Progress so far

Those who met earlier in the year to discuss a possible 'street play' day in Devonshire Road have been continuing their efforts over the spring.  Most of the houses in the street will have had someone knock on their door in March/April looking for their consent for the street to be closed.  Thankfully, the surveyors received overwhelming support for both the closure of the road for this one afternoon, but also for the principle of closing the street to let our kids play.  Indeed, further help from the residents has been forthcoming.

We have since satisfied the Council of the residents' consent to close the street, and our application has been approved, so in principle, the day is on!!

We have since reconvened the small group of residents to discuss things in a little more detail.  We have volunteers to steward the street and explain the road closure to people using the street on the day.  We have a list of (largely) free activities that we'll look to organise in the street in some more detail - this includes face painting, arts, some races and some games.  We'll be looking to divide the street up to accommodate these and ensure that age groups are generally kept distant (i.e. toddlers away from the teenagers).  We've also approached our local ward councillors with a view to applying to some funding from the Enfield Residents' Fund, wich exists for community endeavours just like ours.  Funding would cover some of the basic materials and some of the administrative fees we're having to look at spending.

The residents will have a further small meeting at the beginning of June.  Anyone who wants to help or come to that meeting (on June 2) let me know (bethsaysboo@gmail.com).  Anyone desperate to volunteer time, or games, chairs, blankets, trampolenes.... also please let us know.  Thanks.

But what about the cars?!

On the whole, as I've been knocking on doors the last couple of weeks asking for signatures to support the road closure, the response has been really enthusiastic. Even people without kids have been keen to sign up, some going further and offering help on the day. I've lost count of the conversations that have ended, 'If there's anything I can do to help...' with someone I met for the first time three minutes earlier.

The only note of concern I've heard is: but where am I going to put my car?

Good question, and one I hope we'll come up with answers to at our next meeting on Thur 12th May... parking is tight in Palmers Green and we don't want anyone to have to park on a meter for the afternoon!

Interesting, though, how our cars have come to dominate the street. We all tend to think of the road as somewhere to drive and somewhere to park (except after the restrictions end at 6.30pm, in which case we go round the block five times til a space comes up). Yet 30 years ago, streets were a different place, where you were more likely to see children out playing on the pavement and neighbours chatting. 71% of us played on the street as kids, according to a 2007 poll by ICM, but how many of us let our own kids out nowadays? Streets have lost their multipurpose, community function and become the exclusive domain of the motor car, so that we have to hustle our children inside and shut the door.

It will be a pain in the neck finding parking on that Saturday in June, but maybe we'll see our street transformed for a few hours into something other than a traffic highway.

Mid-surveys

By now the surveyors will be out, knocking on the doors of the street, canvassing opinion on whether closing the road for an afternoon in late June is acceptable. This is needed so the Council can properly consider our application for the closure. Most of the people I have called upon have whole-heartedly embraced the idea, so it's good that the basic idea has some support.

For those surveying, we're after the surveys being complete in the next few days. Pass them back to Clare at number 41. Clare will also be sending round an email for a follow up meeting in mid-May - we'll need to discuss the set up of the day, the parking arrangements, stewarding and the like. You should get an email shortly.

Lastly, I've come across a few links that might give you some ideas for the day itself. Please feel free to investigate these and come back with your own suggestions.

http://www.roadwitch.org.uk/
http://www.sustrans.org.uk/what-we-do/liveable-neighbourhoods/diy-streets/diy-streets-resources-and-links
http://www.londonplay.org.uk/document.php?document_id=1198

Thanks.

About to survey

Hello street.  We're about to issue the survey packs to those of you who have kindly agreed to survey the residents on the street to get the signatures we need.  Remember, if there's to be support for the play day in June, which involves the closing of the street for the afternoon of June 25, we need the signatures of 90% of the households affected.

If you're not surveying, it means that you can expect someone knocking at the door and telling you about the event.  They should explain everything for you, and anything that's not answered for you can come back through the blog, or via Clare at 41, or Richard at 63.

Once we have the signatures we need, we'll forward the application to close the road to Enfield Council and start to plan the afternoon in some more detail.  The group of residents who meet a couple of weeks ago will assemble in early May - again, any comments welcome through the blog.

Street Play Day

Last weekend, all of the houses in the Devonshire Road were posted a leaflet about a 'Street Play' day. A number of the street's residents met on Thursday night last week and decided to go ahead and try to plan such a day.

We're currently looking at the afternoon of June 25. In order to achieve this, we'll need to come and see everyone to describe the idea and get your permission to close the road for that afternoon. We hope to come round in the next couple of weeks.

The idea of the afternoon is not to hold a street party, but allow children to come together and use the street to play in. We also hope that neighbours will get to know one another. The idea came about from a similar idea which took place in Bristol.

Updates will be posted here when we know more, so keep popping back for updates and information.