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

• Improved football pitches and facilities at Bradeley, Willfield, Milton andSpringbank;• New rugby pitches at Trentham Fields including a synthetic turf pitch andassociated changing;• Central Forest Park skate plaza, and smaller skate facilities at MountPleasant Park, Trentham Lakes, Tunstall Park and Burslem Park;• The improvement of 10km of greenways for recreational walking, newcycle routes, and upgraded bridleways to make them multi-user; and• Feasibility studies for ice rink and indoor tennis provision.Purpose of the Strategy3. This Strategy is committed to improving the City in relation to its sports andrecreation facilities and its green spaces, which in turn supports the City’sVision set down in the Community Strategy 2004-2014:“By 2014 <strong>Stoke</strong>-on-Trent will be a thriving and diverse city where people wantto live, work and study”4. This Strategy is for the whole of the <strong>Stoke</strong>-on-Trent community, and is notsimply a strategy for the City Council. It looks at the role that sport and activerecreation can play in the wider agenda, and the priorities for the future, bothin relation to places and people for the next 8 years. This takes the Strategybeyond the end dates of the Sustainable Community Strategy (2004-2014)and the current Corporate Plan (2007-2010), but links to the end point one ofthe key planning dates, which is 2016. This time horizon enables moreeffective facility planning because of the long timescales often involved in thelarger developments.5. The strategy has two sets of aims which are described in more detail below.People6. The first aim is people-orientated, and concerned with increasing participationin sport and active recreation. For the purposes of this Strategy, ‘activerecreation’ includes activities that are now directly aligned with the healthagenda, such as walking, cycling and fitness, as well as the more ‘traditional’sports such as swimming and football. It does not include gardening, dancing(e.g. ballet or at nightclubs), or travel to work/school, although these allcontribute towards a more active lifestyle.7. However, to focus only upon the lower levels of activity would potentially missthe very important ‘high level’ sports opportunities which a City such as <strong>Stoke</strong>-Nortoft Partnerships Ltd <strong>Stoke</strong>-on-Trent Page | 5Sport & Physical Activity Strategy 2009 – 2016October 2009