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Part 2 You will hear a radio presenter interviewing a woman who helped establish a street play scheme.
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First, you have some time to look at questions 11 to 16.
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Now listen carefully and answer questions 11 to 16.
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My guest today is Alice Riches, who set up the street play scheme in Beechwood Road where she lives.
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If you haven't heard of street play, residents close their road for a few hours so children can play outside safely.
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Alice began with her own street, and similar schemes now operate across the city.
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Alice, when did yours actually begin?
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The idea first occurred to me when my oldest child was a toddler, roughly six years ago, but campaigning took more than two years before we could put it into practice, so the scheme has actually been running for three years.
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Ideally, we'd close the road for an entire weekend, from Saturday morning to Sunday evening.
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At present, it happens once a week.
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When we first started, it was only monthly.
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What happens when Beechwood Road is closed?
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Volunteer wardens stand at both ends of the road.
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Most are parents, although some older residents help as well.
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The council supplied special signs, and a volunteer explains the arrangement to drivers.
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Most motorists are reasonable, and we've only needed police assistance once or twice.
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The road isn't totally closed to vehicles.
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Residents may still drive in or out, provided they stay below 20 kilometers an hour.
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Most decide not to drive at all, or leave their cars in a nearby street.
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The warden's main job is to prevent through traffic.
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Can any neighborhood apply to take part?
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We want children throughout the city to be included, especially those living beside busy roads, because that is where the need is greatest.
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Demand is naturally lower in affluent districts, where children often have large gardens or parks, and in quieter suburbs with more outdoor space.
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I'd encourage anyone interested to try it.
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The response from residents across the city has been overwhelmingly positive, including people without children.
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A very small number complain, but most say they enjoy seeing children using the street, even though the games can be noisy.
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Before you hear the rest of the interview, you have some time to look at questions 17 to 20.
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Now listen and answer questions 17 to 20.
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Street play has brought children many benefits.
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Parents appreciate that they are outdoors in fresh air instead of looking at a screen, even when the games are not especially energetic.
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Playing with friends without constant adult supervision is valuable too.
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For me, the main benefit is that children gain confidence in being outside independently.
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Equally important, they get to know the adults living nearby, so the street begins to feel like one large family.
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Those are considerable benefits.
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I'd now like to ask about the related experiment in King Street.
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King Street is the busiest main road locally, and residents wanted to reduce its traffic for one day by encouraging people to leave their cars at home.
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We considered increasing parking charges, but that would have been very unpopular.
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Instead, parking was prohibited on King Street while the other car park stayed open.
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The impact was remarkable.
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We expected the air to be cleaner, and it was.
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What surprised me was the reduction in noise, even though buses continued to run.
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People also reported feeling safer.
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The biggest shock was that shop sales rose substantially.
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We had assumed fewer people would come out to shop, not more.
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So the fact that that is the end of part two.
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You now have one minute to check your answers to part two.
