STOKE-ON-TRENT SPORT AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY STRATEGY 2009-2016 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY October 2009 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ......................................................................................................... 1 Key findings from community consultation .......................................................... 4 The targets to 2016, and priorities to 2012 .......................................................... 6 Strategy policies and priorities ............................................................................ 7 City-wide Proposals .......................................................................................... 15 People ............................................................................................................... 15 Places ............................................................................................................... 17 Facilities with city wide importance ................................................................... 17 School sites ....................................................................................................... 21 Facilities – local importance .............................................................................. 23 Neighbourhood Area Proposals ........................................................................ 24 Eastern .............................................................................................................. 24 Northern ............................................................................................................ 26 South Eastern ................................................................................................... 29 South Western .................................................................................................. 31 Western ............................................................................................................. 34 Next Steps ........................................................................................................ 36 Glossary ............................................................................................................ 37 Stoke-on-Trent Sport and Physical Activity Strategy Introduction 1. The Sport and Physical Activity Strategy 2009-2016 sets the direction for sport and physical activity in Stoke-on-Trent. It is not only a Strategy for Stoke-on-Trent City Council, but for all of the many partners involved with sport and physical activity, such as NHS Stoke-on-Trent (Primary Care Trust), Staffordshire University, National Governing Bodies for Sport, Stoke City and Port Vale Football Clubs, Sport England, local sports clubs and community organisations. In addition it has relevance to major funding agencies such as Advantage West Midlands. 2. There is now a clear vision for making Stoke-on-Trent into a ‘City of Sport’. This increased focus on sport will help to improve the day to day lives of people living and working in Stoke-on-Trent, by encouraging and enabling everyone to become more physically active and enjoy the associated benefits. The Sport and Physical Activity Strategy will play an extremely important part in delivering this vision and sets out the actions necessary over the next few years to turn this into reality. 3. The main driving force behind the Strategy is a clear and justified need to get the City’s population more active in order to improve health and life expectancy. There is an evidence based link between physical activity levels and health. Currently Stoke-on-Trent has one of the lowest rates of physical activity in the UK and some of the poorest health statistics. The City Council and its partners have committed themselves to a target of: 30% of people active by 2012, and within this a 1% increase in sport and active recreation each year. 4. However, to focus only upon the lower levels of activity would potentially miss the very important ‘high level’ sports opportunities which a City such as Stoke- on-Trent strives to achieve. The mass participation work in sport and activity needs to be balanced with the ‘top end’, the Performance and Excellence strand, with the City supporting those with talent to excel. 5. Sports events encourage and excite people, and there is a real opportunity for Stoke-on-Trent to raise its profile through hosting national sports events such as the Tour of Britain, an international class cycle race. There are also a fast growing number of high level events taking place at some of the larger sports facilities in the City, such as Fenton Manor. More local and regional events are however just as important, providing a goal and purpose to many people’s regular activity. Nortoft Partnerships Ltd Stoke-on-Trent Page | 1 Sport & Physical Activity Strategy 2009 – 2016 October 2009 6. The 2012 Olympics will provide a unique incentive for everyone to become more active. The Strategy will help to make sure that the opportunities are capitalised upon, and that the legacy of the Games is a more pervasive culture of activity, in sport and as part of a generally more active lifestyle. The implications of Fenton Manor potentially hosting an Olympic team as a pre- Games training camp are currently being evaluated. 7. The economic importance of the sports sector should not be underestimated. This is a growth sector in the economy with an increasing number of sports related jobs, training and education. Current programmes include Sports Apprenticeships, the Future Jobs Fund, and Jobs Enterprise Training. A “sports curriculum centre” may be developed as part of the university quarter. At the same time, investment in sports facilities can kick-start regeneration, a good example being the Trentham Fields area, where the Britannia Stadium, the new home for Longton RUFC, and commercial five-a-side football brought new vitality to the area and subsequent major investment through other development. 8. Integrating sport and physical activity into statutory planning policies and proposals is important not only to protect existing facilities such as playing fields, but also to attract investment and deliver new opportunities. For example the location of major new sports facilities needs to be taken into account in Area Action Plans and site specific Development Plan Documents, along with the provision of cycle routes, walking routes and green spaces. As the proposals arising from the Strategy are developed it will be important to ensure that they are fully linked into the wider planning and regeneration programmes, including those led by the North Staffordshire Regeneration Partnership. 9. The provision of sport and physical activity opportunities, particularly for young people, is important in helping to reduce crime and the fear of crime. Staffordshire Police have been involved with a number of programmes across the City, and recent crime statistics have demonstrated the impact of these programmes; a real fall in rates where schemes are in place. The Strategy builds on this success. 10. At this stage of the economic cycle, it is important to ensure that all of the available resources are carefully targeted and tailored to meet the needs of the whole community. There are some significant one-off opportunities arising from the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme and from regeneration initiatives across Stoke-on-Trent. However, it is clear that resources are limited, both the initial capital investment and the long term revenue commitment, and must be fully justified. 11. The Sport and Physical Activity Strategy does not attempt to address the curriculum or extended school needs in relation to the BSF programme. Instead, it considers what is potentially required to support wider community use in terms of both participation and the pathways to excellence. The BSF Nortoft Partnerships Ltd Stoke-on-Trent Page | 2 Sport & Physical Activity Strategy 2009 – 2016 October 2009 programme needs to meet schools’ requirements in relation to the facilities provided, but the facilities for wider community use may need to be supported by other sources of funding. 12. The proposals arising from the Strategy are likely to be funded and supported by a range of partners. For example, NHS Stoke on Trent is already supporting the Energise Plus scheme, and new facility provision might be via a mix of public and private sources. There are likely to be an increasing number of innovative partnership arrangements over the next few years both in relation to capital and revenue projects, and the City Council will be actively exploring these to enable the delivery of the Strategy’s proposals. This includes the development / re-provision of future services where required, and may involve consideration of new ways of working such as partnerships with the private sector or the formation of a Leisure Trust. 13. The Strategy also takes account of cross-border influences and opportunities. For example, the proposal in Newcastle to develop a new large swimming pool in the town centre, which will draw some of its users from Stoke-on- Trent. Conversely, the athletics track provides a high level training and competition facility for athletes both living in the City and living elsewhere in the sub-region. The Sport Across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent (SASSOT) partnership has completed a sub-regional facilities framework, and its findings have guided the facility network proposed in this Strategy. SASSOT also coordinates sub-regional sports development programmes, particularly connected with training