Focus on play
January 2019
Play and transport
This briefing for officers within local authority transport policy and management departments provides information about how transport planning influences children’s opportunities to play. Children and teenagers need and are entitled to quality places for play as part of their everyday life within their own neighbourhood and community.
The importance of play for health and well-being Playing is central to children’s physical, mental, social and emotional health and well-being. Having welcoming places, enough time and the company of others to play with every day, is of great importance to all children and teenagers – we need to foster environments that support this. For children themselves, playing is one of the most important aspects of their lives. They value time, freedom and quality places to play. When asked what is important to them, children and teenagers consistently say playing with their friends – outdoors.
National and international policy In 2010, Wales became the first country in the world to legislate for play through the Children and Families (Wales) Measure 2010, which places a duty on local authorities to assess and secure sufficient play opportunities for children in their area. Wales – a Play Friendly Country, statutory guidance to local authorities, sets out a wide range of Matters across several policy areas that need to be taken into account.
The duty aims to ‘make communities more play friendly by valuing and increasing quality opportunities for play throughout the community. The intended outcome will be more children playing ... and so, enjoying the health, social, cognitive and emotional benefits that play provides’.1
As part of statutory Play Sufficiency Assessments (PSAs), local authorities must assess access to space/provision (Matter F). This includes open spaces and outdoor unstaffed designated play spaces. The statutory guidance notes that ‘in assessing for and creating play friendly communities, local authorities should work to ensure that children are able to move around their communities to play; to walk or cycle to open spaces, play or leisure provision; to visit family and friends or to attend school, without risk of harm’2. The Play Sufficiency Assessment should take into account all factors that contribute to children’s access to play or moving around their communities, including: •
Traffic calming
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Play streets / temporary road closures
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Safe walking and cycling routes
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Public transport provision
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Shared spaces
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Parking.
These factors should be assessed for: •
The number of 20 miles per hour (mph) limits in residential areas, their effectiveness in allowing for children to safely play outside and the potential for increasing the number of 20mph limit areas to promote play opportunities.
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The local authority’s provision of safe walking and cycle routes and potential for increasing these. This should align with the proposals that are set out in the Active Travel (Wales) Act 20133.
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Processes for arranging temporary road closures being straightforward and information on these being readily available.
Internationally, the importance of play is recognised and protected in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). Article 31 of the UNCRC states that the child has the right to play and to join in other recreational activities. As an indication of the significance the United Nations places on children’s play it has published a General Comment on Article 31.4
This is an official statement that elaborates on the meaning of an aspect of the UNCRC that requires further interpretation or emphasis. The aim of the General Comment is to clarify the meaning and importance of Article 31. The General Comment notes that, children should have: ‘an environment sufficiently free from … traffic and other physical hazards to allow them to circulate freely and safely within their local neighbourhoods’. The General Comment stresses that public planning must place a priority on the creation of environments which promote the well-being of the child. To achieve the necessary child-friendly urban and rural environments, consideration should be given to: ‘Road traffic measures, including speed limits, levels of pollution, school crossings, traffic lights, and calming measures to ensure the rights of children to play safely.’ Of equal importance, the General Comment encourages countries that have signed the Convention to introduce legislation to support children’s right to play and advises that the issue of sufficiency should be used as a founding principle of such legislation.
The impact of the car Such is the impact of the car on children’s play, that innovative and creative neighbourhood and community based highways solutions need to be encouraged and supported to raise awareness and encourage positive solutions to local problems. The volume of traffic has increased over the years and is likely to double by 20355. Parents and children often report traffic as a limiting factor to play in local neighbourhoods. Some areas have addressed this by reclaiming streets for play through resident-led street play projects where streets are closed off for short times to allow children to play. A recent report6 suggests that supporting local residents to temporarily close their streets for play could make a meaningful contribution to children’s physical activity levels, with children three to five times more active during playing out sessions than they would be on a ‘normal’ day after school. The study also demonstrates that street play sessions increase children’s confidence in playing out and parents feel more comfortable in allowing this.
Potential local actions which can secure play sufficiency •
The local Transport Plan recognises the importance of local streets, roads and walking and cycling routes in offering play opportunities for children of different ages and abilities.
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The local authority develops an accessible and well-known way of arranging temporary road closures, to support more children to play outside their homes.
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The local authority has an identified mechanism for assessing the impact of speed reduction and other road safety measures on the opportunity for children to play outside.
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The local authority has a plan to improve walking and cycle access to parks, outdoor play facilities and local leisure centres from residential areas.
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Manual for Streets guides7 are used in new residential design.
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The local authority considers children’s needs to access play opportunities when making decisions about public transport planning and expenditure.
Focusing on the journey Welsh Government notes in Wales – a Play Friendly Country that for many children the pavements and roads outside their front doors represent not only access to play provision, but also a space in its own right, where they can play – sometimes the only public open space in a neighbourhood. When children travel somewhere they don’t just walk or cycle but they play their way through their journey. We need to more actively advocate that outdoor play occurs beyond parks and playgrounds. Playing and gathering with friends is not just about being at a destination – it is about the journey through and around the neighbourhood. Ideally, children and teenagers should have confidence to play and socialise in all areas of their lives. Measures to increase opportunities for play require a concerted joined-up approach between agencies, policy makers and providers as well as those working face-to-face with children and teenagers, their parents and other local residents.
Council opens streets for play – a case study Cardiff is the first Welsh council to work towards global recognition as part of the Unicef Child Friendly City programme. As part of this, the Council has brought partners together to develop a Street Play pilot project. The project aims to streamline the road closure application process to enable residents across five communities to close their street for short times to enable children to safely play close to their homes. The Council and Play Wales is working with residents to make streets and communities play friendlier places for children and teenagers. Using the Playing Out model – street play sessions led by neighbours for neighbours – residents across the city are closing their streets to traffic for two hours a month for street play sessions.
Lee Patterson, the council’s strategic lead for the Child Friendly City initiative said:
Cardiff resident and mother of two, Toni Morgan, said:
‘Children, young people and their families have highlighted … the need for more opportunities to play in their communities and for families to spend more time together. Children have also highlighted the need to reduce car use in the city to enhance the environment and make Cardiff a safer city to move around when walking, cycling or scooting.’
‘I wanted to kick start the project in my street as I was aware of the many families living in the street, however had never actually encountered any children at any time playing outside in the three years of living here. I wanted my own children to have more of an “organic” child-led play experience growing up and all the benefits it brings ... this was the closest, safest option, without it being too contrived and ruined by adults! Plus, the words “play date” gives me the shivers!’
As part of the project, Play Wales has worked with Playing Out to translate some of its resources for residents into Welsh.
Marianne Mannello, Play Wales’ Assistant Director said:
For more information visit: www.playwales.org.uk/eng/streetplay The project has also informed the development of a toolkit for councils which provides guidance and tools to support the development of policies and procedures to enable resident led street play projects in their areas. The toolkit will soon be available on our website.
‘Giving children permission to play out close to their home and those of their friends helps them gain an understanding of the world they live in, as they learn to deal with situations outside the home, without being too far away from adults.’ For more information about starting street play in your local authority please contact us: mail@playwales.org.uk | 029 2048 6050.
References Welsh Government (2014) Wales – a Play Friendly Country. Cardiff: Welsh Government Crown Copyright. 1
2
3
Ibid, 23.
Department for Transport (2012) TRA99 – Forecasts of traffic. www.gov.uk/government/ statistical-data-sets/tra99-forecasts-of-traffic
5
University of Bristol, Centre for Exercise, Nutrition & Health Sciences (2017) Why temporary street closures for play make sense for public health. London: Play England.
6
https://beta.gov.wales/walking-cycling
United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (2013) General comment No. 17 on the right of the child to rest, leisure, play, recreational activities, cultural life and the arts (art. 31). Geneva: Committee on the Rights of the Child.
4
https://gov.wales/topics/planning/policy/ guidanceandleaflets/manualforstreets/?lang=en
7
www.playwales.org.uk Registered charity, no. 1068926 A company limited by guarantee, no. 3507258 Registered in Wales