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

Chapter six Outdoor Sports Facilities
Quality
The overall quality score for cricket pitches in the borough
is 73%, however the local authority pitches average at
67%. Improvements are currently taking place on pitches
at Sudbury Court (Vale Farm) and King Edwards VII in
Willesden. New cricket pitches will be available at John
Billam and Gladstone Recreation Ground.
Supply and Demand
Cricket is a locally popular sport with participation
levels well above the national average. 1.5% of Brent
population play cricket which is equivalent to 4,188
people playing cricket in any 4 week period (this figure
does not include junior players). Cricket is one of 8
priority sports in the borough.
There are currently 10 cricket clubs affiliated to the MCB
playing within Brent. A review of pitch bookings in 2005
of Brent Parks Service reveals there are an additional 4
clubs using facilities within Brent that are not affiliated.
A survey of cricket clubs conducted in 2003 for the Brent
Playing Pitch Strategy found a total of 31 adult teams
and 9 junior teams. The average number of players in
an adult team is 16 players and 23 players in a junior
team. Based on this survey of clubs, the conversion rate
(percentage of population playing cricket based on club
membership numbers) is just 0.2% which is very low
and suggests there may be potentially a large number of
Brent cricket players playing outside the borough or that
people are playing cricket in clubs that did not respond to
the survey.
Estimating current demand for cricket pitches based
on the 2003 club survey and allowing for a 10%
population growth gives a total peak demand for 10
pitches. This demand increases to 11 pitches by 2016
with further population growth. However, this is a
minimum figure as latent demand is not accounted for
and local demand is expected to be considerably higher.
Whilst there appears to sufficient overall supply of
cricket pitches to meet minimum demand estimates,
community use of the 4 pitches on school grounds will
be limited and is therefore given a 0.5 weighting. This
gives a total community use provision of 10 pitches. By
2016 there will be shortage of one public cricket pitch
to meet minimum demand estimates. There is also the
need to provide outdoor cricket nets to help with the
development of the sport for training purposes. There
is no cricket provision in central and south east areas
of the borough and the north of the borough only has
cricket pitches on school sites.
Gaelic Football Pitches
Quantity
At the time of the audit there were 3 Gaelic football
pitches with an area of 4.8ha including safety margins.
All three are within the ownership of Brent Council; 2 in
Northwick Park and 1 at Church Lane Recreation Ground.
During the summer months, the football pitches at John
Billam Sports Ground are laid out for gaelic football.
Three pitches were not laid out at the time of audit (Silver
Jubilee, GEC Pellat Road and Vale Farm). An additional
pitch at Gladstone Park was under construction at the
time of the audit.
Table 29: Gaelic football pitches and pitch quality
Pitch Quality score
39. Northwick Park 2 pitches (84% & 70%)
11. Church Lane
Recreation Ground
25. John Billam Sports
Ground
Map 44: Catchment map – Gaelic football pitches
Location of Gaelic
Football Pitches
39
69
25
19
55%
2 pitches in summer
(not assessed)
19. GEC Pellat Road Not laid out at time of audit
53. Silver Jubilee Not laid out at time of audit
69. Vale Farm Not laid out at time of audit
21. Gladstone Park Pitch under construction
11
53
Chapter Six - Outdoor Sports Facilities
21
Legend
Pay & Play
Ward Boundaries
Borough Boundary
1.6km Buffer of Pay & Play
76