Move to car-free streets to help Hackney children play
Play streets: car-free for all. Photograph: Hackney Council
Children are set to reclaim neighbourhood roads as a result of a new council scheme.
Under the Play Streets initiative certain residential streets in Hackney will be temporarily closed to vehicles so that children can play together there without fear of danger from passing cars.
Those who live in play streets will still be able to drive to and from their homes, guided at walking pace by volunteer stewards at each end of the road, a Town Hall spokesman said.
Stoke Newington mother of three Claudia Draper approached Hackney Council about the scheme, which resulted in Oldfield Road being closed off on September 9th so that around 70 local children could play together there.
Ms Draper said: “At our annual street parties, the best thing is seeing the children running around, having fun without the fear of cars on the roads.
“Hopefully now playing out in the street won’t be a once a year treat, but a normal part of our kids’ lives, as well as being something that brings the community closer together.”
The council has confirmed residents in a further six streets have expressed an interest in joining the scheme, which allows parents to apply for Temporary Play Street Orders (TPSOs) to close their street to vehicles provided it is not considered a major road or on a bus route.
Charity London Play is backing the scheme.
Chair Melian Mansfield said: “Hackney is to be applauded for taking this initiative… We hope that other boroughs will follow suit and help make London a city where children are truly able to play freely and safely outdoors.”
amazingly for Hackney every child in the photograph is white – oh hang on it is just south of Church Street…
I thought most of the white families left Hackney in the white flight phenomenon in the 80s/90s
now they movin’ back …
Has anyone considered the noise this will cause?
So many people work from home now and rely on the streets being quiet.
Only a minority of local residents have small children – why should their interests trump those of the rest of us who just want to live in peace and quiet?
Has the council consulted non-parents about this?
This is how it used to be ever since roads were taken over by traffic and car parking and children were scared indoors. The noise for those brief periods of play will be no worse than the traffic, the builders or people playing music out their window – happy kids is a welcome change.
Please note, the traffic won’t disappear – it’ll just move down someone else’s street, causing more congestion and pollution (air and noise) in a different location.
Hackney already has some of the most bizarre one-way systems and closed-road areas that force traffic to do polluting lengthy detours for the benefit of a tiny few.
Also, Hackney is already blessed with a large number of quality parks where children can play.
Besides, we only have to look at De Beauvois to see what happens; the closed roads become quiet, exclusive cul-de-sacs, the people living in the poorer surrounding roads have to tolerate the increase in traffic – and in all my years of walking through DeBeauvois, I can’t recall even once seeing any kids playing in the street.
It will inevitably mean more traffic calming and quieter streets for the affluent who already have more play space, gardens etc. and more traffic density in the areas where people do not have gardens and whose homes are overcrowded. Exactly as has happened in DeBeauvoir.
Perhaps “the people who work from home and rely on the streets being quiet” should pay additional business rates? Anyway thought you all sat in cafes all day staring at the macbook waiting for the creative block on your advertising copy to lift.
Really? Do you really all hold these beliefs strongly enough to prevent children of any background from having a chance to play safely outside their homes? What a bunch. I bet you are the same people that scoff at kids for being lazy and unfit. I work from home and I’d rather listen to happy kids than traffic. How about you spend your energy lobbying your cllr for common sense police then a lot of initiatives like this wouldn’t be necessary. Until then let’s slow up those crazy drivers for a couple of hours a week.
What a great idea. Well done to the parents and to the local authority for facilitating it. Roll on more traffic filtering, temporary or permanent. By the by, it’s not just leafy De Beauvoir that’s filtered in our borough. There’s also a large and long-standing filtered area in Brownswood. By way of illustration, here’s some street play going on in Queen’s Drive: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTPeJdhKn1A
Displace traffic to the poorer areas? There is no restriction on this scheme to rich streets. In fact I expect those without gardens will be pushing hardest for this, creating a 2 hour haven for the children to get outside in the street.
Imagine kids having races up and down the street, skipping and playing tag – what a change from sitting inside on the Playstation. Only the most selfish drivers will see the small diversion for 2 hours a week off-peak as too high a price for this. Why should the minority that drive be able to bully children off the streets every single hour of the day?
Can’t believe people are opposed to this. What a sick society we’ve become.
Laura, Trevor, Gareth, AJ – None of you are addressing where the traffic which will be prevented from going down one street will end up, i.e, someone else’s street.
I’m all for slower traffic. Personally, I’d drop the speed limit to 20mph (or slower) right across any street where people live. But when you start selecting certain streets for certain special treatment, then you just privilege one group at the expense of another.
If drivers are regularly speeding down your street, then complain to the council and the police.