Shaping Neighbourhoods: Children and Young People’s Play and Informal Recreation SPG

The Shaping Neighbourhoods: Children and Young People’s Play and Informal Recreation SPG is a review of the Mayor’s SPG on Providing for Children and Young People’s Play and Informal Recreation published in 2008[1] and builds on its implementation.

The provision of play will become of increasing importance with the emphasis in the new London Plan on promoting quality of life and in encouraging lifetime neighbourhoods meeting the needs of all Londoners, at every stage of their lives. The draft SPG introduces or provides a greater emphasis than the previous 2008 SPG on:

• the concept of lifetime neighbourhoods and the role of play provision in meeting the needs of all Londoners, at every stage of their lives (Chapter 3);
• the importance of ‘playable’ spaces in accommodating the presence of children in the capital and encouraging ‘shared’ public spaces that meet the needs of adults and children at the same time (Chapter 3);
• updated child yield figures and a new tool (Excel) to calculate the requirement for play in housing developments  (Chapter 4);
• guidance on the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) to pay for play space and equipment (Chapter 5);
• promoting healthy lifestyles; access to nature and the use of natural features (Chapter 3); and
• community involvement and volunteering to increase the use and enhanced quality of play space provision (Chapter 5).

The draft document also provides new inspiring case studies of well-designed play spaces in dense urban environments and puts forward a series of implementation points and policy signposts to make the document more user-friendly.

Shaping Neighbourhoods: Children and Young People’s Play and Informal Recreation SPG PDF

The consultation period runs from 6 February to 27 April 2012. To make comments on the document please email play.spg@london.gov.ukor write to:

Andrew Barry-Purssell
(Play SPG)
PP18 – Greater London Authority
FREEPOST LON15799
City Hall
More London
The Queen’s Walk
London SE1 2BR

[1] 2008 SPG, Providing for Children and Young People’s Play and Informal Recreation