Harriet Grant

‘No shops, no schools’: homes in England built without basic amenities Thousands of properties going up without access to playgrounds, community infrastructure and even doctors

From me: Housing is being built without the right community infrastructure. This is a huge issue - it's about how we live, move, get on with our neighbours - or how we end up lonely, fragmented, unhealthy and sedentary. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

hi, how can I contact you - ?

Space for children to play should be a requirement in planning law, say MPs Parliamentary group launched alongside campaign for ‘play sufficiency duty’ that matches those in Wales and Scotland

From me - might we be seeing a real shift on space for children to play - with MPs bringing this into Parliament as an issue? www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

‘I didn’t start out wanting to see kids’: are porn algorithms feeding a generation of paedophiles – or creating one? More than 850 men a month are arrested for online child abuse offences in England and Wales. They come from every walk of life: teachers, police officers, doctors, TV presenters. And the numbers are r...

A little late as new(ish) to Bluesky - but here is a story I wanted to write for a long time - the story of the men being arrested for viewing child abuse images and how they say they ended up in this darkest of places. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Yes, ball games: drive to take down signs warning against play begins in London Charity says thousands of signs on capital’s estates deter children from being active, and is covering some of them up

A brilliant new campaign from London Sport - with support from @playingout.bsky.social and others ...https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/mar/18/yes-ball-games-drive-to-take-down-signs-warning-against-play-begins-in-london

We have to be so careful with the way we talk about girls and play - girls face a barrage of stereotypes from the moment they can walk (and before! with tedious pink baby grows!) - we need MORE football and skate parks and we need to be looking at how to help girls take up space on them.

“It would be lovely to extend the playground on to the highway, but it simply isn’t practical ... It’s no place for a playground.”

Surely a dense, car-dominated neighbourhood is exactly where we should be acting to carve out space for play?

More great stuff from @harrietgrant.bsky.social.

thanks Alison - yes you are right - this is the dichotomy here - we are told that places with nowhere to play are 'no place for a playground'! it makes no sense!

Yesterday I wrote about the high court victory for Tower Hamlets mayor versus the LTN campaigners - they were protecting 3 popular LTNs where children play and older people now sit out and chat. They lost that fight to the rights of drivers. This is the reality of that context.