Editorial: Play strategy will help to reclaim public space

The strategy will confirm £225m is to be spent over three years to rebuild or renew 3,500 playgrounds, create 30 supervised adventure playgrounds in deprived areas and support 30 pathfinders to test innovative approaches to play. But beyond these showy figures, already trailed in The Children's Plan, is the more profound shake-up of planning regimes to ensure public space is children's space.

Play and recreation spaces in England are too often shoehorned into cramped urban areas suffocated by traffic and real estate. The strategy places the onus on local authorities to put play at the heart of planning decisions. This has already started in London in recent years, which provides the basis for much of the thinking. Planning guidance issued to the capital's councils stipulates there should be 10 square metres of well-designed play space for every child to be accommodated in new housing developments. All 33 boroughs have play strategies and are urged to audit existing provision, consult with children and young people and assess local need. They are required to make provision for different age groups and disabled children. Space is at a premium in the inner-city boroughs so they are encouraged to consider indoor space and terraces where appropriate.