Page 9 - RNT-C08

The HISTORY of REDDITCH New Town

Farm, East of Oakenshaw Farm, North of Pitcher Oak Wood and at Walkwood Coppice.
In addition, certain of the smaller areas, especially those for bowling greens and tennis
courts, could be located within the housing areas or immediately adjacent.

Consideration should be given to the organisation of schemes for play leadership in
residential areas, including all aspects of recreation. This would require cooperation
between all those who were in any way responsible for education, youth and community
services and those who developed play leadership schemes so that facilities could be fully
integrated throughout the town.

Major supervised play areas, on the basis of 1/4 acre per 1,000 population should consist
of 2 acre sites, with storage and Leaders hut, a hard surfaced kick-about area, cycle track,
facilities for climbing and space for various games. One section should be provided for
small children and a larger section for the older children. Lighting should be provided.
A range of playgrounds should also be provided which would satisfy the interests of
children in three main groups:

Toddlers: Spaces should be small, sheltered and plentiful and should be sited in positions
which could be overlooked by a number of houses. They should be very simple with paved
surfaces and of varied design incorporating changes of level, steps, walls and benches.
Noise would not be a significant problem.

Juniors: These spaces should be larger (about 1/4 to 1/2 acre) hard surfaced and should
be provided with either play equipment, swings, roundabouts, etc. or designated as
adventure playgrounds to encourage more imaginative activities. There should be space
for the traditional street games, scribbling on walls, etc. These playgrounds would be
noisy although normally it would not be reasonable to site them out of earshot of the
houses because they should be distributed evenly throughout the district. However, much
could be done to mitigate this problem by careful planning in relation to individual houses
and by the provision of containing walls.

Teenagers: Some space would be required for vigorous spontaneous ball games which
should be conveniently sited to deter use of the roads and service courts for this purpose.
Each area should occupy about 2/3 acre and would require a hard surface to stand up to
intensity of use.

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