To think that you can’t just close a road like this!

[RoadClosed]

Came home from work a few weeks ago (2:30pm) and our road had “road closed” signs on it. Highly unusual as it’s a quiet one way street with a couple of cul-de-sacs leading off it. I parked up and walked the rest of the way home (only 2 minutes, it’s not a long road). When DH came home he said the road wasn’t closed - no signs of it ever being closed.

A few days later same thing, 2:30pm - road closed. No signs of work going on, so I moved the sign and drove to my house. A neighbour text me same day asking why the road is closed as there is no work going on. I said I had no idea so he rang council to ask - they had no idea either and said nobody had applied to close the road either. Therefore we all just moved these signs off the road whenever we saw them and drove past.

Long story short - a woman down the street then went knocking on doors asking people not to move the signs as they were put there during the day to make the street safe for kids to play on!! By kids she means her son. It was explained to her that she can’t just close the road for this reason! Her reasoning is that it’s a short street and it’s only a short walk from the signs to any of the houses on the street. She was told that this isn’t the point, people have a right to be able to drive to their driveways! She’s continuing to put the signs up between 10am and 3pm. AWBU to continue ignoring them??

Ridiculous

Move house, don’t live in a suburban environment!

Absoutely batshit.

I wonder what delivery drivers do when they rock up and discover the road is "closed"?

Wtf 🤣🤣 absolute CF

She has no right to close the road. If she wants her child to be safe then she should remain outside with him and make sure he doesn’t go on the road.

I would find it really hard to stop myself from hiding the signs!

isn't this illegal? I knew someone about 20 years ago who was prosecuted for closing a road that was a major emergency services route. They claimed it was a stupid drunken prank and they didn't know it was illegal. They pleaded guilty and got community service.

That's a very good point, especially with people doing their Christmas shopping.

And yet the OP says 'she's continuing to put the signs up'.

I wish they'd come back and tell us what the police/council have said.

https://playingout.net/play-streets/what-are-play-streets/#:~:text=Play%20streets%20typically%20allow%20children,around%20and%20make%20up%20games.

might be something OP could pass onto the neighbour, maybe other neighbours would be interested in doing this in your street

Why would kids not play in their gardens, at a friend's house or in a park? I raised two boys and they never needed to play in the street. It's clearly the most dangerous option available to them.

You can get them on Amazon

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=Road+closed+signs&crid=NQYRIA68L0U6&sprefix=road+closed+signs%2Caps%2C93&ref=nb_sb_noss_2

That's 3 or 4 times now someone has linked to the play streets scheme.

I'm sure the council and police will also point the neighbour towards it.

But it's not going to mean her 3 year old gets to play out every day.

I would take advice from the highways department of the local authority and possibly the police. I suspect this is an unlawful obstruction of the highway. She needs to be told this by an official.

I am agog that she's nicked/bought road signs and is randomly putting them out whenever she feels like it to close the road. That it's so her unsupervised toddler can ride his electric scooter on the road adds an extra smidgeon of what the actual Jeff.

@Summerhillsquare Yes. It's really strange how mums here don't recognise the risk that cars present to children

Yet you think the solution to the risk cars pose to children is to teach them it's ok to play in the street? 🤔 What could possibly go wrong with that?

Just to answer a few points:

the houses do have gardens but they’re all flooded at the minute

I have no idea what the council are doing about it as I’m not the one who rang them.

she implied that in her country this is a regular thing, I tried to gently explain that it’s not the done thing here but she couldn’t understand what the issue was

I told her there are 4 parks within walking distance as well as a long pedestrianised foot path (20 minutes long at adult walking pace) where he could play free from cars literally at the end of the street. She said that was too far away and the parks are flooded. Basically she wants him to play out where she doesn’t need to be outside with him.

When a council want to close a road they have to go through all sorts of processes and procedures and it takes government approval to do so. She can't just decide to close it / I'd report her to the local authority.

This has properly made me laugh.

Yeah, report her to council.

Yes, our local ones seem to be on a Sunday, every few months. So an occasional community thing, not really a road closure as such. Still needs the formal legal order, though.

And parents still have to supervise their children.

I think part of the thinking is for parents and other adults to introduce more children to old-fashioned playground games, like skipping, hop-scotch, elastics and so on.

it could mean that neighbours find a solution to this and help this neighbour integrate into the society he has moved to. Also bring with her different ideas that might work well for other peoples children to mix and make friends.

I was lucky when my dc were growing up in the 90s and 2000 that they could play pout and we had a large green for them to play on with neighbouring dc. Although we all had gardens, its not as sociable as playing out. It was a quiet street and when some new neighbours from time to time parked there cars on the green area - they were promptly contacted and it was explained it was an area where kids would be playing with balls and bikes, so they moved so as not to get scratches etc

It mean many more neighbours knew each other and was very sociable street. Neighbours have had fete on the green for a way of raising money when someone died of brain cancer etc and all the neighbours came out to support.

Ive moved now and not having young children, no children play out and its not any where near as sociable

Or how about the kids play in their gardens? Roads are for cars, not kids.

Well I'd pinch the road signs, for a start. If they belonged to the council in the first place, I'd return them, explaining where they came from.

You could actually have a lot of fun with this. A 'road closed' sign at the top of her drive, for example.

"I told her there are 4 parks within walking distance as well as a long pedestrianised foot path (20 minutes long at adult walking pace) where he could play free from cars literally at the end of the street. She said that was too far away and the parks are flooded. Basically she wants him to play out where she doesn’t need to be outside with him."

That's outrageous. He's 3 years old! Of course he should be supervised at all times.

Roads are for cars, not kids.

roads are for everyone to share

Sorry, yeh just saw he’s three. Well he shouldn’t be playing out. A three year old needs supervision x

It sounds like a street, not a main road. As others have pointed out, kids being able to play in the streets is different to being allowed out in the garden; it’s sociable and gives kids more freedom. Perhaps the UK could start getting rid of its ridiculous “school runs” if kids were able to walk and bike safely to school, due to more streets being made safe like this?

Some people will need to park close to their house - elderly, disabled, those carrying a baby or toddler if there is is ice or snow. I live in a quiet street where children play, we just look out for the children when driving

Really, pedestrianization schemes are capable of making sensible exceptions for cases where, say, a wheelchair user drives an adapted vehicle. As for the other cases, parents with babies and toddlers should be able to walk two minutes using a pram/travel system/sling or walking with their toddler (I mean, those of us who don’t drive seem to manage OK), and if an old person is so decrepit that they genuinely cannot walk for two minutes, it’s not likely they are actually safe to drive any more.

I don’t agree with this woman unilaterally changing the rules like this, just pointing out how legitimate play street schemes work. She shouldn’t put up random signs, but more authorized schemes like this are a good thing.

How about a "House Open" sign on her gate every Fri/Sat at 11pm?