Open Space, Sport and Recreation Needs Assessment

Area Profile: Four Together

CONTENTS

Page (s)

1.0 Sub Area Map 3

2.0 Description of Sub Area 4

3.0 Local consultation findings 5 - 12

4.0 Quantity of provision 13 - 14

5.0 Quality of Open Space 15 - 16

6.0 Analysis of Provision 17 - 22

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1.0 Sub Area Map

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2.0 Description of Four Together Action Partnership

Population 18,600

Location & Demographics

Ferryhill, Chilton and West Cornforth were traditional mining settlements. The town and its surrounding villages grew rapidly in the 1900s around the mining industry, with the last mine closing in 1966. The nearby village of Chilton has seen significant regeneration in recent years, with the opening of the bypass in 2005 and the refurbishment of the main thoroughfare. West Cornforth is to the north east of and was home to an iron works. The Cornforth Partnership was established to address the problems resulting from industrial decline and is widely recognised as one of the most successful community partnerships in the area. Ferryhill and its surrounding villages are part of an ongoing Housing Market renewal programme. is a small village in the south east of this AAP.

The Ferryhill and Chilton Area Action Partnership covers the town and parish councils of Bishop Middleham, Chilton, Cornforth, Windlestone and Ferryhill. The area has a strong sense of community spirit and pride, ongoing regeneration and renewal initiatives and active partnership working, leading to local improvements. However in common with many parts of County Durham there are a lot of issues that need to be tackled.

The area of Ferryhill and Chilton contains the following parishes: Bishop Middleham, Cookson’s Green, Mainsforth, Chilton, Ferryhill, Cornforth, Rushyford.

More information can be found at http://www.durham.gov.uk/PDFApproved/Profile_Ferryhill_Chilton.pdf And http://www.durham.gov.uk/PDFApproved/FerryhillandChiltonAAPProfile.pdf

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3.0 Local Consultation Findings

The following is a summary the main local findings of relevance from local consultations which are described in full in the Needs Assessment Report (Appendix 1 to the Main Report).

3.1 Detailed comments from web survey

Postcode Comment I would like to see the green areas in between houses on the council estate I live landscaped and accessible to children. At the moment for them to access any playing field they have to cross busy roads.

DL17 8DH Too much green space swallowed up by housing estates. There needs to be more and better quality of organisation and training for people by better quality staff. For e.g. Durham Sports Centres have not even heard of 'racket ball' whereas Yorkshire offers coaching. Aycliffe Leisure Centre needs to offer greater access to the general public to the swimming pools, and not to be restricted too much to special groups. It is not just a matter of offering more facilities but more opportunities within the facilities which are already there! Toilets appear to have vanished in the country side. the maintenance and care of conveniences would improve and encourage DL17 0NL people to use the amenities more. We have a recently renovated community centre and football field at West Cornforth they are used on a regular basis by various organisations we depend on volunteers to man the community centre but volunteers cannot always be there as and when required so therefore the facilities within the community centre are vastly underused. It would be beneficial to our community if funding could be made available for the community centre to have a full time caretaker. The community centre has facilities for all ages, Dance Hall, Gym, Snooker Room, Lounge, Committee Room, Kitchen and Bar Area, the main thing we do not have are football changing rooms which we are in the process of trying to acquire funding for. If any funds were available for a caretaker this would benefit all the residents of the village. I hope this request could be considered.

We desperately need an indoor skate / bicycle park for teenagers the nearest is Redcar. The sport is very popular and we DL17 9NX only have outdoor parks.

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3.2 Best Value Survey by Action Area Partnerships

The results of the 2006/7 Best Value User Satisfaction Surveys for parks and open spaces in each of the districts have been disaggregated to AAP level as shown below.

Significant AAP % Very/fairly satisfied Rest of County Difference and 54.4 59.1 No Chester le Street 63.8 57.8 Yes 59.0 58.5 No Crook Willington and 56.6 58.6 No Durham City 59.6 57.9 No Easington 51.9 60.9 Yes East Durham rural corridor 62.3 58.3 No Ferryhill and Chilton 54.0 58.9 No Mid Durham rural west 59.3 58.5 No 72.6 59.6 Yes 74.3 58.1 Yes Stanley 42.4 59.6 Yes Teesdale 65.6 58.4 Yes Weardale 71.0 58.5 Yes

3.3 Summary of Relevant Findings from the Open Space, Sport and Recreation Study

3.3.1 Citizens' Panel Consultation

• E-Café in Ferryhill – good youth project • Chilton by-pass (well planted, cycle access, pond etc) but could be improved further. • Not enough cycleways (). Also not enough linkages between towns. Talk to cyclists more before planning (some are not well thought through e.g. southern end of Ferryhill). Provide cycle storage/parking facilities.

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3.3.2 Questionnaire surveys

• Town Council and Pitch sports organisations surveys identified a shortage of football pitches in Ferryhill • Need to enforce planning obligation re open space and recreation e.g. Chilton still waiting for facilities promised.

3.3.3 Local Councils Focus Group

• Open space provision generally in some areas e.g. Chilton, is inadequate;

3.3.4 Young people

A consultation was undertaken through the Ferryhill (E-Café group). All the young people were provided with disposal cameras and asked to record aspects of open space/recreational/play in their areas that they found good and those that they thought were poor. Following this the groups met to look at the photographs and identify the strengths and weaknesses of provision and to suggest some possible ideas for improvement. The results of this project are summarised below:

*Some nice areas of open space – Grass, trees and shrub planting Strengths *Surtees Play Areas *King George V Playing Fields *Parts of Dean Bank Rec. (football pitches, some planting, bowls area) *Lots of open space with nothing on (bland!). Like open space but majority have No Ball Games Weaknesses and “Room for signs. Would like to see better – planting - trees/shrubs. Improvement” *Litter and dog poo *Areas near council garages badly maintained *Lack of football pitches for junior teams (Dean Bank) *Dean Bank Park needs improving – play eqpt. “old hat”, “crap”, “rubbish”.

*Better use and improve appearance of a lot of our open space Priorities *Chilton – New football fields – potential for development – planting, play eqpt, tennis, astro-turf. *Remove No Ball Games signs except in front of bungalows! *Sort out dog fouling *More bins

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3.3.5 Countryside and environment focus group

• Some rights of way deliberately blocked by landowners. County Council do respond but have limited resources. E.g. Problems of access at Ferryhill (Metal Bridge) due to friction between farmer and travellers. • Good cycle lane on the Chilton bypass. • Chilton – difficult access out of town – poor access to countryside due to lack of road crossings. Particularly difficult for groups. Need footbridge – but expensive. • Provide accessible routes along verges of minor roads re walking routes e.g. Merrington to Chilton. • Woodland at Chilton is fairly extensive but not well managed or accessible.

3.4 Summary of Relevant Findings from the Play Strategy

3.4.1 Main Conclusions

The following were general findings from the Sedgefield Play Strategy, and therefore have relevance to this Action Area/sub area:

• 71% of children and young people said that there was not enough play spaces locally. The lack of facilities and activities in for young people in general, across the whole borough has been highlighted as a widespread need. • The main reason for children/young people to visit their most used space is to provide informal opportunities to meet and play games with friends. Findings highlight the importance of providing informal open spaces for children to meet near their homes that are not necessarily designated play or sports facilities. • Age appropriate play facilities have been highlighted as an area that needs improvement. Facilities for the over 8’s have been indicated as a specific need. • The need for all facilities to be accessible and not restricted by bad design or unconsidered street furniture has been highlighted as a key issue for facilities to be inclusive. • Some existing play facilities have been identified as ‘old hat’ and boring and therefore are being underused. This has been highlighted most prominently in areas that are considered disadvantaged and rural as local children need locally accessible free play provision. • Pro active engagement and involvement of children and young people and hard to reach groups needs to increase to ensure that these groups voices are heard and to ensure that provision is developed to meet their needs.

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• The main issue highlighted by Play and Youth Organisations was the lack of facilities for teenagers such as skateboard areas and BMX sites. • 70% of town and parish councils felt that the needs of young people were not being adequately met and that new/improved play areas, sports pitches and other play/youth facilities would help.

The strategy includes a gap analysis for play spaces highlighting specific needs across five sub-areas within the borough as well as noting a number of borough-wide issues. These should be taken note of in relation to the current PPG17 assessment.

3.5 Town Council Survey findings of Relevance

3.5.1 Survey Findings

Quantity and Quality of Recreational Facilities Town Councils were asked to comment about the quantity and quality of a range of facilities and the following table highlights the issues of concern (marked with an X) (no X entered indicates no perceived problem).

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Town Council Shortageof WildlifeAreas Not Enough Not Rugby Pitches Not Enough Not Cricket Pitches Not Enough Not FootballPitches Quality Poor Playing Pitches Not Enough Not Areas Teenagers For Not Enough Not Informal OpenSpace Not Enough Not Children's Play Areas Poor Quality Poor Children's Play Areas Not Enough Not Tennis/ Netball/Mugas Poor Quality Poor Tennis/ Netball/Mugas Shortage Indoor Of Halls Suitable For Sport Not Enough Not BowlingGreens/Short-Mat Bowls Poor Quality/ Poor Inadequate ChangingFacilities Shortage Footpaths/ Of Bridleways/Cycleways

Ferryhill X X X X X X X X X

Local Issues

Specific comments received from the Ferryhill Town Council are provided below:

• We are building some new football pitches at present • No rugby pitches • Football pitches at Mainsforth and King George V (KGV) need work doing to them • Need a Muga in KGV park, Dean Bank Park and in the station area as well as somewhere in the centre of Town • Need new tennis courts and netball/basketball court at Dean Bank Park • Bowls will not exist as a sport in County Durham within 5 years if a countywide approach to its development is not grasped. We have closed two Greens in the past 3 years, we will close the last Green in Ferryhill within 5 years without development of the sport

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• King George V Park needs refurbishing, Mainsforth needs two new changing rooms and a new cricket clubhouse with two more changing rooms • Dean Bank Park needs over £150,000 worth of new play equipment, Surtees Mainsforth and KGV would all benefit from some additional play equipment as well • Could do with Skatepark in Dean Bank Park and KGV and two more youth shelters in KGV and 3 or 4 in Dean Bank Park as well as some in the Town Centre area • A circular footpath around the perimeter of the Town would be of great benefit as would some links to existing ROW so creating a footpath link to Hardwick Park • Surrounding area to Mainsforth Sports Complex should be developed into a nature reserve

3.6 Action Area Partnership Board Members Survey (main priorities identified)

• Environment, street cleaning and open spaces (56 votes) • Public transport (40 votes) • Community spirit and aspirations (34 votes) • Activities for children and young people (34 votes) • Health and lifestyle choices (28 votes) • Housing regeneration (23 votes) • Community safety (17 votes) • Education and training (16 votes) • Unemployment levels (15 votes) • Supporting the elderly (15 votes)

3.7 Main consultation findings from the Playing Pitch Study

For football the key issues highlighted through consultation were:

• refusing teams entry into their leagues due to pitch availability and quality (mainly junior teams) • latent junior demand could be a significant Borough wide characteristic • evidence of teams being turned away at some community schools because of over demand, and likewise for some local

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council pitches • lack of access to schools pitches in general • some dissatisfaction pitch and facility quality • high 'running costs' may be suppressing demand

As part of the Sedgefield Borough PPG17 study a survey of pitch sports clubs was conducted The information, together with responses received from the other surveys can be used to validate the conclusions in relation to issues contained in the 2003 report. This survey suggests some issues that are generally consistent with the outcome of the playing pitch study consultation and these include:-

• Maintenance quality and consistency across the Borough; • Pitch availability; • Training provision; • Passporting youth activity levels into other age groups; and, • Developing and maintaining a dialogue with the Clubs.

The above also have relevance to the Action Area/sub area.

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4.0 Quantity of provision

The table below shows provision against the County Durham standards for the AAP as follows: • The figures show the supply of open space in hectares. • Provision is shown as ‘sufficient’ (green) or ‘insufficient’ (red). • Figures are provided for the AAP as a whole and for each ward within the AAP. • The AAP provision does not always equate to the sum of the ward figures because some open spaces may span more than ward, so are accounted for in both wards. This is an important factor in considering overall provision of open space.

Supply of open space (hectares) Semi- Outdoor Amenity Natural Parks & Sport Open Green WARD Gardens Space Play Space Space Space Allotments FERRYHILL AND CHILTON (TOTAL) 68.982 -3.068 0.6844 4.652 33.702 24.632 Ferryhill -0.309 -4.669 -0.0238 -2.489 19.361 13.281 Broom -4.935 1.625 -0.797 1.165 19.095 2.635 Bishop Middletham and Cornforth -3.733 2.057 0.2534 0.907 19.497 0.727 Chilton 78.006 2.346 1.2612 5.906 -0.184 15.606

The existing provision of open space is shown on the map on the following page. Further maps showing provision for each ward within the AAP are available and are held in a separate appendix.

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5.0 Quality of open space The quality of open space within this AAP varies as much as it does across the whole County, and therefore the recommendations and observations made in part 1 of the study report should be referred to. A number of specific observations follow.

• There are a number of good quality parks within the area, and some may have potential as a green flag site with the implementation of a good management plan. (e.g. OSNA/7/481 and OSNA/7/252) • A number pf play areas have recently been improved and this should be rolled across the area with provision for young people considered as a priority. (e.g. OSNA/7/252). • There is a need to improve some of the outdoor sports spaces within the area. (e.g. OSNA/7/481) • There is a need to improve the quality of existing amenity space through planting and improving biodiversity (e.g. OSNA/7/29)

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Good signage and information (OSNA/7/251) Welcoming entrance (OSNA/7/252) Play space for a range of ages (OSNA/7/252)

Good quality formal provision (OSNA/7/481) Excellent access and entrance(OSNA/7/321) New play space being created (OSNA/7/319)

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6.0 Analysis of provision

A series of maps have been produced using the GIS toolkit developed as part of this study. The maps show the following information:

• A ‘typology chart’ showing the existing provision of each typology (green bar) and the required provision against the standard (red bar). All figures are in hectares. • The map shows the existing provision for each typology and access to each typology is shown as buffers. Each buffer represents the access standard in metres (see part 1 of the report).

Alongside each typology map is a brief analysis of issues related to the quantity of provision and access to facilities, along with any key recommendations.

In addition to the information outlined above, further information is held as an electronic appendix to provide further information as required. The following is available:

• A table for each AAP showing existing and required provision, this is represented in hectares and hectares per 1000 people. • A table for each AAP showing existing and required provision, this is represented in hectares and hectares per 1000 people. • A map for each ward showing a typology chart and map of existing provision.

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Allotments

1. There is a sufficient supply of allotments across the AAP and all wards. 2. Access is generally good with only a few localised deficiencies. 3. As expected, the quality of existing provision varies greatly.

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Amenity Open Space

1. Overall, there is a sufficient supply of amenity open space across the AAP, with only 1 ward falling below the standard. 2. Access to amenity open space is generally good with only few small localised deficiencies. 3. Quality varies greatly although there is a general need to improve quality.

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Parks & Gardens

1. Overall, there is sufficient provision, however, this is dominated by Windlestone Hall, which has limited public access. Therefore, fully publicly accessible provision falls below the standard. 2. Access to facilities is also poor, with few areas meeting the recommended standard. 3. There is potential for new provision for parks and gardens in this AAP.

Outdoor Sport Space

1. Overall there is an under supply of sport space across the AAP. 2. Access to sport space generally falls below the required standard. 3. Quality of provision could be improved at key sites.

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Play Space 1. Overall, there is sufficient provision of play space within the AAP. There are, however, local deficiencies within two of the wards. 2. Access to play space varies, with a few local deficiencies in Ferryhill and Chilton. 3. The quality of play areas varies greatly, with some having enjoyed recent investment, and some in need of total refurbishment or replacement. 4. The priority for play in this AAP is to improve existing provision, and it is suggested that localised shortfalls in quantity could be met through increasing the size and quality of existing facilities. 5. There may be need for new facilities where development occurs, particularly where there is an existing shortfall in quantity and access.

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Semi-natural greenspace

1. Overall, this AAP has sufficient provision. 2. Access to semi-natural greenspace is generally good. 3. The priority is to improve existing provision within this AAP.

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