Planning for Sport and Active Recreation Facilities ... - Brent Council
Planning for Sport and Active Recreation Facilities ... - Brent Council
Planning for Sport and Active Recreation Facilities ... - Brent Council
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<strong>and</strong> there is a need <strong>for</strong> two swimming pools (minimum 6<br />
lane each) in the Borough. The provision of at least one<br />
pool that serves the North of the Borough should be the<br />
Borough’s key priority. A second pool should be provided<br />
at an easily accessible location in the centre of the<br />
borough, preferably near Stonebridge / Barnhill to meet<br />
projected dem<strong>and</strong> by 2016.<br />
FIRST PRIORITY<br />
• Provision of a third public swimming pool to serve<br />
the north of the Borough together with health <strong>and</strong><br />
fitness <strong>and</strong> preferably sports hall facilities, which will<br />
help reduce revenue subsidy levels. The key issue with<br />
this option is identifying sources of capital funding to<br />
enable this priority to be realised.<br />
Other priorities<br />
• New build wet <strong>and</strong> dry sports hub facility to replace the<br />
existing Vale Farm sports centre. This will protect the<br />
ongoing provision of sports facilities, in particular the<br />
publicly accessible water space until the new facility is<br />
available <strong>for</strong> use. A new build will enable more efficient<br />
<strong>and</strong> effective design principles to be introduced making<br />
the facility more cost effective <strong>and</strong> able to meet the<br />
dem<strong>and</strong>s of the local populations. Additional facilities<br />
should be considered <strong>for</strong> inclusion within this facility<br />
which may also be more attractive to a private sector<br />
operator such as indoor tennis, indoor cricket <strong>and</strong>/or<br />
a climbing wall. The key issue with this option is<br />
identifying sources of capital funding to enable this<br />
priority to be realised.<br />
• The provision of a fourth swimming pool in the<br />
Borough to meet unmet dem<strong>and</strong> preferably with<br />
substantial health <strong>and</strong> fitness related facilities, to meet<br />
the needs of a growing population.<br />
• The provision of additional ‘pay <strong>and</strong> play’ health <strong>and</strong><br />
fitness facilities in the Kilburn area, potentially through<br />
the refurbishment of Charteris sports centre, subject to<br />
the provision elsewhere in the area of a sports hall with<br />
‘pay <strong>and</strong> play’ community access.<br />
• The redevelopment of the site at Bridge Park<br />
Community Leisure Centre with the provision of a new<br />
build sports centre. This is a more opportunistic option<br />
<strong>and</strong> will be lead by the <strong>Council</strong>’s <strong>Planning</strong> service who<br />
will ensure that any redevelopment of the BPCLC <strong>and</strong>/<br />
or Unisys site will include the re-provision of a new<br />
leisure centre at or near its existing location. The timing<br />
of this redevelopment will be determined by enabling<br />
opportunities that arise.<br />
Other Indoor <strong>Facilities</strong><br />
<strong>Sport</strong>s Halls<br />
<strong>Sport</strong>s hall provision is adequate compared to the London<br />
average but due to the lack of community accessible<br />
sports halls <strong>and</strong> the age of the buildings there is a need<br />
to re-provide or upgrade facilities as local dem<strong>and</strong><br />
amplifies the need <strong>for</strong> an additional 18-21 badminton<br />
courts in the Borough. Any new halls should ideally<br />
be 4 courts <strong>and</strong> above <strong>and</strong> have community access<br />
arrangements en<strong>for</strong>ced. New provision that provides<br />
public access in Dollis Hill / Mapesbury wards <strong>and</strong> pay<br />
<strong>and</strong> play access in Queensbury / Fryent / Kenton / Barnhill<br />
wards will help satisfy dem<strong>and</strong>.<br />
Health <strong>and</strong> Fitness<br />
There are significant shortfalls in the provision of health<br />
<strong>and</strong> fitness facilities, approximately 827 stations using<br />
the FIA’s gym membership calculations. There is an<br />
opportunity <strong>for</strong> this provision to be made by the private<br />
sector in some parts of <strong>Brent</strong> <strong>and</strong> via the local authority in<br />
areas where af<strong>for</strong>dable pay <strong>and</strong> play access is essential to<br />
enable use by the local community.<br />
Increasing capacity at any redeveloped or new built<br />
facility should include substantial health <strong>and</strong> fitness<br />
provision as a priority. (Such provision is also likely to<br />
cross-subsidise other facilities such as a swimming pool.)<br />
Education sites that have health <strong>and</strong> fitness facilities<br />
should be encouraged to make such facilities available<br />
to club / community groups similar to their bookings <strong>for</strong><br />
sports halls.<br />
Specialist indoor facilities<br />
There is no additional dem<strong>and</strong> <strong>for</strong> indoor bowls, indoor<br />
athletics or squash courts but the existing level of<br />
provision should be retained.<br />
Statistically there is a dem<strong>and</strong> <strong>for</strong> indoor tennis facilities<br />
<strong>and</strong> consideration should also be given to the provision of<br />
other indoor specialist facilities (e.g. indoor cricket centre)<br />
where there are high levels of local dem<strong>and</strong> which is not<br />
satisfied by neighbouring authorities.<br />
Outdoor <strong>Facilities</strong><br />
Football pitches<br />
Dem<strong>and</strong> calculations show an under provision of 25<br />
senior football pitches, 5 youth pitches <strong>and</strong> 21 mini<br />
pitches. Opportunities <strong>for</strong> additional pitches in <strong>Brent</strong><br />
Parks should be investigated.