New ways of closing your road for kids to play is becoming more common.
Residents who have had street parties often want their kids to be able to play in their street more often.
A group called Playing Out started like this and they have now developed this idea into an organised scheme.
The idea involves your council using a new type of road closure called a Temporary Play Street Order which you can apply for. This means you can close your road to traffic for example for 2-3 hours after school 3.30 to 6.00 or on a weekend. And you can do this regularly throughout the year.
Playing Out’s guidance is here. Only some councils are trialling it based on experience in our home town Bristol.
Streets Alive supports this great plan though encourages parents to make sure other residents without kids are supportive – it is good to get on with your neighbours too! It is better to have a few days rather than to push for weekly so that people get fed up.
Streets Alive has its own all-ages Street Play Guide which can be downloaded here. We believe that people of all ages want to ‘play’ and regular street parties and more informal street meets is a good way of combining kids play with all ages.
