Obesity , Social Interaction, Communites, free play space

Obesity , Social Interaction, Communities, free play space was thinking about all of these over the weekend. How the government and councils go on and on about children playing and exercising but build on areas where they could safely play. Also about good social interaction between and within communities and children and whilst i was musing on all of it found an article written in The Guardian from March this year.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/mar/30/children.health

Some notable points from it were:

'Despite strong evidence that playing freely strengthens friendships, keeps children healthy and helps them to cope with risky situations, ministers will admit that the opportunities for children to do so have been falling rapidly.'

and

'In our consultations parents told us this is because there are not enough safe places to go - and there is plenty of anecdotal evidence that parents think their children are safer playing inside on a computer than outside.'

and

'This week's strategy hopes to address that with a long list of promises - some being restated - to create thousands of safe spaces for children. The government will promise £225m in extra funding for local authorities, 3,500 more play areas, 30 supervised adventure playgrounds and spaces for older teenagers to spend time. Children's play, local authorities will be warned, must be central to housing, transport and planning decisions.'

and last

'Playing freely with friends, it found, let children experience primary emotions such as fear, anger, sadness, happiness, shock and disgust. The rules of the game, meanwhile, developed secondary emotions such as pride, shame and sympathy. The academics concluded that play was important when it came to forming friendships, building resilience and boosting emotional and physical health.
'The research confirms what every child and most parents know - that playing is a deeply instinctive need,' said Adrian Voce, director of Play England. 'Children are motivated to play because they enjoy it, and what they enjoy is its uncertainty and spontaneity; expressing themselves and how they're feeling, within a safe space. Children at play can experience and explore the fullest range of feelings, because they're "just" playing. The research also tells us that playing causes the brain to develop flexible responses to experiences and relationships.'

All very interesting stuff and certainly well put. That is what we need Love Lane Green to be again, an open green space with a place for the children to play football, or other ball games, hide and seek around the bushes or trees and to keep out of the roads which they would be able to do if there was a green space back here. Then the parents would be able to know that they werent too far away and could be called or easily seen from the houses in the area! Give it back to us now...

In fact in a few easy step this could be done:

Council do Compulsory Purchase Order
Fence is taken down with the area next to the fence cleared of rubbish and brambles.
Long grass in the middle is mown so there is a playing area, keep some longer grass on the outer area near the train and tram track.
Then like magic Love Lane Green becomes a green again....