Sports Clubs & Club Development Planning Bulletin 18 | August 2006
www.sportengland.org/spatialplanning Sports Clubs & Club Development | Planning Bulletin 18 01
Introduction 01 Introduction To many sports clubs, the planning system represents Tenure 02 one of the hurdles, which they need to overcome when Case Study 01 – York City Football Club seeking to develop, redevelop or finding alternative Case Study 02 – Thames Ditton Lawn Tennis Club accommodation for their club site. To other sports clubs Relocation 06 the planning system represents a procedural mechanism Case Study 03 – Boston United Football Club available to them to challenge redevelopment proposals Designations 09 Case Study 04 – Bromborough Golf Course of their grounds and facilities where there may only be a Intensification 11 tenant. In some cases these can command a high media Multi-Use Facilities 12 profile as the continuing saga of the relocation of Case Study 05 – South Weald Cricket Club Brighton and Hove Albion demonstrates. Design 15 Previous editions of the Planning Bulletin series have Information 16 investigated: intensive use of sports facilities; sport in the Green Belt and; sport stadia. This edition of the Planning Bulletin seeks to bring together many of the issues raised in the above editions in a club-focused edition, and focuses on: – Tenure; – Relocation; – Designations; – Intensification; – Multi Sport Clubs; and – Design. 02 Sports Clubs & Club Development | Planning Bulletin 18 Sports Clubs & Club Development | Planning Bulletin 18 03
Tenure Over the years there have been numerous In January 2002 the York City Supporters Local managers are then appointed to issues surrounding clubs and tenure, Society Limited (known as ‘the Trust’) was manage and maintain the facilities whilst almost all of them in relation to the loss formed. With the aid of a local newspaper the NPFA acts solely as the custodian or of sports facilities. This is because many campaign, the Trust generated an holding trustee. Guidance on long-term sports clubs are located in areas of high enormous amount of support, publicity, recreational land protection was land value, which make them very fundraising and positive action for the developed by the NPFA as part of the susceptible for redevelopment for housing, benefit of the football club. The Trust elected New Opportunities Playing Fields and retail and business locations. In many board members who volunteered time and Community Green Spaces Programme, cases, developers approach clubs with effort to lead the work, with their main delivered by Sport England. It notes that ideas over relocating the club to another objective to ensure the continuation of several stakeholders and processes serve site, however in cases where the club does professional football in York. They also to safeguard playing fields or recreational not own the site, clubs are vulnerable to sought to develop the business side of the land. The approach is based on the need landlords seeking to maximise the value club whilst seeking to secure the club’s for quality provision maintained to the of their asset seeking to remove the club presence at Bootham Crescent, and highest possible condition. Recreational through rent reviews, end of tenancy looking for an alternative site, which would land has the best chance of being used agreements etc. secure the long-term future of the club. and valued by owners, users, grant providers and the public if it is of the The formation of the Trust has given the Case Study 01 highest quality. supporters a powerful voice to influence York City Football Club the future of the football club. It is also A second option is for the land to be held In 1999 ownership of the club’s Bootham hoped that a club can be built through by local charitable trustees. Clubs have Crescent ground, the club’s home since the Trust which embraces its relationship a number of sources of grant funding 1932, was transferred from the football with supporters, schools, businesses and available through Sport England, with club to a new holding company, with the the community. the level of funding determined by match club effectively becoming mere tenants at funding. A condition of private funding may The latest position on Bootham Crescent the ground. mean that the funding is lost if local control (June 2006) is that the original planning is relinquished, for example to the NPFA. The Bootham Crescent ground was seen application remains lodged, but is on hold. as valuable asset, situated within a City The application will only be pursued in A further consideration for clubs to be of booming property prices. Unsurprisingly, conjunction with an application for a new aware of under tenure is what happens if the supporters became immediately stadium facility. The site selection process their sporting facility is simply demolished. alarmed, and even more so on learning is still underway with possible candidate A court case involving the demolition that a national housebuilder had acquired site subject to feasibility studies. One of of facilities at the Thames Ditton Lawn a 10% stake in the holding company with the issues for the Trust to decide is whether Tennis Club in Surrey highlighted this rumours of secret deals which would mean to include multi functional and non-sporting potential issue. the ousting of the football club. community facilities within the proposed new stadium in pursuit of its wider objective The threatened loss of the Bootham for the City of York. Crescent facilities also threatened the club’s existence in the football league and its The York City example demonstrates a community vision. The club then lost its trend of separating clubs from their assets, security of tenure of the ground and a with other clubs both inside and outside planning application was submitted in July football having experienced similar 2002 to redevelop Bootham Crescent with tenure difficulties. 93 houses. At the same time, the club had There are a number of options available accumulated debts of around £1 million to clubs to help secure their assets. and was plunged into administration with Options available to clubs to protect land the prospect of liquidation. and facilities include vesting the freehold The club was on the brink of extinction, of a site to the NPFA. This is thought of with players and staff facing unemployment as one of the most secure ways of and the supporters and the community protecting land. facing the loss of their club, the only football league club in North Yorkshire. 04 Sports Clubs & Club Development | Planning Bulletin 18