Stoke-on-trent sport and physical activity strategy 2009-2016

• There is no one place which currently justifies an additional sports hall of 4court size or larger;• The network of provision needs to be considered as a whole – with potentialclosures being set against new facilities;• Some of the ‘unmet’ demand might be best dealt with by increasing theintensity of management of some sites, enabling them to be available forlonger hours and having a wider programme of activity. These sites willinclude some of the smaller facilities.• Four facilities are operating at 100% capacity and are turning people away:James Brindley High School, Holden Lane High School, Sandon HighBusiness and Enterprise College and Trentham High School;• Fenton Manor and Dimensions are both operating well above the comfortlevel of 80% capacity;• The only facilities which are not experiencing pressures from demand arethose which are the least attractive because of their age: Northwood Stadiumand <strong>Stoke</strong> Recreation Centre;• Sir Stanley Matthews Sports Centre, which is part of Staffordshire University,is the only centre which seems to be operating at a level which could bedescribed as comfortably full.98. By 2016 the FPM suggests that unless participation rates in sport overall can beincreased, demand will fall for sports hall space as the population across theauthority ages, even if the total population stays approximately the same.99. The most notable issue is likely to be the continued ageing of Fenton Manor,Dimensions and Northwood – which would make them significantly less attractiveto users. If these facilities are not replaced or do not undergo majorrefurbishment, then this will have a significant impact on the real availability ofsports halls.100. The potential impact of the BSF /schools reorganisation programme is huge. Iffacilities, including both main halls and ancillary halls, are made available to thecommunity, and are managed to meet the needs of the local community, theycould address much of the shortfall in provision currently experienced. Theproposed network of sports hall provision is given in Figure 14.Nortoft Partnerships Ltd <strong>Stoke</strong>-on-Trent Page | 135Sport & Physical Activity Strategy 2009-2016October 2009