Many community organisations use playing pitches and other outdoor sports facilities to deliver their activities. These spaces are often valuable, well used community assets. But are there enough of them to meet local needs both now and in the future? Are they readily available? And are they of appropriate quality?
What’s a Playing Pitch Strategy?
A Playing Pitch Strategy (PPS) seeks to answer these questions by gathering information and the views of users to assess the quantity, quality and use of outdoor sports pitches and associated facilities, like clubhouses and changing rooms, within a local authority area.
Once a PPS has been developed, key findings are then used to help protect, enhance and provide facilities that meet local needs.
The main types of pitches typically included within a PPS are those for cricket, football, hockey, rugby union and rugby league.
However, depending on the supply and demand for different sports within a local area, a PPS can also include a range of other outdoor sports facilities such as those for bowls tennis, golf, athletics, American football, baseball, Gaelic football and stoolball.
If facilities for other sports are included, the strategy may change from a PPS to a PPS and Outdoor Sports Strategy or just an Outdoor Sports Strategy.
Why is a PPS needed?
By reviewing the existing outdoor facilities in their area, local authorities and other stakeholders can make more informed decisions to help ensure there’s sufficient provision of playing pitches to meet both the current and future needs of the local clubs and groups that use them.
Depending on the needs identified, a PPS can be used to inform investment decisions into facilities from local authorities, local housing developments, Sport England, National Governing Bodies (NGBs) and other funding partners.
A PPS will form part of the evidence base to inform local planning policy in an area and will be used by a local authority when making decisions on planning applications affecting sports facilities, along with what facilities are needed to support housing growth within the local area.
Developers may also use a PPS to inform their proposals and national organisations such as Sport England will use it as key evidence base in their statutory role of protecting playing pitches when responding to planning applications.
Why’s it important to get involved?
The success and the extent to which a PPS can support local needs will depend on the information and views gathered as part of the process.
The consultation process (as outlined in steps 2 and 3 below) is your opportunity to tell the local authority more about your organisation, the facilities you use, your views of the qualities of the facilities available, and if there’re any improvement or additional facilities needed to support your organisation’s growth.
It’s important that you engage with the consultation process and support the development of the strategy, so that a wide range of views are gathered to help inform and shape the work, recommendations and priorities for investment.
The PPS process
A PPS is often prepared by a sport and leisure consultant, who’s employed by the local authority. They follow a recommended approach that is provided by Sport England, which includes 10 steps broken down into five key stages. A PPS typically takes between 9-12 months to complete.
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Stage A – Prepare and tailor the approach (step 1)
This stage involves agreeing the key aims of the PPS, how it will be undertaken, the facility types that will be included, reporting timescales and any specific focus areas and issues.
Read moreThis stage is led by the local authority in discussion with a range of stakeholders, including Sport England and relevant NGBs.
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Stage B – Gathering supply and demand information (steps 2 and 3)
This stage includes consultation with the clubs and community groups linked to each of the facility types included in the PPS.
Read moreIt collects data on the current supply and demand of local facilities. Consultation may take the form of:
- Surveys – to collect information on the types of activities delivered, who participates, the facilities used, any issues and future needs. It’s important these survey’s capture the views of your whole organisation, so if you’re consulted, discuss the survey at a committee meeting and with those responsible for delivery. If you’re a multi-sport organisation, each of your sections should complete the survey separately.
- Site visits – If your organisation has a long-term lease (5+ years) or owns a facility, and are responsible for its maintenance, the consultants may ask to visit your site so they can get a better understanding of the facilities, how they’re used and maintained, to hear first-hand about any issues and future needs. Site visits are usually carried out during the playing season of that sport once the pitches have had a significant amount of play. For example, visits to football, hockey and rugby union pitches are typically undertaken between December and February.
- Meetings or phone calls – If more information is needed, you may get a request for a meeting or phone call to discuss your survey responses, or the information collected as part of the site visit.
- Workshops – You might be invited to attend a workshop with other local organisations to discuss and share your views on existing facilities and local needs. This also gives you an opportunity to ask any questions you might have.
This stage also includes collecting data held by the local authority, NGBs and facility providers such as maintenance schedules, facility booking data, and affiliation records.
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Stage C – Reviewing and assessing supply and demand information and identifying key findings and issues (steps 4, 5 and 6)
At this stage, the information collected in Stage B is reviewed and used to assess whether the current supply of playing pitches for each sport and other facilities included within the PSS, meets current and future levels of demand and to determine any key issues with the current supply of facilities.
Read moreKey findings will be identified and feed into stage D, the development of recommendations and actions.
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Stage D – Developing the PPS, recommendations and actions planning (steps 7 and 8)
Recommendations and action plans are developed at this stage. Common recommendations focus on the need to protect facilities, improve pitch maintenance, and refurbish or build new facilities to cater for current and future demand.
Read moreYour organisation may benefit from improved facilities if the facilities you use are identified as a priority project within the PPS’s recommendations and actions. Priorities are developed by a project steering group including representatives from the local authority, Sport England, and NGBs, which are shaped by the community consultation and assessment work carried out to develop the PPS.
Once the PPS is agreed, it’s usually published on the local authority’s website. Your organisations can use the information, recommendations and actions to help develop your offer, protect the site and facilities you use, improve maintenance and in some cases apply for funding.
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Stage E – Delivering the PPS and keeping it up to date (steps 9 and 10)
The final stage involves a recommended yearly review by the steering group to understand any changes in the supply and demand of facilities in the local area and the impact this has on the findings and recommendations of the PPS.
Read moreThe group will also update the action plan to ensure the progression of priority projects. To support Stage E, clubs and community organisations are encouraged to maintain a good relationship with your local authority and NGB and keep them updated about any significant changes in your demand for facilities and to the facilities you use.
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