Ploszajski Lynch Consulting Ltd. London Borough of Newham Playing Pitch Strategy October 2017 CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION 1 2 THE LOCAL CONTEXT 5 3 STRATEGIC INFLUENCES 10 4 ASSESSING PITCH NEEDS 16 5 FOOTBALL NEEDS 22 6 CRICKET NEEDS 82 7 RUGBY UNION NEEDS 108 8 RUGBY LEAGUE NEEDS 126 9 HOCKEY NEEDS 142 APPENDIX A: FUTURE PITCH NEEDS BASED ON GROWTH SCENARIOS 153 FIGURES Figure 1: Map of Community Neighbourhoods and Wards in Newham 3 Figure 2: Map of adult grass football pitches in Newham 48 Figure 3: Map of Youth 11v11 grass football pitches in Newham 49 Figure 4: Map of Youth 9v9 grass football pitches in Newham 50 Figure 5: Map of Mini-soccer 7v7 grass football pitches in Newham 51 Figure 6: Map of Mini-soccer 5v5 grass football pitches in Newham 52 Figure 7: Map of ‘3G’ pitches and other artificial pitches used for football in Newham 53 Figure 8: Map of informal grass football pitches in Newham 54 Figure 9: Map of MUGAs and hard courts used for football in Newham 55 Figure 10: Map of grass cricket wickets in Newham 95 Figure 11: Map of artificial turf wickets and practice nets in Newham 96 Figure 12: Map of grass rugby union pitches in Newham 115 Figure 13: Map of grass rugby league pitches in Newham 132 Figure 14: Map of small-sided artificial grass pitches in Newham 149 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Introduction Ploszajski Lynch Consulting Ltd. was commissioned by the London Borough of Newham (LBN) to produce a Playing Pitch Strategy, to help inform the current and future priorities for provision in the borough and to plan for future needs arising from an increasing population to 2032. 1.2 Strategic drivers The strategy has been initiated by LBN in response to the following specific drivers: • The value of outdoor sport and recreation to the delivery (with partners) of LBN's corporate priorities including economic regeneration, improving public health, educational attainment and community cohesion. • The need for an evidence base of playing pitch community infrastructure priority needs to inform Newham’s Local Plan. • The benefit of demonstrating playing pitch needs, an evidence base and a strategy in order to identify priority projects for the enhancement of existing provision or new provision. This will inform LBN's own capital programme and approaches by LBN and its partner playing pitch providers (e.g. schools, sports clubs and associations) to seeking external funding through developer contributions and/or external grants. • The ongoing development of the sporting legacy achieved in Newham as a host borough for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, both for formal forms of play (through clubs and leagues) and less formal forms of pitch sports playing in parks, schools and other community spaces. 1.3 The aim and objective of the strategy 1.3.1 Aim The aim of the Strategy is to help ensure that Newham is ‘a place where healthy lifestyles are promoted, health inequalities are reduced, and healthier neighbourhoods are created via a suitable range of social infrastructure facilities that meet need across the borough’. 1.3.2 Objective The key objective of the Strategy is to encourage more people in Newham to get more active more often, though engagement with the playing pitch sports within the scope of the strategy as part of the wider leisure ‘offer’ in the borough. 1.4 The scope of the strategy 1.4.1 The sports The sports included in the Strategy are: Ploszajski Lynch Consulting Ltd. 1 London Borough of Newham Playing Pitch Strategy • Football. • Cricket. • Rugby Union. • Rugby League. • Hockey. 1.4.2 The types of activity Within these sports, the strategy will seek as far as is practicable to include consideration of all forms of play whether: • Club and league based (formal) play and training (including indoor and outdoor nets for cricket). • Less formal programmed forms of the respective sports (e.g. turn up and play versions such as Last Man Stands, Cage Cricket and Tag Rugby). • Unprogrammed play by groups of residents, workers and students, 1.4.3 Sub-area analysis To assess the geographical spread of pitches, provision will be mapped in the following Community Neighbourhoods in Newham, along with their constituent wards. These are as follows, with the population figures drawn from the 2011 Census: Community Neighbourhoods Wards Population Beckton and Royal Docks Beckton 25,838 Royal Docks Canning Town and Custom Canning Town North 45,137 House Canning Town South Custom House East Ham East Ham Central 38,640 East Ham North East Ham South Wall End Forest Gate Forest Gate North 29,550 Forest Gate South Green Street Boleyn 39,022 Green Street East Green Street West Manor Park Little Ilford 37,959 Manor Park Plaistow Plaistow North 25,771 Plaistow South Stratford and West Ham Stratford and New Town 37,883 West Ham Ploszajski Lynch Consulting Ltd. 2 London Borough of Newham Playing Pitch Strategy A map of the sub-areas is below: Figure 1: Map of Community Neighbourhoods and Wards in Newham Ploszajski Lynch Consulting Ltd. 3 London Borough of Newham Playing Pitch Strategy 1.5 The study methodology The methodology for the study follows the ’Playing Pitch Strategy Guidance’ (2013) approach to playing pitch assessments, developed by Sport England. The process involves five stages and ten steps as follows: • Stage A - Prepare and tailor the approach (Step 1). • Stage B - Gather information on the supply of and demand for provision (Steps 2 and 3). • Stage C - Assess the supply and demand information and views (Steps 4, 5 and 6). • Stage D - Develop the strategy (Steps 7 and 8). • Stage E - Deliver the strategy and keep it robust and up-to-date (Steps 9 and 10). 1.6 Strategy format The structure of the Strategy document is as follows: • The local context. • Strategic influences. • Assessing playing pitch needs in Newham. • Football needs. • Cricket needs. • Rugby needs. • Hockey needs. Ploszajski Lynch Consulting Ltd. 4 London Borough of Newham Playing Pitch Strategy 2 THE LOCAL CONTEXT Key findings • More than 332,000 people were estimated to be living in Newham in 2016. • The population is relatively young, ethnically diverse and transient - 19.5% of residents either enter or leave the borough in a typical year. • The best estimate of population growth projects a population of more than 397,000 people in Newham by 2032 - a 19.5% increase. • Only 13.1% of the borough is open space, compared with 39% for Greater London as a whole - space for pitches is therefore at a premium. • Sports participation rates in Newham are low - only 27% of adults are physically active. • Involvement with formal sports clubs is limited - most Newham residents who play sport want to do so more informally and on their own terms. 2.1 Introduction This section identifies the context within which playing pitch provision is made in Newham. 2.2 Background The London Borough of Newham is located in east London north of the River Thames, five miles east of the City of London. It was one of the six host boroughs for the London 2012 Olympic Games and most of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park falls within the borough boundary. 2.3 Population The key population statistics are as follows: 2.3.1 Current population The Greater London Authority (GLA) produces trend-based population projections for each ward and borough, using a long-term (10 year) migration scenario. Its ‘2015 Round Data Projections’ (2015) estimate that the population of Newham was 332,321 in 2016. 2.3.2 Age structure Newham has a relatively youthful age structure. The ONS ‘Mid-year Population Estimates 2015’ (2016) identify that the average age of borough residents is 30.8 years, compared with the London average of 34.0 years. 24.5% of the Newham population is aged 17 years or less, compared with the London figure of 22.1%. 2.3.3 Gender The ONS ‘Mid-year Population Estimates 2015’ (2016) identify that 52.3% of the Newham population is male and 47.7% is female, compared with 50.5% and 49.5% respectively in London as a whole. Ploszajski Lynch Consulting Ltd. 5 London Borough of Newham Playing Pitch Strategy 2.3.4 Population turnover Newham has a very mobile population. The Council’s ‘Local Economic Assessment 2010 - 2027’ (2010) identified that according to the most recent data 19.5% of residents either entered or left the borough in a typical year. 2.3.5 Ethnicity Newham’s population is one of the most ethnically diverse in London. The GLA ‘Mid-2016 Ethnic Data Projections’ (2016) indicate that 46.1% of the resident population is Asian/Asian British (compared with 18.5% in London as a whole), 26.8% is White (59.8% in London), 18.3% are Black/Black British (13.3% in London) and 4.8% are from mixed/multiple/other ethnic groups (8.4% in London). 2.3.6 Population density The Borough is very densely populated, with 9,245 people per square kilometre, compared with 1,510 people per square kilometre in London as a whole. It ranks as the eleventh most densely populated local authority in England. 2.3.7 Population growth The ‘Newham Strategic Housing Market Assessment’ (2016) (SHMA), a key evidence base document of the Local Plan, identifies population and household projections as the basis for undertaking an Objective Assessment of Need to identify the quantity of housing needed (both market and affordable) in the Housing Market Area. The GLA long-term trend migration scenario is used as the basis for the SHMA central estimates. Given this existing key evidence base document, the Playing Pitch Strategy follows this approach and adopts the same assumptions for population growth.