[ [ Sheffield City Council Playing Pitch Strategy Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1 1.INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND 5 2.METHODOLOGY 12 3.AUDIT OVERVIEW 20 4.ASSESSMENT AND ANALYSIS SUMMARY 25 5.CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 49 Sheffield City Council Playing Pitch Strategy Appendices 1 STUDY CONSULTEES 2 STRATEGY CONTEXT 3 METHODOLOGY IN DETAIL 4 SUPPLY AUDIT TABLE 5 DEMAND AUDIT TABLE 6 PLAYING PITCH MODEL 7 QUALITY / VALUE MATRIX 8 GIS MAPS 9 SPORT ENGLAND ARTIFICIAL GRASS PITCH (AGP) ANALYSIS Sheffield City Council Playing Pitch Strategy Maps Map 1 All sites by ownership Map 2 All sites by pitch type Map 3 Football Pitch Sites by community use Map 4 Cricket Pitch Sites by community use Map 5 Rugby Pitch Sites by community use Map 6 Artificial Grass Pitches by community use Map 7 Football Pitch Sites by Pitch Quality Score Map 8 Cricket Pitch Sites by Pitch Quality Score Map 9 Rugby Pitch Sites by Pitch Quality Score Map 10 All Full-Size Artificial Grass Pitches by Pitch Quality Score Sheffield City Council Playing Pitch Strategy Executive Summary Scope and Purpose of the Playing Pitch Strategy Strategic Leisure, part of the Scott Wilson Group, was commissioned by Sheffield City Council (SCC) in March 2011 to update the existing City Playing Pitch Strategy. This is out of date, in relation to both the underpinning supply and demand assessment, and the more detailed area analysis which was based on the areas covered by the Council’s 12 Area Panels. The updated strategy takes account of key changes to supply and demand overall with refreshed local area assessments using the parameters of the 7 Community Assembly Areas. The strategy provides high level policy guidance in relation to the future provision and delivery of playing pitch provision, as well as more detailed analysis of what is needed, where and why. Key recommendations are made, principally for the next 5 years, but with some consideration to likely changes to supply and demand up to 2021. The strategy covers a number of key pitch sports: Football Cricket Rugby League Rugby Union Hockey Some updated commentary has also been provided in relation to Rounders and Lacrosse, both included in the previous assessment and strategy. Other outdoor provision for physical activity, such as multi-use games areas, cycle paths and play provision are included within a range of other strategic plans including the PPG17 Assessment. Methodology for assessing playing pitch facilities The strategy has been built on an assessment of pitches using the guidance detailed in Toward a Level Playing Field (Sport England and CCPR). This approach is based on an audit and assessment of the demand for, and supply of facilities. It uses a prescribed eight stage research method with a focus on formal teams as the ‘unit’ of demand (as opposed to general population) and formal facilities, focussing on those accessible for community use. Assessments have included quantity (are there enough facilities?) and quality (are facilities of an appropriate standard?) and have included local area assessments for each of the 7 Community Assembly Areas (Central, East, North East, North, South, South East, South West). A streamlined approach has been adopted, to take stock of resources available to deliver a strategy within a shorter timescale. The assessment has therefore drawn from existing secondary data held by National Governing Bodies of Sport (NGBs) rather than be informed by specific primary research. For example, rather than a programme of questionnaires to sports clubs, demand data has been based on NGBs own records. Additionally supply information particularly that relating to quality has been based on visual assessments of a sample of sites rather than a full programme of site visits. Data from the National Facilities Audit and Facilities Planning Model has been used to identify demand and supply for Artificial Grass Pitches (AGPs) throughout Sheffield. 1 Sheffield City Council Playing Pitch Strategy Key Findings – sport by sport Football There are 246 local football clubs generating 843 teams across the City. These teams play in a number of different leagues predominantly across the weekend. A total of 501 football pitches have been identified. Of these, 421 (around 84%) are judged to have secured community use. In addition there are 14 AGPs available for football and used for a combination of commercial league and training purposes. Of these, 5 AGPs have a rubber crumb (3G) surface, the preferred surface for football, and 9 are sand-based. Usage of AGPs to support football has increased since 2005, to the extent that all AGPs are at 100% capacity and there is a particularly high rate of unmet demand (40%). The assessment reveals there are some deficiencies in quantity and quality (to varying levels) in a number of areas within the City. Quantity deficiencies are most significant in the South and Central areas. In these areas there is a deficiency in provision across Mini Soccer and Youth football pitches. The most significant deficiencies when modelling potential future growth are recorded in the East, South East, South and Central area. There is projected to be a ‘net’ shortage (i.e. even after potential re- designation). In relation to quality there are significant deficiencies in quality across the City. Overall half of football pitches were rated as ‘average’, ‘below average’ or ‘poor’. There is also a significant quality variance across the 7 areas assessed – whereas nearly two thirds of all pitches in the East area were rated positively, only 1 in 8 pitches in the Central area were rated as ‘good’ or ‘excellent’. In terms of estimating all demand (including non-community use) against available supply, indications are that available pitches need to accommodate between 1 and 2 games per week (1.7 on average) in most areas to service demand. In most cases this is achievable on the basis of enough pitches being of an appropriate quality. However, there is a potential mismatch of demand against available supply in the Central area. In this area it is estimated that each pitch available would need to accommodate nearly 4 games per week to meet the levels of demand recorded. This is clearly not sustainable. Cricket There are 39 local cricket clubs generating 179 teams in total. These teams play in various different leagues all through the week and weekend. A total of 53 cricket pitches have been identified and are judged to have regular community use. These are predominantly in private (club) ownership. There are currently no deficiencies, in theory, in cricket provision across the City. However the figures do include some school sites that have community use and are currently not used for community cricket. There are though areas of the city where demand is nearing or exceeding capacity. Provision is only just sufficient to meet demand in the North East, South East and South community assembly areas. In some cases facilities are currently sufficient despite demand being spread across a number of days/times. Projections for the future show that across the City there will be a sufficient supply of pitches, however there is a theoretical deficiency in the South and only sufficient supply in the North East, South East and South West. Consultation with the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and Yorkshire Cricket Board (YCB) confirms localised areas of high demand for cricket in Sheffield. Areas such as Pitsmoor and Brungreave in the North East Area have a number of unaffiliated teams and leagues where unmet demand has been identified. Throughout the City junior cricket is very popular and the YCB reported that clubs are struggling to accommodate all junior matches during the week. Overall there are deficiencies in the quality of facilities. On average, across the City only 69% of pitches were rated as ‘good’ or ‘excellent’. The areas rated the lowest for quality are the South East and South West. The North East and East assembly areas have the best rating for cricket pitch quality. More detailed analysis is required to get a improved understanding of the quality of cricket sites and to underpin investment programmes. 2 Sheffield City Council Playing Pitch Strategy The YCB and ECB wish to continue their partnership with Sheffield City Council to address particular areas where playing pitches and ancillary facilities could be improved and where new facilities could enhance the cricket offering, particularly in relation to public facilities where an increase in adult participation in cricket could be serviced. Rugby Union There are 11 local rugby union clubs (including some University based teams) generating 62 teams in total in the city. This represents some growth since the development of the previous strategy. These teams play in various different leagues over a Saturday afternoon (adult men) and Sunday morning (junior rugby). There are 27 rugby union pitches in the city available for secured community use, or in use by the teams identified. Not all are sited in appropriate locations for the local clubs to access. Rugby Union teams currently have the use of one full sized AGP for training purposes and a further small sized AGP is planned within the coming year. The analysis indicates that including additional demand generated by school use, pitch provision is on the whole sufficient to cater for demand. There are 27 pitches catering for around 39 games per week. This equates to around 1.4 games per pitch per week. However, the capacity of pitches is critical in some areas to meeting this. It is apparent from applying the Playing Pitch Model that this sufficiency varies from area to area. The model, when applied to peak times for community use indicates: Only a modest surplus of pitches in the South East (surplus of 1 pitch) A small deficiency in pitches in the Central area (2 games on average per week at weekends, but no publicly accessible pitches within this area).