London housing to meet play needs
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
All new housing developments in London will need to include play areas under planning guidance issued by mayor Ken Livingstone last week.
Developers will need to include at least 10 square metres of play and recreation space for every child expected to live there. Play space policies will have to be included in local development plans.
Deputy mayor Nicky Gavron said the guidance was intended to ensure spaces were well designed and provided a range of activities for different age groups with, for instance, play spaces for under-fives in or next to the development.
Adrian Voce, chief executive of Play England, said he hoped the government would now produce guidance for other areas in England, as outlined in The Children's Plan. "It is more difficult for other areas to produce guidance because no other authority has the same devolved statutory powers as in London," he said. "Guidance for the rest of the country therefore needs to come from the government."
- www.cypnow.co.uk/doc.
