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

Chapter Six Indoor Sports Facility Provision
Capacity Ratios
Table 15 sets out the current supply of sports hall space
across the borough, firstly including all facilities and
secondly just publicly accessible facilities (i.e. those
facilities that are accessible to the public on a pay and
play basis and/or to clubs / groups)
Table 15: Capacity ratio’s – sports halls
Facility
Type
All Sports
Halls
Publicly
Accessible
Current
Provision
As can be seen, this distinction between accessibility has
a significant impact upon the borough-wide capacity
ratio. For all facilities the current capacity ratio is 68.23
m2 of sports hall per 1000 population. This is higher than
the current London average of 59.77 m2, but lower than
the England Average of 74.54m². This calculation shows
that the existing level of sports hall provision across Brent
is marginally in excess of the London average. However,
this presumes that the London average is adequate,
which may not be the case. Compared to the national
average Brent would require an extra 1,661 m2 of sport
hall space in 2001 and 4785 m2 of sport hall space by
2016 to meet the national average. When the private
use facilities are removed from the equation, the capacity
ratio drops significantly. However, it is not possible to
provide London or England average data for publicly
accessible facilities only and therefore there can be no
comparisons upon which to make an assessment of capacity.
Although the capacity ratio calculations above are
useful in assessing capacity against London and national
averages, it is vital that demand is assessed at a local level
and hence the calculations above should be used only
as an indication and The Facilities Planning Model results
which will be analysed shortly should take precedence.
It is possible to use the Capacity ratios tool to look at
square metreage provision per 1000 population at a
ward level. However, as most facilities are not located
within the centre of a ward, and generally people don’t
recognise ward boundaries, this information is of limited
use other than to highlight significant deficiencies or
areas of high provision. Analysing all sports hall facility
provision at a ward level shows that Mapesbury, Dudden
Hill and Harlesden wards have a capacity ratio of ‘0’ as
there are no sports halls and that the highest capacity
ratios (greatest square metreage per 1000 population) are
in the wards of Barnhill, Wembley Central and Willesden
Green.
CAPACITY RATIO ( Facility type per 1000 population) - DEFICIENCY / + SURPLUS
(In comparison with
London average)
TOTAL
(m²)
2001
(263507)
2001
(293900)
2016
(305400)
London
average
(2001)
England
average
(2001)
Current
(2001)
(m²)
Mid
(2011)
(m²)
Quality
The majority of the Borough’s sports halls are over
30 years old and, as a consequence, they tend to
be less efficient to operate, have increased levels of
maintenance, and customer satisfaction is lower as public
expectations increase. This can result in fewer bookings
and therefore fewer people utilising the facilities the
borough has on offer.
Accessibility
Active Places power website enables a detailed map (map
31) to be drawn that shows actual walking travel time
to a Sport Hall (all sports halls), taking into consideration
facilities that may be located in neighbouring Boroughs.
The areas in red represent the parts of the Borough
where residents have the greatest distance to walk to
reach a sports centre. The areas in blue show the areas
where people have the shortest travel time to a sports
hall. It shows that the Dollis Hill, Mapesbury and Dudden
Hill wards are outside a 20 minute walk time of a publicly
accessible sports hall.
Chapter Six - Indoor Sports Facility Provision
Future
(2016)
(m²)
28 17,980 68.23 61.18 58.87 59.77 74.54 +2230 +414 -274
19 12,466 47.31 42.42 40.82 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
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