Archived on 6/5/2022

Closing a road for a play street event

SE26.life

13 May '19

What is a play street?

A play street is a community or school-led initiative to close a road for a few hours either as a one-off event or a regular activity. This reclaims the road from vehicles and means children can play safely in the road together.

A play street gives children a chance to play and make friends on their street and adults the opportunity to socialise with their neighbours in a car-free environment.

How we support play streets

We support play streets where we can by:

deciding if a road can be temporarily closed safely

publishing the formal legal notices necessary to close a road.

We can permit temporary street closures at regular weekly or monthly intervals. We can also provide support, advice and guidance to residents who want to introduce a play street to their community.

How play streets work

Local parents and residents volunteer to manage the closure process from start to finish, but we will offer guidance along the way. Volunteers must manage:

putting the proposal together

consulting with residents on the street

submitting the application

marshaling traffic at the closure points on the day of the closure

setting up at the start

cleaning up at the end.

The road will be closed to traffic and the area should be kept as car-free as possible. If a resident needs to drive to and from their home, volunteers should guide them slowly through the play street at walking pace.

read on

Are you interested in organising a play street event? Create a topic on SE26.life and we’ll help get the word out across our social media channels.