A Play Street is a short, temporary road closure (usually up to three hours) that lets children play safely outside, up to four times a year.
Play Streets are organised, managed and run by local communities themselves. The council provides guidance and organises the closure of the road to traffic.
Adults from the street will volunteer as stewards to help manage the road closure points. There are clear expectations and guidelines in place to maintain the safety of all during a Play Street. At all times, children will remain the responsibility of their parents/carers.
The emphasis of Play Streets is on free, unstructured (but semi-supervised) play for children, as well as giving everyone the experience of enjoying their street as a shared space.
There are lots of benefits to having a Play Street on your road, they:
- give children more opportunities to play in a safe space close to their homes
- provide a chance for residents to come together and for everyone to get to know their neighbours
- help children to be physically active and healthier, have fun and also learn about their street and neighbourhood
- provide a great example to our children and young people on what active citizenship can achieve
- semi-supervised play gives adults a chance to also get to know one another