Policy information sourced from The London Plan 2021
S4 Play and Informal Recreation
- Boroughs should:
- prepare Development Plans that are informed by a needs assessment of children and young person’s play and informal recreation facilities. Assessments should include an audit of existing play and informal recreation opportunities and the quantity, quality and accessibility of provision. Boroughs should consider the need for cross-borough collaboration where appropriate
- produce strategies on play and informal recreation facilities and opportunities, supported by Development Plan policies, to address identified needs.
- Development proposals for schemes that are likely to be used by children and young people should:
- increase opportunities for play and informal recreation and enable children and young people to be independently mobile
- for residential developments, incorporate good-quality, accessible play provision for all ages. At least 10 square metres of playspace should be provided per child that:
- provides a stimulating environment
- can be accessed safely from the street by children and young people independently
- forms an integral part of the surrounding neighbourhood
- incorporates trees and/or other forms of greenery
- is overlooked to enable passive surveillance
- is not segregated by tenure
- incorporate accessible routes for children and young people to existing play provision, schools and youth centres, within the local area, that enable them to play and move around their local neighbourhood safely and independently
- for large-scale public realm developments, incorporate incidental play space to make the space more playable
- not result in the net loss of play provision, unless it can be demonstrated that there is no ongoing or future demand. Where published, a borough’s play and informal recreation strategy should be used to identify ongoing or future demand for play provision.
For more information please see The London Plan 2021