Blaby District Council Open Space Audit
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Ploszajski Lynch Consulting Ltd. Blaby District Council Open Space Audit December 2015 CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1 1 INTRODUCTION 17 2 THE BLABY CONTEXT 21 3 LOCAL STRATEGIC INFLUENCES 26 4 WIDER STRATEGIC INFLUENCES 37 5 DEMAND FOR OPEN SPACE IN BLABY 42 6 OPEN SPACE SUPPLY IN BLABY 64 7 THE SUPPLY-DEMAND BALANCE 126 8 PLANNING POLICY CONSIDERATIONS 156 9 ACTION PLAN 160 APPENDIX I PARISH MAPS 168 APPENDIX II QUALITATIVE AUDIT METHODOLOGY 191 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The aims of the assessment 1) The aims of the assessment are to: To review the standards set out in BDC’s Core Strategy Policy CS15 for the open space sport and recreation facilities requirements of local communities, covering quantity, quality and access. To audit the district’s open space sport and recreation facilities, including an assessment of the current quality of provision. To use the local standards of provision to evaluate the quantity, quality and accessibility of provision in the district, including the identification of surpluses or deficiencies. To undertake a districtwide and parish-specific assessment, including the identification of surpluses or deficiencies in provision at both levels. To map all forms of provision at parish levels using Geographic Information System (GIS) maps, to show catchments based upon the adopted accessibility standards. To identify the costs of provision of different types and scales of provision based on previous local projects. To produce a calculator tool to establish what developer contributions for open space should be made on a site-specific basis, for the purposes of development management and the Section 106 contributions that will be made for individual planning applications. What the assessment covers 2) The assessment covers the following types of publicly accessible open space: Parks and gardens. Natural greenspace. Accessible open space. Play provision for children and young people. Allotments. Churchyards and cemeteries. Grass pitches (football, cricket and rugby). Synthetic turf pitches. Bowls greens. Tennis courts. Golf courses. Village and community halls. About Blaby district 3) Population - Based on the 2011 Census, Blaby district has a population of 93,900 (ONS, 2012). Whilst the age structure is relatively similar to national norms, the slightly older than average age profile suggests that demand for less vigorous forms of sport and physical activity are likely to be proportionately higher. Ploszajski Lynch Consulting Ltd. 1 Blaby District Council Open Space Audit 4) Ethnicity - Black and minority ethnic groups comprise 11.5% of the local population, well below the national average. The relatively high proportion of people of south Asian heritage, with their traditional affinity with cricket, may have a specific impact on demand for this sport. 5) Growth - The Office for National Statistics projections Blaby forecast that the population of the district will increase by 9.7% by 2029, which will create additional demand for open space. However, significant changes towards a more elderly age profile will alter demand patterns. 6) Health - Local health indices that are close to the national norms locally underline the importance of ensuring access to open spaces, as part of a wider strategy to ensure that the local population remains physically active and increases its participation. 7) Deprivation - Deprivation indices for the district are relatively low. Since deprivation is associated with lower rates of sport and physical activity, local demand is likely to be relatively high. Meeting local and wider priorities 8) The Blaby Plan 2015-2018 (2015) - The Blaby Plan includes a strong high-level policy commitment to ‘improve access and use of sports, recreation and open space facilities’. 9) Core Strategy (2013) - The Local Plan Core Strategy contains positive policies on the provision and retention of open space. 10) Green Spaces Strategy (2012) - The Strategy for Blaby District provides a valuable steer on the management of open spaces and identifies nine strategically important sites. 11) Open Space, Sport and Recreation (PPG17) Study (2009) - The study provides a useful preliminary assessment of the adequacy of open space provision in the district, based upon adopted local standards. 12) Neighbouring areas - Open space assessments in the six neighbouring local authorities, show that there are some significant shortfalls in adjoining areas which might cause demand to migrate to Blaby district. Equally, for types of open space and sports provision that is deficient in Blaby, demand is likely to be exported to neighbouring areas. 13) National Planning Policy Framework (2012) - Government policy on open spaces is contained in the National Planning Policy Framework, which makes clear the importance of protecting and enhancing open space through evidence-based assessments of local need to inform the statutory planning process. 14) Green Infrastructure and Biodiversity - National policy in ‘Planning Practice Guidance’ (2014) underlines the significance of linkage between open spaces, both within the district and in relation to sub-regional networks. 15) Sport - Sport England’s target to increase participation rates year-on-year will drive up demand for pitches and outdoor sports facilities if it is achieved. Ploszajski Lynch Consulting Ltd. 2 Blaby District Council Open Space Audit Local demand 16) Demand for open space - Surveys for the ‘Blaby Green Space Strategy’ (2012) identified that the informal open spaces in Blaby district are the most frequently used types of provision. 17) Views on provision - The quality of the provision and management of parks and open spaces in Blaby district is rated very highly in a 2013 local residents’ survey, although conversely, they are given a relatively low rating in terms of their priority in relation to other public services delivered by BDC. 18) Rates of physical activity - Local rates of participation in sport and physical activity recorded by the ‘Active People’ survey (2015) are well above the regional and national averages. 19) Local variations - There are some quite significant local geographical variations in participation rates. Whetstone, Narborough and Braunstone have high participation rates, whereas Blaby, Glen Parva and Enderby are below the national average. 20) Sport-specific demand - Sport-specific demand is as follows: Football - Local participation rates for youth football and mini-soccer are particularly high. 233 teams draw their membership from within the district. Cricket - 85 cricket teams draw their membership from within the district. Rugby Union - 40 rugby teams play in the district, mostly concentrated in the urban areas. There is limited scope for expansion at several clubs at present because of limited pitch capacity. Hockey - There are no hockey clubs in the district, but local needs are met by five clubs located nearby in the City of Leicester. Bowls - Seven clubs play in the district, the majority of which have experienced declining membership in recent years. Tennis - Four clubs are based in the district and there are also opportunities for casual play on parks courts. Golf - Five clubs are based in the district. All have spare capacity and allow ‘pay-and-play’ usage of their courses. 21) Parish and town councils - The majority of parish and town councils believe that existing open space provision is adequate to meet local demand, although a shortage of allotments was identified in several areas. 22) Schools demand - On-site open space and outdoor sports provision does not meet the needs of 80% of schools respondents, although none makes significant use of off-site provision to compensate for this. There is a strong local community use ethos amongst schools, which is reflected in extensive use of their facilities by community users and a willingness to extend this where demand arises. Local supply 23) Park and gardens - There are seven parks and gardens in the district, totalling 16.80ha, primarily in the more built-up parts of the district. However, there is no provision in several of the larger parishes, including Enderby, Glen Parva and Leicester Forest East. The quality of provision is generally good. Given the limited number of sites, accessibility within the locally identified 16 minute driving time catchment from the ‘Blaby Green Space Strategy’ (2012) embraces only around half of the district population. Ploszajski Lynch Consulting Ltd. 3 Blaby District Council Open Space Audit 24) Natural greenspace - There are 41 natural greenspace sites, totalling 243.89ha, or 2.60ha per 1,000 residents. There are sites in all but two parishes, although per capita levels of provision are generally better in the more rural parishes. The quality of around one in five sites is rated as below ‘average’. Given the widespread distribution of sites, accessibility within the locally identified 25 minute driving time catchment from the ‘Blaby Green Space Strategy’ (2012) includes the entire district population. 25) Informal open space - There are 198 informal open space sites, totalling 92.22ha, or 0.99ha per 1,000 residents. There are sites in all but one parish, although per capita levels of provision vary widely. The quality of provision is variable, although only 15.5% of the larger sites assessed (0.2ha or more) were rated as below ‘average’ quality. Many of the smaller sites offer little more than visual amenity, although some serve an important role providing links between other key sites in the wider green infrastructure network. Given the