4 Open Space for Children and Young People- Children’s Play Areas
4.1 The NPFA standards (Schedule 3) are set out according to walking distance and time from home to the play area, its minimum size and types of equipment provided. However, it is not practical to adopt this approach in all settlements; in many rural communities housing is far too scattered for this hierarchy of provision to be relevant. Similarly, the number of under-14 year olds in some villages is too small to justify the provision of more than one play area, so one area will need to cater for a broad range and location will be of increased importance. In addition, teenagers often use play areas as a meeting place because there are few alternative suitable sites. The needs of this age range are often not compatible with younger age groups and therefore should be given specific, but separate attention at the design stage.
4.2 There are no LAPs (Local Areas for Play as defined by the NPFA) recorded in North Devon, although casual play space will serve this purpose. Analysis undertaken by the Parks and Amenities Department shows that there are 9 ‘LEAPs’ (Local Equipped Areas for Play), 8 ‘NEAPs’ (Neighbourhood Areas for Play) and 41 ‘Unclassified sites’ (i.e. play areas which have equipment but which have not (through lack of knowledge or not exact compliance with the requirements of LEAPs and NEAPs) been able to be placed in these categories. (See Table 7.)
4.3 There is some inconsistency over the sizing here and it is thought that these areas only relate to the Activity Zone rather than the Activity Zone and the Buffer Zone. Unclassified play areas range in size from 0.02 has upwards, although due to lack of information some have been recorded as the same size as the site in which they lie.
4.4 The distribution of play areas is very uneven; hectarage of equipped play areas per thousand population varies considerably and a number of parishes have none at all. In Barnstaple, Pilton ward has no equipped play areas (EPAs); the most well provided for are Trinity and Yeo wards. The NPFA standards recommends 0.2 - 0.3 for equipped play but we are not convinced that the sizes are correct. The only parishes to approach this level of provision are Chulmleigh, Witheridge, Landkey village and Shirwell. Analysis of areas of equipped children’s play areas shows Pilton ward having no play areas and above average (for the district) numbers of children under 14 years, although Pilton Park is adjacent. (see Table 8).
4.5 The following points are noted when regarding the needs for children’s play:
a. Different ages have different play needs and the provision of suitable play spaces should be considered within a framework of opportunities for both informal recreation and more structured leisure activities.
b. Children seek social contact with their friends through their play activity outdoors and to achieve this they need to be able to move around the roads and pavements near to their home as widely and safely as possible and from an early age.
c. Pedestrian and cycling paths are very popular where they exist and help to reduce the proportion of children at play on vehicular roads. This reduces the risk of traffic accidents and extends the range of the children, since the majority of play outdoors is active involving walking, running, ball games, use of wheeled vehicles and play equipment.
4.6 Demand for equipped play areas is very localised and dependent on many factors relating to accessibility, character of catchment population, type of play area. This study, for an overview of provision, highlights areas of deficiency and suggests a basic minimum level of provision based on areas of good supply within the district.
Casual Play Space
4.7 As well as ‘equipped play space’ (LEAPs and NEAPs), the NPFA standard also includes elements for Casual Play Space, which can include LAPs.
4.8 In the study it has been difficult to determine which areas are for ‘casual, informal play’. The sites must be suitable for this purpose and safe, but it is not always possible to determine this from size or even location; there is a need to view each site and its safety and suitability. There are a number of sites - at least 53 - where children do play casually and informally and which do not have an equipped play area and it is suggested that some demand for such a facility would exist here and that these should be further investigated. A number have been singled out as being very suitable for development in this way, such as Sunset Heights, St Mary’s Barnstaple and Lagoon View, Yelland.
4.9 This study of open space is breaking with the format of the NPFA standard to exclude land for ‘casual informal use’ by children from the overall play space standard (i.e. it is just looking at the equipped play area element). Although one difficulty is of interpretation, the other issue is that land used informally by children is also likely to be used informally by adults. It is therefore appropriate to consider casual and informal use within the wider category of informal open space.
Facilities for young people
4.10 Facilities for youth are those facilities primarily aimed at the 14 years+ age range but in reality these will be likely to cater for children and young people at either end of this target group in addition. Such facilities include:
a. BMX tracks
b. Skateboard ramps and pipes
c. Kickabout areas
d. Street basketball facilities
e. Floodlit multi use games areas
f. Youth shelters
g. Purpose built outdoor meeting areas for young people
h. Games walls and graffiti walls.
4.11 There are no national planning guidelines or standards relating to the provision of these to which local authorities can refer. They are not traditional club based sports or activities, and it is therefore difficult to quantify demand. However, the school surveys have revealed a very high demand for such facilities within the district. In particular, demand has been expressed for skateboarding facilities in Woolacombe and Combe Martin and ‘Barnstaple Bandits’ are also looking for new sites in Barnstaple.
4.12 It needs to be borne in mind that:
a. Young people do not like mixing with younger age groups
b. Somewhere for young people to call their own is a prime requirement. It will be of crucial importance that decisions relating to actual youth facilities are reached on the basis of extensive consultation with young people and the local community. It is necessary to engender a sense of local responsibility and important to ensure young people feel a sense of ownership of the development to minimise vandalism
c. Provision needs to be informal, not associated with the establishment and whilst apparently unsupervised does need some form of control
4.13 Relatively few types of this provision exist. As in many other local authority areas, there is little evidence of any planned or consistent provision for this particular age group within North Devon. Given the current popularity of skateboarding and BMX activities, the lack of any such provision is particularly noteworthy.
4.14 It is recommended that provision of such facilities should be considered to cater for young people aged 14 – 24 years in settlements with more than 1000 inhabitants and for settlements in excess of 500 inhabitants where demand has been expressed on the basis of a minimum size of 0.15 (see Table 8). As far as standards are concerned, the aim should be that one such area is provided per 300 young people.
Recommendations for new provision
Equipped play areas
4.15 The following areas are identified as being particularly deficient in equipped children’s play areas and should be given priority in the development of new facilities.
a. Barnstaple: Longbridge ward
b. Barnstaple: Newport ward
c. Barnstaple: Trinity ward
d. Ilfracombe: Central ward
e. Ilfracombe: West ward
f. Bishop’s Nympton
g. Bishop’s Tawton
h. Braunton: East ward
i. Chulmleigh
j. Combe Martin
k. Instow
l. South Molton
m. Swimbridge
m. Tawstock
Facilities for young people
4.16 The following areas are identified as being particularly deficient in facilities for young people and should be given priority in the development of new facilities.
a. Barnstaple2 areas (including Roundswell and Whiddon Valley areas)
b. Ilfracombe1 area
c. Braunton1 area
d. Fremington1 area
e. Landkey1 area
f. South Molton1 area
g. Chulmleigh1 area
h. Combe Martin1 area
i. Mortehoe1 area
And other settlements where demand has been expressed, such as: Swimbridge, Bishop’s Tawton, North Molton, Instow, and Bishop’s Nympton
