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

Condition of facilities144. STPs require the carpet to be replaced regularly. The sand-based facilities tendto require replacement approximately every 10 years. These facilities are liableto vandalism and should therefore have management close at hand throughoutthe day (and evenings). This need for renewal is already potentially an issue for<strong>Stoke</strong>-on-Trent as the pitches at Dimensions are 11 years old, Holden Lane is 8years old, and the pitch at Sir Stanley Matthews is 14 years old, although it wasrefurbished 7 years ago.Current standards of provision145. Based on the 2008 population estimate of 234,000 provided by <strong>Stoke</strong>-on-TrentCity Council, the City currently has only 0.01 full size pitches per 1000population. The following figure shows how this rate of provision compares tothe ONS comparator authorities.Figure 17:Provision of large sized STP pitchesComparator Authority Provision per 1000population (number ofpitches)City of <strong>Stoke</strong>-on-Trent 0.01England 0.03West Midlands 0.03Barnsley 0.01Sunderland 0.03Tameside 0.02Wigan 0.05146. Large size pitch provision is lower than the current West Midlands average of0.03 pitches per 1000. Of the comparator authorities, only Barnsley has a lowerlevel of provision.147. <strong>Stoke</strong>-on-Trent has 30 small sided pitches available for use. This equates to alevel of provision of 0.12 small sided STPs per 1000 population. However it isnot possible to compare this with other authorities as small-sided pitches are notrecorded on Active Places. The 30 small-sided pitches equate to approximately10 large-size pitches (three small-sided = approximately 1 large-size in terms oftheir use).Nortoft Partnerships Ltd <strong>Stoke</strong>-on-Trent Page | 156Sport & Physical Activity Strategy 2009-2016October 2009