Cabinet Member Tim Kent said: “We were very keen that the
rules governing street closures should be relaxed and red tape cut to
help community groups make this initiative happen on the ground. We
believe this is a first for our city and I hope will be taken up
enthusiastically.”
Details of the new procedure and a new application form are being
worked on by council officers and will be launched this autumn.
Notes to editors
Residents wanting to organise ‘playing out’ sessions should contact
aliceandamy@playingout.net or visit www.playingout.net. For press
enquiries about the Playing Out project please contact Naomi Fuller on
07985 776132
Residents wanting to organise a play-friendly street parties should
see: www.streetparty.org.uk or www.streetsalive.org.uk. Details of
survey results on play are available from 0117 922 5708 or
info@streetsalive.org.uk
Playday is the national celebration of children’s right to play. Each
year thousands of children take part in play activities across the
country. These are organised by local people with the support of Play
England. Playday is organised to give children and families a great day
out, and to get across some important messages about play and children.
For more information visit the Playday website www.playday.org.uk
For more information about play activity, events and spaces please
visit www.goplacestoplay.org.uk
For more information please contact Bristol City Council press office
on 0117 922 3332
