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

Local Standards for Outdoor
Sports Provision
FOOTBALL PITCHES
Football demand has been calculated using Londonwide
conversion rates as Brent has both inner and
outer London characteristics and a similar football
participation rate with London. It is estimated that by
2016, there will be a need for 40 adult, 77 junior and
30 mini pitches to meet demand, which is equivalent to
118ha of grass pitches during peak demand and 0.4ha
per 1,000 population. This is almost double the existing
pitch provision. Opportunities to increase the number of
pitches on Brent parks and open spaces should be taken
alongside improving existing pitches to allow for more
intensive use. Synthetic turf pitches may cater for some
demand for casual play.
RUGBY PITCHES
Kilburn Cosmos RFC is the main rugby club operating
in Brent. This club will be moving to new rugby facilities
to be provided at Gladstone Park. The existing local
authority rugby pitches can be used for football and by
schools in need of pitches. The new pitch at Gladstone
Park is expected to meet current demand and into
the future However if levels of participation increase
significantly an additional pitch may be required.
CRICKET PITCHES
It is estimated that there will be a minimum requirement
for 11 cricket pitches available for community use by
2016. There are currently 8 local authority pitches and 4
pitches on school sites. By 2016 there will be a shortfall
of one cricket pitch to meet minimum demand estimates.
There will be a further shortfall if community use of
school pitches is reduced. A provision level of 11 pitches
is equivalent to 1 pitch per 27,500 population or 0.04
pitches/ 0.08ha per 1,000 population.
GAELIC FOOTBALL PITCHES
Currently there are 8 Gaelic football pitches in the
borough, with clubs playing at 7 of the 8. An additional
pitch will be opening shortly at Gladstone Park to allow
for club expansion. There is demand for expanded
facilities at Silver Jubilee Recreation Ground also, giving
a total demand for 9 pitches. This is a provision level
equivalent to 1 Gaelic pitch per 34,000 population or
0.03 pitches and 0.06ha per 1,000 population.
CHANGING FACILITIES
Changing rooms are an integral part to the functionality
of a sports facility or ground. Changing rooms should
be designed to allow separated showering facilities that
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will accommodate use at the same time by different age
and gender groups. People need toilet facilities and
places for changing, and it should be expected that these
are available in good condition when hiring outdoor
sports facilities. Although schools are more likely to have
changing room facilities, these should also be publicly
accessible for use outside of school hours and should
be designed so that facilities can be separated from rest
of school and in an easily accessible location to enable
community access. Onsite changing facilities or access
to adjacent changing facilities will be expected on all
sites offering sports facilities incorporating two or more
grass pitches. On larger pitch sites, enhanced changing
facilities in the form of a sports pavilion will be expected.
SYNTHETIC TURF PITCHES
It is considered that Brent is slightly below the London
average for Synthetic Turf Pitches and that the London
average should be adopted given their popular use; this
is equivalent to 1 STP per 50,000. By 2016 there will be
demand for at least 1 further pitch.
TENNIS COURTS
It is estimated that there is currently demand for 10,552
tennis match slots in any 4 week period. This is the
equivalent of 91 tennis courts. With expected population
growth up to 2016, demand is expected to grow to
11,426 match slots and the equivalent 99 tennis courts.
The corresponding standard of provision to meet this
demand is 1 tennis court per 3,000 population or 0.32
courts per 1,000 population and 0.028ha per 1,000
population.
MULTI USE GAMES AREAS
Multi use games areas are popular with children and
young people. Current provision is not considered to
be enough as indicated by recent resident survey and
a increased level of provision is proposed. There are
currently 18 good quality MUGAs in the borough, with
4 new facilities planned by the summer 2009. A further
2 MUGAs in areas with young population densities are
in need of refurbishment. The current distribution of
MUGAs has been compared to child population density
and 11 new facilities are required in parks and recreation
grounds which serve areas of high youth population
density, raising the total provision to 35. This is equivalent
to 1 MUGA per 8,000 population and 150m² per 1,000
population. As MUGAs provide for children and young
people a shorter travel distance of 800m is proposed for
the accessibility standard and will apply in areas of high
young person population density. Where new MUGAs
are provided on schools they should cater for a range
of sports including netball and, where appropriate, they
should be floodlit to enable community use out of
school hours.