Playing for keeps

It is a longstanding grumble of playing fields campaigners that housing developers and local authorities so often put cars before children.

Planning regulations may insist on the provision of parking spaces in any new housing development but, all too often, they are silent on the need for places for children to play.

The National Playing Fields Association’s six acre standard has been the accepted benchmark of play provision since it was first drawn up more than 40 years ago.

Over the years it has been updated, but only now has it been thoroughly revised, edited and reissued to meet the needs of modern developments.

“The basic standard stays the same: a minimum of six acres of play space for every thousand people,” says the association’s director Elsa Davies.

“That is a basic level of provision that is now accepted as desirable by around 80 per cent of local authorities, and there is no need to change it.

“But we have worked to make our recommendations more specific and more detailed.”

Apart from providing a crucial benchmark at the planning stage for developers and local authorities, the standard will also be an important tool for drawing up a long-term strategy for the provision of recreation facilities for all sections of the community.

Although protecting areas for children’s play has always been an important part of the association’s brief, the new standard does not forget the needs of adults and teenagers in a world where organised sport is increasingly important.

The six acres of play space should be divided to give four acres for sport and two for small children’s recreation.

“There are many organisations campaigning on behalf of various sports, but our aim is to see there is provision both for organised sport and spontaneous, self-motivated play,” says Davies.

“The standard sets a minimum amount of land that should be set aside for outdoor recreation, keeping the needs of both types of recreation in proportion.”

There are detailed suggestions about the type of equipment needed for the various different levels of children’s playgrounds, emphasising the need for easy access and seats for adults accompanying young children.

“Some of the suggestions in the book may seem obvious, but it is important to have them accepted as part of the overall provision of play space.

“There ’s no point providing magnificent playgrounds if children can’t get to them, or putting up children’s slides which get dangerously hot because they have been erected facing the sun,” she says.

“The standard describes what developers ought to be providing, and explains how they can do it.”

Detailed sections provide information about planning, creating and maintaining play space, including such issues as gradients, drainage and changing accommodation. There are recommendations on safety provision and the need to ensure proper access for disabled people.

Over the last few years, there has been a considerable increase in the amount of land set aside for recreation – a development that NPFA specialists believe is largely due to the widespread acceptance of the old standard as a benchmark for provision.

It can often be achieved without compromising the builder’s need to maximise profit from a development, for instance by installing play equipment on small areas of land that would otherwise be underused.

Work on renewing this tried and tested tool for builders and developers was undertaken by a team of experts drawn from a range of disciplines and organisations.

The chair was Paul Garber, an association trustee and planning director of house builder Wimpey. Other members came from local authorities and consulting firms.

The committee started with a detailed survey of planning authorities and other interested organisations to find out how they thought the old standard could be improved. Out of nearly 300 replies, an overwhelming majority called for greater clarity.

Davies says: “The committee has taken note of this, and provided clear, straight-forward definitions of the terms used in the standard. This is a clear and unambiguous work of reference, a national standard with the flexibility to meet local needs.”

There are also examples of best practice from recent developments, and descriptions of ways in which the standard can be applied both in urban and rural areas.

“We are a campaigning organisation – as the government has cause to know – but we are practical as well. There is no point in fighting against developers when, by working with them, we can achieve better provision for children.”

Six acre standard. NPFA. £45. Tel: 020 7833 5391. Andrew Taylor is a consultant to the National Playing Fields Association.