The poll, published today by The Children's Society and Children's PlayCouncil to coincide with national Playday, found that almost 40 per centof children do not play outside as much as they wanted to and a fifthplay outdoors for just an hour or less per week.
Adrian Voce, director of the Children's Play Council, said: "We'd liketo see local authorities developing cross-cutting play strategies fortheir area that are embedded in the children and young people's plan andthe community strategy but also are reflected in the actual planningframework."
Local authorities with robust play strategies are also likely to be thefirst in line for new lottery funding, when a new programme forchildren's play gets under way, Voce confirmed.
He anticipated a thorough audit of the scope and status of playstrategies across England, so that part of the funding pot earmarked fordeveloping support infrastructure could be targeted at areas wherestrategies were less well developed.
He added that Home Zones - areas where traffic is managed to makestreets safer and therefore more suited to play - needed to be given amuch higher priority.
Nearly half of children interviewed for the survey said they would playout more with their friends if there were better places to go and if itwas safer.
The Children's Society spokesman Tim Linehan said adults needed torethink their priorities. "We have 50 times more golf courses thanplaying fields," he said.
"We're talking about children being overweight and not socially adjustedyet we're not providing places to help their wellbeing."
The two organisations have published 10 top tips on making communitiesFit For Play, the theme of Playday. These include genuine consultationwith children and young people.
Dr Ute Navidi, director of London Play, highlighted the need for anelement of risk in children's play spaces and said local authoritiesmust not fight shy of providing challenging environments for fear ofbeing sued.
But as well as authorities taking a stronger stance it is also necessaryto raise public awareness of the benefits, she added.
- See feature, p16.
