Planning for Sport and Active Recreation Facilities ... - Brent Council

PPG17 Planning for Open Space, Sport and Recreation
requires local authorities to set standards locally for
open space, including indoor and outdoor sport and
recreational activities as a mechanism for assessing local
provision and identifying whether or not the authority is
deficient in open space, sport and recreation facilities.
This Strategy identifies local standards for indoor and
outdoor sports provision. The local standards indicate the
level of sports facility provision required to meet current
and future population sporting needs in the borough.
The standards take into account, where relevant,
that Brent residents will use facilities in neighbouring
boroughs, which may be closer to their home. This is
particularly the case for swimming pools and sports halls.
The local standards should not be used to determine
the level of developer contributions as this requires a
discrete assessment of the needs arising from housing
development.
The standards comprise of quantitative and qualitative
components. Accessibility standards are also set, and the
desirability of these will in some cases be influenced by
young person population densities or the distribution of
schools in providing opportunities for new facilities.
The local standards need to:
Chapter Eight Local Standards
• ensure facilities are adaptable and imaginative to meet
the requirements of the borough, its diverse ethnic and
cultural communities and its changing population.
• encourage facilities that provide access by all sections of
the community and adoption of sports equity policies.
• ensure that public sector facilities include resources
to ensure that the facility charges are affordable, that
programming recognises the needs of all users and low
and under-represented groups are specifically targeted.
• ensure there is development of facilities of sufficient
quality and distribution to encourage increased levels
of participation and help address socio economic issues
such as reducing crime, improving poor health and
offering employment opportunities
• ensure the adoption of quality standards in design,
construction and energy efficiency.
• ensure facilities are accessible by public transport,
bicycle and foot to ensure good practice in sustainable
development.
• ensure planning conditions require new sports facilities
on school sites to provide accessible, affordable
community access through agreed facility management
arrangements.
• only fund / contribute to improvements in school sports
facilities where clear management plans and design
practice maximises sporting use outside of school hours
by Brent residents.
Local Standards For Indoor
Sports Provision
SWIMMING POOLS
Currently Brent has 4 pools that are at least 17m long
and are available for community use i.e. pay and play,
or registered membership (2 local authority pools and
2 private pools). This is equates to 1,088 m² of water
space.
Current demand
The Facilities Planning Model (FPM) has been used to
model the balance of supply and demand for swimming
pools in the borough taking into account facilities in
neighbouring boroughs. The FPM shows that 14% of
Brent demand is unmet, the equivalent of 2,250 visits per
week. To meet this unmet demand the borough needs
275m² water space or two additional 4-lane pools.
The FPM output suggests 275sqm would be required
to meet unmet demand. The report also states that
consideration should be given to demand from Brent
residents that although may be met by capacity in
facilities outside the borough entail excessive travel
distances. Fifty per cent of Brent residents have to walk
more than 20 minutes to the nearest pool, with some
residents having to walk over 50 minutes to the nearest
pool.
A third of demand is currently met outside Brent, to
reduce the level of exported demand it is proposed that
the two additional pools have 6-lanes. This raises the
total water space requirement to 1,700 sqm.
Projected future demand
The 2016 FPM models show that despite the expected
increase in population and demand, the amount of
unmet demand appears not to change significantly as
existing and new pools (located outside the borough)
absorb the additional demand. However, the location of
new pools in neighbouring boroughs does not improve
accessibility for Brent residents. 50% of residents remain
further than 20 minutes from a pool. Significantly, around
Chapter Eight - Local Standards 98