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

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Supply and Demand
There are 9 bowling greens in the borough and the most
popular of the 7 Council-owned greens is in Roundwood
Park. Participation in bowling is only 0.2%. Clubs in the
borough report difficulties in attracting new members
and the declining participation rate in the borough
reflects a London-wide trend. This together with the
fact that Brent has a large ‘young’ population indicates
that there does not appear to be demand for increased
bowling green provision, but improvements could be
made to the pavilions at the existing sites to meet the
needs of current demand.
Watersports
The borough has one venue for watersports and this is
located at the Welsh Harp, with 170 hectares of open
space and water. It is located east of the borough on the
Kingsbury / Hendon borders, partially in Brent and Barnet.
The reservoir is owned by British Waterways. It is two
kilometres long and in its south westerly point is the base
for a number of water sport clubs providing activities in
sailing, kayaking, canoeing, bell boating and windsurfing.
Welsh Harp is designated as a Site of Special Scientific
Interest (SSSI) which means that any developments on
the site are subject to conditions that prevent damaging
impacts on the SSSI. There are no recognised levels
of provision but the success of Great Britain’s ‘sailing’
team at the 2008 Olympics should be used as a tool to
encourage greater participation.
It is important to make sure the community has access
to the watersports facilities at Welsh Harp as they are
alternatives to mainstream sports, however they tend
to be more costly than other sports. Therefore it is vital
to work with the clubs on the Welsh Harp and develop
programmes to encourage the local community to use
the facilities at an affordable rate.
Cycling
Cycling is not just a form of transport but an increasingly
popular sport due to the British successful cycling team at
the Beijing Olympics 2008. But it is also a leisure pursuit
and fitness activity, which engages people of all ages to
take up the activity.
Quantity and Quality
There are already a number of cycle routes and networks
around Brent as part of the London Cycle Network. Plans
are being developed to include more local cycle routes to
enhance the cycle routes further.
There is also a disused BMX track in Chalkhill which was
probably built in the 1980’s when BMX became a very
popular sport. The track is very overgrown and hasn’t
been used for years but the foundations of the track are
still there. It is also in a good area away from traffic and
could provide the perfect environment for multi discipline
cycling facilities as British Cycling state they would like to
facilitate in order to develop the sport further.
The active people survey recorded that 9 percent of the
borough participate in a continuous cycle for 30 minutes
at least once a month. However, travel surveys conducted
at the local sports centres indicated that the main reason
people don’t cycle is because they don’t feel safe cycling
on the roads. British Cycling have also noted that traffic
in London is a major barrier to parents allowing their
children to cycle and so traffic free areas are a priority
to allow engagement with the under 16’s. There is one
cycling club in the borough but they don’t have suitable
outdoor facilities away from the traffic to train which
means that it limits the club in what they can offer young
people who want to take up the sport.
The government has pledged investment into cycling but
more needs to be done to encourage people to cycle
more, especially investment into cycle routes and facilities
in areas away from the roads where everyone especially
children can feel safe to cycle.