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Appendix 11.2 |
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Outdoor Playing Space for Children: A Summary of National
Playing Fields Association guidance to aid interpretation of Local Plan Policy
RLT2 (Based on “The Six Acre Standard” 2001) |
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A Local Area for Play (LAP) is a small area of open space for young
children (mainly up to 6 years old) to play close to where they live. The
activity zone should be reasonably flat, have a grass surface, and have a
minimum area of 100m2. There should be seating for carers and
appropriate landscaping/buffer zones.
A Local Equipped Area for Play (LEAP) is a play area equipped for
children of early school age (mainly 4-8 year olds). The activity zone should
have a minimum area of 400m2, with grass playing space and at least
five types of play equipment with appropriate safety surfacing. There should
also be seating for accompanying adults.
A Neighbourhood Equipped Area for Play (NEAP) is a play area for mainly
older children which should include an area for ball games or wheeled
activities,8 types of play equipment appropriate to children in this age group
and seating. This requires an activity zone of at least 1000m2.
Buffer zones are necessary around LEAPs and NEAPs in particular to reduce
potential disturbance to nearby households. Distances of 10 metres and 30 metres
respectively between the edge of the “activity zone” and the boundary of the
nearest residential property are recommended. This will mean that the potential
total area required for a LEAP may be about 1,600m2 and for a NEAP 8,400m2.
These buffer zones could include footpaths and planted areas, planting schemes
which create wildlife habitat and thereby add to our stock of accessible natural
greenspace within the urban areas will be particularly appropriate (see also
Policy CNE11–urban greenspace network).
Detailed recommendations on play area design can be found in NPFA publications,
but the following pointers on siting and design are derived from page 26 of
their 2001 publication “The Six Acre Standard”.
As a matter of general practice, children’s play areas should be:
- Accessible within the specified walking time:
- Local Area for Play 1 minute (100 metres)
- Local equipped Area for Play 5 minutes (400 metres)
- Neighbourhood Equipped Area for Play 15 minutes (1000 metres)
- Sited in open, welcoming locations and not be tucked away on backland
sites with access via narrow alleys or paths enclosed by high fences.
- Separated from areas of major vehicle movements and accessible directly
from pedestrian routes.
- Sited on land suitable for the types of play opportunity intended. For
example, slopes that are too steep for building can provide one kind of
experience, but are not suitable for most play equipment. Conversely, a flat
area can provide too bland a setting for some types of equipment.
- Designed so that high climbing apparatus or equipment on mounds is sited
as far as possible from nearby dwellings.
- Sufficiently far from dwellings to reduce the likelihood of noise and
disturbance, particularly to households without children.
- Integrated, as far as possible, with other open spaces and areas of
amenity planting to provide appropriate separation from nearby dwellings.
- Overlooked from dwellings or pedestrian routes that are well used.
- Accessible by footpaths with a firm surface. However, footpaths should
not pass through the play area.
- Surfaced in a manner that is able to with stand the intensity of use.
- Provided with seating for parents and carers. Where footpaths with a
firm surface link adult seating areas to the entrance, their colour or
texture should be different to other hard surfaced parts of the play area.
The space occupied by these footpaths and planted areas should not normally
exceed 10% of the area of the activity zone in order to provide adequate
room for children’s play.
- Fitted with play equipment that has been designed, manufactured,
installed and maintained in full accordance with EN1176,
EN1177 and BS7188. Fencing,including gates, seating and all other fixtures
should similarly be in accordance.
- Provided with impact-absorbing surfaces beneath and around all play
equipment.
- Designed with appropriate physical features on the perimeter of the
activity zone to exclude dogs.
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