Council backs campaign encouraging street play

Green councillor Katie Collier said Play Streets gave children the chance to be more active, learn skills and make friends

A campaign to get children playing out in the street has been backed by Worcester City Council.

Play Streets encourages neighbours to get together and create a safe space in quiet residential roads for children to play together, usually involving closing the street to through traffic for a short time.

Green councillor Katie Collier, who described the scheme as "low cost, high impact" said outdoor play had declined 50% in a generation with traffic, fear of crime and "unwelcoming public spaces" among the reasons.

A motion put forward by Collier and backed by councillors includes a commitment to review signs "that may unintentionally discourage informal outdoor play".

Residents can still get in and out of the street in their cars during Play Streets events, but are encouraged to drive slowly, with children having right of way.

The scheme gives children the chance to "be more active, learn skills and make friends" and can boost "community connections" and reduce isolation in the city, said the councillor.

The authority was committed to developing play spaces, she added, but children "grow ever unhealthy, miserable and isolated as we wait for the finances to install more slides, splashpads or pump tracks".

Fellow Green councillor Hannah Cooper said the campaign was about "children's fundamental right to play", and the motion acknowledged that play happened on doorsteps and streets.

Reform UK councillor Alan Amos argued the scheme would be impractical to implement.

"Roads are built for traffic, they are not play areas. I see this as a recipe for public conflict," he said.

The Green Party's Karen Lewing invited him to see how the scheme was already being run on streets in the Arboretum.

And Labour councillor Richard Udall said: "Children will have priority over cars – this is quite simple, let's do it."

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, which covers councils and other public service organisations.