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

swimming pool. It is also in the vicinity of need for a
synthetic turf pitch, but with Wembley High school and
Vale Farm having facilities not too far away, it wouldn’t
be an ideal location for this type of facility.
Wembley High School, located towards the north west of
the borough, is in an ideal location to join up with Vale
Farm to provide a community hub for a range of facilities
such as tennis, football, sports hall provision, MUGA, and
other community provision.
South of the borough which would include schools such
as Cardinal Hinsley R.C High School, Convent of Jesus
and Mary R.C High School and Capital City Academy,
would benefit the most from improved community access
to sports halls, outdoor football pitches, and extra tennis
court facilities which were open to the community.
If any new schools are planned for or old schools are to
be located in different positions, it is important that this
strategy has an influence over the location of the new
schools, otherwise the sports facilities will not be utilised
to their potential and will not have the desired impact on
the local community.
All the schools and their current facilities should be
taken into consideration as well as the improvements
that need to be made to these in order to create better
provision and provide better community access. It is also
important to take into consideration the needs of the
local community, and the sports facilities they would like
to have in particular locations.
There are opportunities for the schools to join together
with sports national governing bodies to provide facilities,
such as local development centres for indoor tennis.
Sport Development has an important part to play in
making sure the facilities will be utilised to their potential
and working with the governing bodies will help to make
sure the facilities have there desired effect.
The BSF programme is about being innovative in the
design and make up of the building and working in
partnership to create the best environment for the
needs of the local community. For example, the basic
4 court sports hall may cater for the school, however it
may not be right for the community. Spaces need to be
interchangeable to meet the needs of the community.
With the BSF programme there is an unique opportunity
to enhance the current stock of sports facilities and make
sure the facilities meet 21st century expectations. It will
allow the borough to plan for future sporting needs and
locate facilities in areas of greatest demand and hopefully
Chapter Nine Delivery
provide students and local communities with facilities
in which to progress in sport and help them to lead an
active healthy lifestyle.
Planning obligations
The strategy has identified standards and areas for
improvement and it is vital that the strategy helps form
part of the planning process. This will allow sport to gain
an essential foothold into future planning, and forms the
evidence base needed for developers to provide these
facilities through development and planning obligations.
Planning obligations otherwise known as Section 106
(S106) planning gain, is a useful tool to help aid the
delivery of sports improvement programmes across
the borough. All new developments that are likely to
increase pressure on existing infrastructure, including
school places, transport, health, open space and sport
facilities may be required to provide for these on-site, or
if not practicable to make financial contributions towards
the cost of providing for these facilities elsewhere in the
locality.
Through the adoption of Brent’s s106 Planning
Obligation Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) Oct
2007, a standard charge applies to all new residential
developments and commercial developments greater
than 500m². This is an agreed amount that the council
considers reasonable to mitigate the pressures from
new development without jeopardising the financial
viability of schemes. This charge provides the option for
combined education, transport, open space and sport
contributions which can be applied more flexibly to
enable bulk funding for large infrastructure costs. For
example, instead of individual negotiations for different
services, a total cost is agreed towards the provision and/
or the improvement of education and/or transportation
and/or open space and sport infrastructure in the local
area. In theory this example could mean the full amount
is spent on open space and sport infrastructure from one
scheme.
In addition to the standard charge, monies can also
be negotiated towards the cost of new or improved
infrastructure which is over and above the usual impacts
of development that have already been calculated
within the standard charge. Historically the council has
approved a number of housing schemes on private sports
grounds which have been compensated for through s106
agreements. This has provided a large funding stream
for many improvement programmes of existing public
open spaces and sports facilities in the borough. As the
majority of the private sports grounds have now been
developed, and more robust policies exist to protect
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Chapter Nine - Delivery