Section I - Introduction
Draft Hyndburn Sport and Leisure Facilities Strategy
Ben Caulfield, Health and Leisure Officer Section I - Introduction
Foreword from Councillor Ciaran Wells, Portfolio Holder for Leisure………………………………………………………………
To be inserted Section I - Introduction
Contents 1. Why a facilities strategy ...... 4
2. Aims and objectives ...... 4
3. Scope ...... 5
4. Hyndburn background ...... 6
5. Facilities Assessment ...... 8
6. Facility Overview ...... 8
7. Facilities Quantity (Supply) ...... 10
8. Quality of facilities ...... 11
9. Distribution of facilities ...... 16
10. Difference between urban and rural areas...... 18
11. Accessibility of Facilities ...... 19
12. Travel Time to Facilities ...... 21
13. Demand ...... 27
14. Summary of supply and demand by facility type ...... 29
15. National Governing Bodies’ Facilities Strategies and consultation with NGB’s ...... 35
16. Local Organisation Priorities ...... 41
17. Gaps in facility provision ...... 43
18. Opportunities ...... 44
19. Priority Options ...... 44
20. Recommendation Options ...... 45
Section I - Introduction
1. Why a facilities strategy 1.1 In 2012, Hyndburn Borough Council recognised the evolving nature of sport and leisure facility provision in the Borough and therefore set out to bring all local facility providers to the table in order to develop a strategic approach to sport and leisure facility provision in Hyndburn. The First “Hyndburn Sport and Leisure Summit” was held in March 2012, with providers from local authorities, schools and the private sector invited.
1.2 A general consensus was that a lack of a joined up approach to facilities was a major issue in the Borough, particularly in times when capital spending has seen significant reductions. The benefits of working closely with partners were clear. Therefore, the importance of the development of a facilities strategy emerged as the number one priority from the Summit. Hyndburn Borough Council agreed to take on the production of this strategy.
1.3 A key commitment in Hyndburn Borough Council’s Corporate Strategy 2008-18 is to promote and encourage healthy/active lifestyles. In order to fulfil this, it is important that residents have access to a range of sports and physical activities through sufficient levels of quality facilities. Equally important is that these facilities are located to meet need and are accessible to members of the public.
1.4 This document is the first cross organisational facilities strategy produced in Hyndburn and has been adopted by the following:
Hyndburn Borough Council St Christopher’s High School Hyndburn Leisure Rhyddings High School Lancashire Sport The Hollins High School and Technology College Accrington Academy Accrington and Rossendale College Accrington Stanley FC New Era Trust Norden High School and Sports Lancashire County Council College
1.5 The remit of this strategy extends to built sport and leisure venues, the majority of which are indoor facilities. This strategy does not cover grass pitches or bowling greens (although these may be referred to at points in this strategy). This strategy will sit alongside the “Playing Pitch Assessment and Strategy 2011-16” which is referred to within the content of the strategy on several occasions. However, this strategy avoids any duplication of the work carried out by the above mentioned document.
2. Aims and objectives 2.1 The key aim of the Sport and Leisure Facilities Strategy is to improve the overall supply, quality and accessibility of sport and leisure facilities in Hyndburn to meet the needs of our residents and beyond. The strategy will support the drive to improve participation levels and Section I - Introduction
improve satisfaction levels as measured by the Active People Survey, and help Hyndburn Borough Council and other partners achieve their own corporate aims.
2.2 This strategy will provide a framework which supports decisions about the future development of sport and leisure facilities in Hyndburn. The strategy has assessed the quantity and quality of the current provision of sport and leisure facilities and examined the current and projected demand. The comprehensive evidence gathered in the production of this strategy has led to a set of informed recommendations to help achieve the overall aim.
3. Scope 3.1 The Sport and Leisure Facilities Strategy focuses on facilities which significantly contribute to community provision. The main focus is that of indoor facilities, however, there will be some inclusion of outdoor facilities.
3.2 The following facility types are included in the strategy:
Leisure centres Sports halls Swimming pools Public sector health and fitness suites Private sector health and fitness suites Artificial pitches Athletics tracks Indoor tennis courts Golf courses/Driving ranges 3.3 Other facility types will be mentioned where appropriate.
3.4 The following facility types are not included in the strategy:
• Grass pitches (Football, cricket, rugby, hockey) • Bowling greens • “Local” gyms/clubs • Multi-Use Games Areas
3.5 These facility types may be referred to at relevant points of the strategy.
3.6 A comprehensive strategy covering outdoor facilities (mainly grass pitches) is available. Hyndburn Borough Council’s Playing Pitch Strategy and Assessment 2011-16 can be viewed at http://www.hyndburnbc.gov.uk/site/scripts/download_info.php?downloadID=1048
3.7 The focus of the strategy is on facilities which fall within the Hyndburn boundary, however, some facilities outside of this boundary will be considered where they may provide for residents of Hyndburn.
Section I - Introduction
4. Hyndburn background 4.1 This section of the strategy will identify key information and demographic profiles which may influence or be influenced by the provision of sport and leisure facilities in the Borough. This information may also influence demand for facilities.
4.2 Hyndburn is a lower tier local authority, comprising of urban and rural areas, located in the middle of Pennine Lancashire. The Borough covers approximately 28 square miles and is made up of 16 wards. These 16 wards can be further broken down into 53 Lower Super Output Areas.
4.3 The population of Hyndburn is 81,1001, 50.7% of whom are female and 49.3% male. The population is expected to grow to 81,500 by 20182. 9.2% of the population are from BME groups, the majority of which are from South Asian backgrounds and are more densely populated around Central, Church and Springhill wards. A diverse population may affect the demand for specific types of facilities.
4.5 The age profile of a location can significantly affect the need for sports and leisure facilities. Hyndburn has a mixed profile, a breakdown of which can be seen in table 1:
Table 1: Population by age group
% of Age Group Population Population 0-4 5552 6.8% 5-9 5037 6.2% 10-14 5583 6.9% 15-19 5791 7.1% 20-24 5048 6.2% 25-29 4706 5.8% 30-34 4460 5.5% 35-39 5507 6.8% 40-44 6112 7.5% 45-49 5797 7.1% 50-54 5097 6.3% 55-59 4852 6.0% 60-64 4873 6.0% 65-69 3682 4.5% 70-74 3157 3.9% 75-79 2364 2.9% 80-84 1791 2.2% 85+ 1702 2.1%
4.6 The population by age for Hyndburn peaks at ages 40-44 and is also high in aged 15-19 and 45-49.
4.7 Hyndburn (3.4%) has a similar level of people claiming Job Seeker’s Allowance, to the national average (3.5%). However, Hyndburn (10%) has a significantly higher rate of
1 ONS mid-year population estimates (2009) 2 ONS (2008) Section I - Introduction
Incapacity Benefit and ESA claimants than the average (6.7%), with Central (17.5%), Springhill (16%) and Barnfield (16.6%) wards having the highest rates in the Borough3. This information may indicate a need for a high level of disabled access to facilities.
4.8 Hyndburn’s 2010 IMD4 rank (of average score) is 34 (out of 326) which is a deterioration of 6 places since the 2007 IMD. Out of all Hyndburn wards, only Baxenden and Overton do not have at least 1 LSOA in the most deprived 20%. Central, Church, Peel and Springhill have at least 1 LSOA in the most deprived 10%, whilst Central and Barnfield have 1 LSOA each in the most 1% deprived in the Country. Evidence shows that provision of quality sport and leisure facilities can help improve levels of deprivation.
4.9 The health of people in Hyndburn is generally worse than the England average. Deprivation is higher than average and about 4,400 children live in poverty. Life expectancy for both men and women is lower than the England average. Life expectancy is 11.3 years lower for men and 9.0 years lower for women in the most deprived areas of Hyndburn than in the least deprived areas. Over the last 10 years, all-cause mortality rates have fallen. The early death rate from heart disease and stroke has fallen but is worse than the England average. About 18.7% of Year 6 children are classified as obese. Levels of teenage pregnancy, GCSE attainment, breast feeding initiation, smoking in pregnancy, and alcohol-specific hospital stays among those under 18, are all worse than the England average. An estimated 22.8% of adults smoke and 25.1% are obese. Rates of sexually transmitted infections, smoking related deaths and hospital stays for alcohol related harm are worse than the England average. The rates of statutory homelessness, violent crime, long term unemployment and incidence of malignant melanoma are lower than average. Priorities in Hyndburn include improving mental health and wellbeing, alcohol harm reduction and reducing smoking in adults.
4.10 Levels of physical activity have increased significantly over the last 5 years when compared with the average5, which shows more people in Hyndburn are adopting an active healthy lifestyle. If levels continue to increase, this may affect the demand for sports and leisure facilities
3 Nomis Official Labour Market Statistics (2011) 4 Indices of Multiple Deprivation 5 Sport England Active People Survey 4 (2011) Section II– Supply and Demand
5. Facilities Assessment 5.1 This section provided an analysis of current sport and leisure facility provision in Hyndburn and assesses how effectively it meets the needs of our residents. The information detailed in this section was acquired through 3 methods:
Desk based research using Sport England Tools including Active Places, Active Places Power, Sports Facility Calculator, etc.
Active People Survey results
Consultation with local sport and leisure facility providers including non-technical quality assessments
In depth reports provided by Sport England covering the supply and demand of swimming pools and sports halls (Taken from Sport England’s Facilities Planning Model
5.2 An element of local knowledge was also used in this section.
6. Facility Overview
6.1 Hyndburn Borough Council’s leisure facilities are managed by Hyndburn Leisure Trust. It was formed in 2002 to manage the borough's sport and leisure facilities and in 2005 took on the Council's Arts & Entertainment facilities and community buildings.
6.2 The main bulk of facilities which are not owned by Hyndburn Borough Council are provided by the Borough’s 7 High Schools/Colleges.
6.3 A brief description of the main sport and leisure facilities is provided below:
Hyndburn Leisure Centre Hyndburn Leisure Centre is the largest leisure facility in the borough and has a range of activities and facilities to meet the needs of everyone in the local community and beyond. It is managed on behalf of the Council by Hyndburn Leisure. Built in 1977, the centre provides a range of facilities including: a 6 lane 25m swimming pool, 8 court sports hall, health and fitness suite, table tennis centre, artificial turf pitch, 4 squash courts, 2 studios and a sauna/steam room. The centre could be described as dated, however, there has been recent significant investment in refurbishing of the changing rooms, squash courts, café, health and fitness suite and provision of a new “feel good factory”. The Centre missed out on Free Swim Capital Modernisation money when this funding pot was withdrawn by the government in 2009. The grant would have provided a large scale redevelopment of the pool and changing area.
Mercer Hall Leisure Centre Also managed by Hyndburn Leisure, Mercer Hall Leisure Centre is a smaller facility which was has served as a leisure centre since 1967. Facilities include; a 4 lane 20m swimming pool, Health and Section II– Supply and Demand fitness suite, studio and health spa. Recent investment in this facility has been focused on the changing rooms and health spa. The Centre missed out on Free Swim Capital Modernisation money when this funding pot was withdrawn by the government in 2009. The grant would have provided a large scale redevelopment of the pool and changing area.
Norden Sports Centre/Norden High School and Sports College Opened in 1996, this is a dual use school/sports centre, managed for community use by Hyndburn Leisure. The centre provides a 4 court sports hall and a health and fitness suite.
Wilson’s Athletics Track Wilson Athletic Track is part of the Wilson Playing Fields complex set in the heart of Clayton-le- Moors. The flood-lit 6 lane synthetic track and changing room facilities were refurbished in 2004.
Accrington Academy Accrington Academy opened in 2008, providing education for 11-18 year olds. Recently, the Academy has invested in refurbishing existing facilities and building new ones. Sport and leisure facilities at the Academy include: New 6 lane 25m swimming pool, 4 court sports hall, health and fitness suite, climbing wall, dance studio, 3G artificial turf pitch and motion analysis centre.
Accrington and Rossendale College Accrington and Rossendale College provides a newly built 3G artificial turf pitch and a small gym.
St Christopher’s High School Facilities here include a 4 court sports hall and a studio.
Rhyddings High School and Business College Facilities are limited to a 4 court sports hall.
Mount Carmel High School Facilities are limited to a 4 court sports hall
The Hollins High School and Technology College This school has the least indoor facilities in the borough, providing just a 1 court gymnasium.
New Era Complex The complex provides an indoor 5-a-side hard court pitch and a small health and fitness suite, primarily aimed at young people.
Accrington Stanley FC (The Crown Ground) This league 2 football club provide a 4,000 capacity stadium but lack any other facilities.
Spa Naturel Part of the Mercure Dunkenhalgh Hotel and Spa, the facility provides a small swimming pool, health and fitness suite and sauna/steam room.
Section II– Supply and Demand
Accrington Tennis Club 2 outdoor courts with recent investment from Sport England’s Inspired facilities for provision of floodlighting.
7. Facilities Quantity (Supply) 7.1 Using Sport England’s Active Places tool and local knowledge, the following facilities have been identified in Hyndburn:
Facility Type Quantity Athletics Tracks 1 Golf Courses/Ranges 6 Health and Fitness Suites 7 Sports Halls (Courts) 6 (28)* Swimming Pools 4 Synthetic Turf Pitches 4 (2 of which are new 3G pitches) *Figure differs from that provided by Sport England’s Facilities Planning Model, which counts 7 sports halls with 30 courts. 7.2 The table below shows the locations of these facilities: Facility Type Facilities Athletics Track Wilson’s Playing Fields Golf Courses/Ranges Lee Valley Golf Driving Range Accrington and District Golf Club Baxenden and District Golf Club Great Harwood Golf Club Green Haworth Golf Club Rishton Golf CLub Health and Fitness Suites Accrington Academy Hyndburn Leisure Centre Mercer Hall Leisure Centre New Era Complex Norden Sports Centre Spa Naturel The Fitness Bank Ltd Sports Halls (No. of Courts) Accrington Academy (4) Hyndburn Leisure Centre (8) Mount Carmel High School (4) Norden Sports Centre (4) Rhyddings Business and Enterprise School (4) St Christopher’s High School (4) **New Era Complex, Clayton Civic Hall, and single court gyms at 2 schools have been excluded from the sport hall calculation as they are deemed too small. Swimming Pools Accrington Academy Hyndburn Leisure Centre Mercer Hall Leisure Centre Section II– Supply and Demand
Spa Naturel Synthetic Turf Pitches Accrington Academy Accrington and Rossendale College Hyndburn Leisure Centre Norden Sports Centre
7.3 Quantity is usually measured in terms of the amount of provision (for example, area, the number of pitches or courts or pieces of play equipment). For indoor sports provision, it is generally acceptable to consider quantity in this way only. However, things become more complicated with outdoor sports, where carrying capacity must be taken into account (e.g. the drainage quality of a football pitch may limit the number of games that can be played on it). It is sometimes possible to address an identified quantitative deficiency in provision by improving the specification, or quality, of existing facilities. For the purposes of this strategy, there is no consideration of the carrying capacity of each facility.
8. Quality of facilities 8.1 Quality depends on two things: the needs and expectations of users, on the one hand, and design, management and maintenance on the other - in other words fitness for purpose. In this context, 'users' means people of all ages, all social or ethnic groups and abilities or disabilities. Ensuring that something is fit for purpose requires clarity as to what that purpose is.
8.2 The majority of community leisure provision in Hyndburn is provided through centres built in the 1960s and 70s. Although money has been spent on many refurbishments or upgrades over the years, it is clear that when compared with modern leisure buildings, the quality of facilities may suffer due to the buildings they are provided in. Therefore, when determining the supply of sport and leisure facilities, it is important that the quality of these facilities is taken account of.
8.3 The Active People survey (from Sport England) provides by far the largest sample size ever established for a sport and recreation survey and allows levels of detailed analysis previously unavailable. It identifies how participation varies from place to place and between different groups in the population. The survey also measures; the proportion of the adult population that volunteer in sport on a weekly basis, club membership, involvement in organised sport/competition, receipt of tuition or coaching, and importantly, overall satisfaction with levels of sporting provision in the local community.
8.4 While Hyndburn is one of few local authorities that has seen a significant increase in participation in sport and active recreation since 2005, the same period has also shown a worrying decline in the level of satisfaction with local sports provision. In 2005, 76.7% of Hyndburn residents were satisfied with local sports provision, ranking Hyndburn 32nd out of 354 local authorities. However in 2010, the same indicator had fallen to 66.4%, ranking Section II– Supply and Demand
Hyndburn 266th out of 3546. The chart below highlights this decline and includes the national picture:
8.5 In order to gain an accurate picture of the quality of individual facilities locally, consultation was carried out with local sport and leisure facility providers. Providers were asked to complete a non-technical quality assessment of their facility, which measured the following:
Overall quality of the facility Access to changing facilities Quality of changing facilities Presence of ancillary facilities Availability of car parking spaces Links to public transport Level of Community access Whether the facility had been recently built/refurbished or not
8.6 An example template for the assessment is included in Appendix 1.
8.7 A survey was given to all providers across the Borough. Providers were asked to self-assess their facilities and return details to be collated within 1 month. Completed assessments were returned for the following facilities:
Hyndburn Leisure Centre Mercer Hall Leisure Centre Norden Sports Centre Accrington Academy Rhyddings High School
6 Active People Survey 1 and Active People Survey 4; Sport England Section II– Supply and Demand
Norden High School and Sports College New Era Complex
8.8 Quality of facilities is summarised below. 8.9 Hyndburn Leisure Centre
8.9.1 Overall, Hyndburn Leisure Centre rated at 71%, giving the quality of the centre as good. This can be broken down by the quality of each of the key facilities within the centre, shown in the table below:
Facility Quality/Rating Swimming Pool Good Sports Hall Good Health and Fitness Suite (Gym) Excellent Astroturf Pitch Poor Other Facilities Good (Includes squash courts, studios, sauna/steam, table tennis centre
8.9.2 The following key points contributed to the above assessment:
Recent large scale refurbishment of the health and fitness suite and the changing rooms Recent investment in ancillary facilities including a café Good car parking provision Poor public transport links Building in excess of 40 years old
8.10 Mercer Hall Leisure Centre
8.10.1 Overall, Mercer Hall Leisure Centre rated at 63%, giving the quality of the centre as good. This can be broken down by the quality of each of the key facilities within the centre, shown in the table below:
Facility Quality/Rating Swimming Pool Average Health and Fitness Suite (Gym) Excellent Sauna/Steam Good
8.10.2 The following key points contributed to the above assessment:
Recent investment in health and fitness suite and changing room refurbishments Average public transport links Section II– Supply and Demand
Poor car parking provision Building unfit for purpose when compared with modern leisure centres
8.11 Norden Sports Centre / Norden High School
8.11.1 Overall, Norden Sports Centre was assessed to be an “average” facility. This can be broken down by the quality of each of the key facilities within the centre, shown in the table below:
Facility Quality/Rating Sports Hall Average Health and Fitness Suite Average Astroturf Average
8.11.2 The following key points contributed to above assessment:
Poor changing room access Average public transport links Good car parking provision Community use after 6pm weekdays and at weekends
8.12 Accrington Academy
8.12.1 Overall, Accrington Academy was assessed to be a “good facility”. Individual quality assessments were carried out on each of Accrington Academies Facilities, and were as follows:
Facility Quality/Rating Sports Hall Good Health and Fitness Suite/Gym Good Swimming Pool Excellent Artificial Pitch Excellent Studio Good
8.12.2 The following key points contributed to above assessment:
Recently completed 3G artificial pitch and swimming pool Good parking provision Poor public transport links Average access to changing facilities (facilities use school changing rooms)
8.13 Other sites
Section II– Supply and Demand
8.13.1 Facility quality assessments were also carried out at Rhyddings High School, New Era Complex and Wilsons Playing Fields (Athletics Track) as follows:
Facility Quality/Rating Comments Rhyddings (Sports Hall) Good Good links to public transport; good parking provision; community access and decent changing rooms; however general quality could be seen as poor New Era (Single Court) Good Good links to public transport; poor parking provision; good community access; general quality could be seen as average Wilson’s Playing Fields Average Actual track quality is good, however, (Athletics Track) dragged down by poor changing facilities, average parking and public transport links, and poor community access due to lack of a management presence
8.13.2 No assessments were returned from the following sites:
Accrington and Rossendale College St. Christopher’s High School Mount Carmel High School Hollins High School and Technology College Mercure Dunkenhalgh Hotel and Spa Any private golf facility
8.13.3 Therefore, assumptions have had to be made in some instances. Assumptions are based on anecdotal evidence and local knowledge:
The artificial pitch at Accrington and Rossendale college is excellent (as this is a recently constructed 3G pitch with changing pavilion) The health and fitness suite/gym and Accrington and Rossendale College is poor (Although equipment is excellent location is a converted classroom) Sports Halls at Mount Carmel High School and St Christopher’s High School are average. The “sport hall” at Hollins High School is in fact a small gymnasium and should not be considered a sports hall for the purposes of this strategy. Facilities at the Mercure Dunkenhalgh Hotel and Spa are good (would be excellent except both the pool and health and fitness suite are small when compared with other local facilities) Private golf facilities are excellent (This strategy shows that golf is well provided for in this Borough and will therefore not be considered in as much depth as other facility types). Section II– Supply and Demand
8.14 Further Measures of Facility Quality
8.14.1 The above quality assessments are completely based on the perceptions of facility providers.
8.14.2 Quality is based on how a facility meets the needs and expectations of its users, therefore it is all but impossible to assess facility quality without a degree of public consultation. 8.14.3 It is therefore strongly recommended that this strategy be extended to include public consultation.
9. Distribution of facilities 9.1 An important issue in developing a plan for long term sport and leisure facility provision in Hyndburn is the geographical location of facilities, specifically how facilities are spread across the Borough. 9.2 Sport England’s Active Places Power tool can be used to map the following sports facilities across a specified area: Swimming Pools Ice Rinks Health and Fitness Ski Slopes Sports Hall Grass Pitches Golf Athletic Tracks Synthetic Turf Pitches Indoor Bowls Indoor Tennis Centre
Section II– Supply and Demand
9.3 Map 1 shows that the areas most densely populated with sport and leisure facilities are Altham, Rishton, St. Andrew’s, and Milnshaw. However, this should be viewed with caution, as these figures are heavily weighted by grass pitches which are not included in this strategy, and many of which are not available for community use.
9.4 Map 2 highlights selected facility types which are applicable to this strategy. For this reason, grass pitches have been removed from the map (below). A thorough review of grass pitches in Hyndburn can be found in Hyndburn Playing Pitch Assessment and Strategy 2011-16, available at www.hyndburnbc.gov.uk .
9.5 Due to limitation of the Active Places Power Tool, density of facilities per ward is not accurately calculated when specific facility types (in this case grass pitches) are excluded. Therefore attention is drawn only to the locations of specific facilities in map 2.
9.6 Without going into a full supply/demand analysis, certain observations can be made from viewing this map. Section II– Supply and Demand
There are no ice rinks, ski slopes or indoor tennis centres in Hyndburn. The nearest facilities of this nature being in Blackburn (ice rink and indoor tennis centre) and Rossendale (ski slope). There is a good supply of golf courses spread across the Borough, although these are all private clubs. Hyndburn has no municipal golf course, although “Lee Valley Driving Range” is fully open to the public, and all courses are available for use by none members at specific times. The main swimming pool provision is focussed around the centre of Hyndburn, leaving the outskirts (with the exception of Great Harwood which is served by Mercer Hall Leisure Centre) with a significant distance to travel in order to gain pool access. The majority of areas are well provided for in terms of sports halls, although the extent of community use of these facilities is questionable (as most are provided by secondary schools). Huncoat, Great Harwood and Baxenden appear to have the worst access to sports halls Indoor bowls (although not visible on the map) is catered for via 2 matts which are used at Hyndburn Leisure Centre
10. Difference between urban and rural areas. 10.1 Hyndburn comprises of a mixture of urban and rural areas. This must be accounted for when determining the adequacy of supply and the demand for sport and leisure facilities.7 Residents in rural areas cannot realistically expect to have the same level of access to the full range of different types of open spaces and sport and recreation facilities normally available in more densely populated urban areas. This means that residents of rural areas usually have to travel further than most urban residents to some forms of provision.
10.2 It would not be appropriate for a Borough the size of Hyndburn to attempt to set different standards for urban and rural sport and leisure provision. However, the differences between urban and rural areas should be kept in mind when assessing the supply of and demand for facilities. The map below highlights the urban/rural split of Hyndburn.
7 Assessing needs and opportunities: a companion guide to PPG17 Section II– Supply and Demand
10.3 It is unreasonable to expect people living in rural areas to have the same access to sport and leisure facilities as those from more urban areas, and is likely that they will have to travel further to access good sport and leisure facilities. This is demonstrated in 12 (Travel time to facilities), where it is clear that Immanuel and St. Oswald’s wards fall outside of the catchment area of many facility types.
10.4 Interestingly however, Altham (also considered rural) falls inside the catchment area of every facility type identified, which indicated that people from this ward have excellent access to facilities. However, it should be noted that these calculations are based on an average of each LSOA in a ward. When measured alone, many LSOAs in Altham fall well outside the catchment area of the majority of facility types.
11. Accessibility of Facilities
11.1 Accessibility normally comes first in importance in the planning of a sport and leisure facilities strategy for the simple reason that if a particular open space or facility is inaccessible it will be irrelevant to those who may want to use it.
Section II– Supply and Demand
11.2 The accessibility of a facility can be underpinned by several factors, one of which is the time it takes residents to travel to and from it.
11.3 The “catchment area” of a sports facility (particularly swimming pools/sports halls etc) varies dependant on the facility. PPG17 advises a public consultation process in order to establish the average time a customer takes to travel to any given facility (and the mode of transport). The catchment area is then derived from the straight line distance travelled by 75% of those surveyed. Public consultation is again clearly required in order to establish this data. In the absence of data of this accuracy, assumptions have been made dependant on the facility type, number of facilities and the activities which take place at these facilities.
11.4 Using Sport England’s Facility Planning Model, it is possible to map swimming pool, sports hall and artificial pitch facilities along with their catchment areas, which will help identify any areas of the borough where there may be unmet demand for sport and leisure facilities.
11.5 According to data from Sport England, 90% of journeys (both via car or walking) are between 0-20 minutes for swimming pools, sports halls and artificial pitches. Therefore, in the absence of local data, a 20 minute walk time (or 1.6km distance) has been assumed as the baseline catchment area for each facility type unless otherwise stated. In some cases, other factors have been considered and these will be referred to in each case.
11.6 Map 3 below highlights the distribution of sports halls and their catchment areas in Hyndburn:
Section II– Supply and Demand
11.7 Much of the populated areas of the Borough fall within the 20 minute catchment area of a sports hall facility. Exceptions to this would be parts of Baxenden, Huncoat, and the majority of Great Harwood. It is likely that there is significant unmet demand for indoor sports halls in these areas.
11.8 Map 4 highlights the distribution of swimming pools and their catchment areas in Hyndburn:
11.9 In general, the North and centre of the Borough fall into the catchment area of one of the Borough’s 3 main pools. Those around the Rishton area will fall into the catchment area of the Spa Naturel (Although this is a private members club, hence why it does not appear on the above map), but are also close to the densely provided for (in terms of swimming pools) eastern border of Blackburn with Darwen.
11.10 Baxenden, Huncoat and parts of Oswaldtwistle do not fall within nor are they close enough to the catchment areas of any swimming pools, and therefore it can be said with confidence that access to swimming pools from these areas is poor.
12. Travel Time to Facilities 12.1 Using Sport England’s Strategic Planning Tool (part of Active Places Power), it is possible to determine the average travel time to a particularly facility type from each Lower Super Output Area in Hyndburn. The time it takes to travel to a facility is a key determinant of its accessibility to any given population. The type of facility may also determine the mode of transport most likely to be used to access it e.g. a person is unlikely to walk to a golf course due to the equipment they would need to carry, and is therefore more likely to access this facility type by car. Section II– Supply and Demand
12.2 If a facility is deemed too far away to travel to (by the most likely mode of transport) then the accessibility of that facility is reduced.
12.3 The following charts are based on the average travel time per ward to sports halls, swimming pools, artificial turf pitches and athletics tracks.
35.00 Average walking time to nearest sports hall 30.00 (minutes) 25.00
20.00
15.00
10.00
5.00
0.00
12.4 Four wards (Clayton, Huncoat, Netherton and Overton) do not fall within a 20 minute walking distance of any sports hall – those wards which are above the red line.
12.5 However, it should be noted that with local knowledge, Baxenden ward should also fall above this line, as the “sports hall” which the active places power tool appears to be using for this calculation is that of Hollins High School and Technology College. In reality, this “sports hall” is actually a one court gymnasium with limited or no community access.
50.00 Average walking time to nearest swimming 45.00 40.00 pool (minutes) 35.00 30.00 25.00 20.00 15.00 10.00 5.00 0.00
12.6 Five wards (Barnfield, Baxenden, Huncoat, Immanuel and St. Oswald’s) do not fall within a 20 minute walking distance of any swimming pool. Rishton is also slightly outside of the 20 minute catchment area. Section II– Supply and Demand
12.7 It should be noted that this calculation is inclusive of a new pool (at Accrington Academy) which is available for community use for 48 hours per week8 which is an excellent level of community access for a school based facility. The Mercure Dunkenhalgh (A private members club bordering Clayton and Rishton) is also included here, at which high membership fees quite clearly hinder community access to the facility.
12.8 The same graphic appears below for artificial turf pitches:
40.00 Average walking time to nearest artificial turf 35.00 pitch (minutes) 30.00 25.00 20.00 15.00 10.00 5.00 0.00
12.9 The graph above shows that 6 wards fall outside of a 20 minute walking distance from the nearest artificial turf pitch. However, the nature of a sports and leisure facility dictates the most likely method of transport to it. People are more likely to drive to a synthetic turf pitch than to walk to it. Therefore, this significantly changes the catchment area of it. The graph below shows the average drive time from each ward to the nearest artificial turf pitch alongside the average walk time.
8 Taken from Sport England’s Facilities Planning Model, Swimming Pools in Hyndburn; 2012 Profile Report (Appendix 2) Section II– Supply and Demand
12.10 The graph above shows that while some wards fall outside of a 20 minute walking distance, every ward falls comfortably within a 10 minute driving distance of the nearest synthetic turf pitch. This 10 minute drive time has been assumed as the catchment area of a synthetic turf pitch in Hyndburn, although in reality users would likely be prepared to drive for longer than 10 minutes to access a facility of this type.
12.11 This indicates that the demand for synthetic turf pitches (in terms of travel time) is likely to be met for the vast majority if not all of Hyndburn residents.
12.12 The catchment area of a high quality athletics track is different from that of many other facility types. The graph below shows the average drive and walking times to the nearest facility.
90.00 Average walk/drive time to nearest athletics 80.00 track 70.00 60.00 50.00
40.00 30.00 20.00 10.00 0.00
Peel
Church
Altham Central
Rishton
Clayton
Overton
Huncoat
Barnfield
Milnshaw
Baxenden
Spring Hill
Immanuel
St Oswald's Netherton St Andrew's
12.13 Again, a 10 minute drive time has been assumed as the catchment area for an athletics track for Hyndburn. Although many, particularly young people, will access this facility by walking, the nature of certain types of activities which will take place here mean it is likely that the majority will access the facility by driving (mainly due to the large amounts of equipment required for many athletic events). In this scenario, all wards in Hyndburn are within or very close to within a 10 minute drive of the nearest athletics track.
12.14 However, assuming that the facility is heavily used by young people (via the Hyndburn Athletics Club) it maybe that many do travel on foot, making the facility inaccessible to the majority of young people outside of Altham or Clayton (and to a lesser extent Great Harwood).
12.15 Health and fitness suites are accessed by different people in different ways. Some users will walk to the site (young people, concessionary passport scheme holders) but the majority drive as the preferred method of transport. The graph below shows the average walk time and drive time to the nearest health and fitness suite from each ward in Hyndburn.
Section II– Supply and Demand
12.16 Each ward in Hyndburn is comfortably within a 10 minute drive of the nearest health and fitness suite in Hyndburn, and only 2 wards (Baxenden and Huncoat) fall outside of a 20 minute walk to the nearest health and fitness suite. It should also be noted that there are several local gyms across the Borough which have not been included in this calculation.
12.17 Golf courses are spread across the Borough. Due to the amount of equipment required to participate in the sport, it is highly unlikely that users would walk to these facilities. Therefore the graph below includes only the average drive time to the nearest facility from each ward.
Section II– Supply and Demand
12.18 It is clear from the graph above that all wards in Hyndburn fall within the catchment area of a golf course or driving range.
12.19 There are several facility types which are not currently represented in Hyndburn, including ice rinks, ski slopes and indoor tennis centres. The graph below shows the average drive time from each Hyndburn ward to the nearest of these facility types. As these facilities may be considered more of a specialist facility, it is likely that people are prepared to travel further to access them and therefore the catchment area will be wider than that of other facility types.
12.20 All wards in Hyndburn are within a 20 minute drive of indoor tennis centres, ice rinks and ski slopes.
12.21 The above graphs show the variation in terms of accessibility to different facility types. While some areas of the borough will fall within the catchment area of the majority, if not all the facility types covered by this strategy, others will fall within the catchment area of very few, or even none of the facility types.
12.22 The wards of Baxenden and Huncoat on average fall within the catchment area of the least amount of facility types in the Borough. People living in these wards therefore have the worst access (geographically) to sports and leisure facilities in Hyndburn.
12.23 It is clear when contemplating new facility provision that these areas should be considered a priority.
12.24 At a minimum, improved public transport from these areas to sport and leisure facilities should be considered. At present, it would require at least 2 buses to access any leisure centre from either of these areas, taking up at least an hour dependant on the time of day a person was travelling. This clearly is restricting people from these areas, who rely on public transport, access to good quality facilities. Section II– Supply and Demand
13. Demand 13.1 There are several methods which are used to establish the demand for sports facilities in a given area. Sport England’s Sports Facility Calculator (SFC) has been created to help local planning authorities quantify how much additional demand for the key community sports facilities (swimming pools, sports halls and artificial grass pitches), is generated by growth in population, and can be used in planning for housing development and regeneration areas.
13.2 The SFC helps with quantifying the demand side of the facility provision equation. It helps to answer questions such as, “How much additional demand for swimming will the population of a new development area generate?”, and “What would the cost be to meet this new demand at today’s values?”
13.3 The Sports Facility Calculator uses survey information for the different facilities to estimate who uses what and how often. This builds up a profile of usage, which can be then applied to estimate how much demand any given population would generate.
13.4 This demand is then converted into the quantity of facilities needed, and expressed as square metres of water, badminton courts, artificial grass pitches or bowling rinks, taking into account the national average usage rate of each facility type. The data on who uses facilities has come from:
National Halls and Pools Survey Benchmarking Service Indoor Bowls User Survey General Household Survey Synthetic Turf Pitch User Survey.
13.5 Also provided is the estimated cost required to meet the demand. This cost calculation is derived automatically and includes the latest regional building cost variations based on the Building Costs Information Services of The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors. These costs are updated each quarter, together with the regional building cost variations. This feature is most useful when planning a new housing development for example, as it allows for an accurate cost of additional facility requirements based on population growth. It does not account for cost of land, VAT and any abnormal costs.
13.6 The tool also allows for changes in demand to be made, for example, sport development initiatives may increase demand to a degree for certain facility types (and not others) and this feature enables any changes in demand to be accounted for.
13.7 It is important to be aware that the Sports Facility Calculator does not consider a number of issues and there are dangers in using only this tool to consider demand. It should be noted that the calculator does not take account of:
Facility location compared to demand Capacity and availability of facilities - opening hours Cross boundary movement of demand Section II– Supply and Demand
Travel networks and topography Attractiveness of facilities
13.8 These issues however, are considered when using the Facilities Planning Model, which would mean affect some of the figures below. These can be seen in section 14 of the strategy and in more detail in appendix 1.
13.9 Based on the population and demographics of Hyndburn, there is a requirement for 3.79 swimming pools or 805.71 square metres. If the borough was starting from a blank page (i.e. it currently had no facilities) the cost required to meet this demand would equate to £9,402,824. Fortunately, current provision in Hyndburn is enough to meet this demand, with 4 pools (Hyndburn Leisure Centre, Mercer Hall Leisure Centre, Accrington Academy and Spa Naturel). However, there are 2 factors which cannot be ignored in order to say the demand for swimming pool provision is met:
The pool at Accrington Academy has just opened and currently has good community access (48 hours per week). Sport England guidance says a facility should be available to the community for 80 hours per week although in theory for schools the figure will be much lower in order to be deemed adequately accessible.
Mercure Dunkenhalgh Hotel and Spa (Spa Naturel) is a private members club and is likely to be unaffordable to the vast majority of the Hyndburn population.
13.10 However, it should be noted that if Spa Naturel was disregarded in the calculation, 94.5% of demand in Hyndburn would still be satisfied (with the remaining unsatisfied demand caused by location rather than space).9
13.11 A modest 10% increase in demand would significantly affect the facility requirements in Hyndburn, pushing the need for swimming pools up to 4.17. This would clearly not be catered for with current provision, and may cause a problem should there be an increase in demand.
13.12 The calculator estimates a demand for 5.67 sports halls or 22.67 courts. This would cost £14,914,421 if starting from scratch. Current provision in Hyndburn is 6 sports halls and 28 courts. This is more than enough to meet this demand. However, over 50% of these courts are provided through schools, at which the level of community access is currently unknown. This may indicate an actual deficit in provision.
13.13 Assuming that all 28 courts were available for use, it would take a 25% increase in demand in order to outweigh the supply. An increase in demand of this level is unlikely.
13.14 The Facilities Planning Model uses a number of factors to “weight” the number of courts which particularly accounts for the variations in the hours different sites are open for public use. This scales the provision of courts down to 23.45 courts, which at peak times means
9 Taken from Sport England’s Facilities Planning Model, Swimming Pools in Hyndburn; 2012 Profile Report (Appendix 2) Section II– Supply and Demand
that up to 7% of demand may be unmet. It also estimates that 3 sports halls (all of which are at schools) have the potential to ease any unmet demand as they are currently operating significantly under capacity10.
13.14 There is a requirement for 2.62 artificial pitches in Hyndburn, which would cost £2,130,528 to build from zero provision. There are currently 4 artificial turf pitches in the borough, which is more than enough to meet demand. The 2 pitches provided by schools/colleges also have high levels of community use. There would need to be a 55% increase in demand or a significant population increase for additional artificial pitches to be required.
13.15 The calculator indicates a requirement of 0.85 indoor bowling centres or 5.11 rinks. Indoor bowling is currently available at Hyndburn Leisure with 2 mats available. There are also 10 outdoor bowling greens and 1 winter bowling green provided by Hyndburn Borough Council. The demand for indoor rinks is clearly not met in the borough however the provision of good quality outdoor facilities helps to compensate for this.
13.16 Office for National statistics projects a population increase to 81,500 by 2018. This is a small increase and will have no significant effect on demand for facilities.
13.17 The Sports Facility Calculator does not account for other facility types including health and fitness suites, golf courses, ice rinks and indoor tennis centres.
14. Summary of supply and demand by facility type 14.1 Swimming Pools
14.1.1 There are 4 swimming pools in Hyndburn, 2 of which are Council owned, one school and one private. Supply and demand for swimming pools can be seen below:
Total Pools Total Pools (With Requirement Shortfall/Surplus Shortfall/Surplus (All) guaranteed for Pools (All) (Guaranteed Community Use) community use)
4 2 3.79 0 -2
14.1.2 Pools are spread reasonably throughout the borough, with most wards within adequate travel time (walking) to the nearest pool. Swimming is the most popular sport (in terms of participation by adults) in Hyndburn, with 12.2% having taken part at least once in the last month. Therefore, access to good quality facilities is essential.
14.1.3 Sport England have provided an in depth review into the supply and demand for swimming pools in Hyndburn. It should be noted that there are slight variations in some of
10 Taken from Sport England’s Facilities Planning Model, Sports Halls in Hyndburn; 2012 Profile Report (Appendix 3) Section II– Supply and Demand
the data in this report than in other parts of this strategy. Key findings from the Sport England report are summarised below, and the report in full attached in appendix 2.
14.1.4 There are 3 pools and 3 separate sites in Hyndburn11. The pools age range from 1967 to 1977, with Hyndburn Sports Centre being refurbished in 1999. The total demand generated for swimming pool provision from the resident population of Hyndburn of 81,200 people totals 5261 visits per week in the peak period, which equates to a demand for 867.1 square metres of water space.
14.1.5 94.5% of the total demand for swimming pools in Hyndburn is satisfied, which equates to 4972 visits per week in the weekly peak period. This is above the north west and England averages. Unmet demand for swimming pools in Hyndburn is 289 visits per week in the weekly peak period, or put another way 5.5% of total demand for swimming pools. This equates to 47.66 square metres of water space.
14.1.6 All of Hyndburn’s unmet demand is due to residents living outside the catchment area of the swimming pools.
14.2 Sports Halls
14.2.1 There are 6 sports halls with 28 courts in Hyndburn. Only one of these sports halls (with 8 courts) is Council owned, whilst another (with 4 courts) form part of a dual use facility. Supply and demand for sports halls/courts can be seen below:
Total Sports Total Sports Requirement Shortfall or Shortfall or Surplus Halls/Courts Halls/Courts (With for Sports Surplus Sports Sports Halls/Courts (All) guaranteed Halls/Courts Halls/Courts (Guaranteed Community Use) (All) community use)
6 / 28 2 / 12 5.67 / 22.67 0 / +5 -4 / -16
14.2.2 Sports Halls are centred mainly around the central areas of the Borough, but most densely populated areas fall with the catchment area of a sport hall. However, there are significant gaps in provision in Baxenden, Great Harwood and Huncoat.
14.2.3 Sports halls are frequently used to play badminton (amongst other sports) which is the 7th most participated in sport in the country, which may again indicate a high level of demand. Increased community use of existing facilities would appease this demand in the majority of areas in Hyndburn.
14.2.4 Sport England have provided an in depth review into the supply and demand for sports halls in Hyndburn. It should be noted that there are slight variations in some of the data in this report than in other parts of this strategy. Key findings from the Sport England report are summarised below, and the report in full attached in appendix 2.
11 It should be noted that Sport England have excluded the Spa Naturel pool as it is deemed too small Section II– Supply and Demand
14.2.5 There are 7 sports halls on 6 sites in Hyndburn, 5 of the sports halls are located on educational sites and the remaining 2 are at sport centres: Hyndburn Sports Centre and Norden Sports Centre. The sports hall ages range from 1950 to 2006.
14.2.6 The total demand generated for sports hall provision from the resident population of Hyndburn of 81,200 people totals 3679 visits per week in the peak period, which equates to a demand for 22.7 courts. In Hyndburn the total supply of sports hall, scaled to take account of the variable hours for public use across the six sites is 23.45 courts.
14.2.7 93.3% of the total demand for sports halls in Hyndburn is satisfied, which equates to 3432 visits per week in the weekly peak period. This is above the North West and England averages. 71.2% of this satisfied demand is met by local residents travelling by car, 18.8% on foot and 9.9% by public transport. Unmet demand for sports halls in Hyndburn is 247 visits per week in the weekly peak period, or put another way 6.7% of total demand for sports halls. This equates to 1.53 courts.
14.28 The majority of Hyndburn’s unmet demand is due to residents living outside the catchment area of the sports hall which is 91% of the unmet demand. The remaining 9% is due to lack of capacity meaning that the sport halls are busy.
14.3 Artificial turf pitches
14.3.1 There are 4 artificial turf pitches in Hyndburn. Two of these are 3G pitches which have opened in the last 18 months. These pitches are located in local high schools/colleges. The remaining two pitches are owned by the Council and operated by Hyndburn Leisure. Supply and demand for artificial turf pitches can be seen in the table below:
Total ATPs Total ATPs/Courts Requirement Shortfall or Shortfall or Surplus (With guaranteed for ATPs Surplus ATPs ATPs (Guaranteed Community Use) (All) community use)
4 4 2.62 + 1 + 1
14.3.2 Based on the current population and that projected for 2018, there is a surplus of 1 artificial turf pitch in Hyndburn. This may be reduced when considering that the two new 3G pitches are not available to the public during week days. However, this is unlikely as the vast majority of demand for artificial turf pitches is in the evenings and at weekends.
14.3.3 The artificial pitch at Hyndburn is in need of significant investment in order to bring up to a decent standard, Considering the current surplus in provision, options for alternative use of this facility should be taken into serious consideration.
14.3.3 All wards in Hyndburn fall comfortably within a 10 minute drive of the nearest facility, and most are within a 20 minute walk. If investment in additional pitches was planned, Great Harwood/Clayton-le-Moors should be considered as having the highest need.
14.4 Bowls Section II– Supply and Demand
14.4.1 Although only one indoor facility for bowls exists (bowls is played at Hyndburn Leisure indoor on bowling mats), demand for bowls is met on our 11 greens across the borough, at which Hyndburn Borough Council provide free passes for older people.
14.4.2 While it is unlikely that there would be demand for additional indoor bowling provision, consultation should be held with local bowling green users to help build a picture of demand.
14.5 Athletics tracks
14.5.1 The Sport England Facilities Calculator does not account for athletics track. Hyndburn has one track located on the border of Altham and Clayton –le-Moors. Almost all wards in Hyndburn are within a 10 minute drive of the track. Consultation is required to ascertain whether there is demand for additional facilities of this nature. It should be noted that there are no indoor athletics facilities in Hyndburn or indeed in Pennine Lancashire.
14.6 Health and fitness suites
14.6.1 The Sports Facility Calculator does not account for Health and Fitness Suites. The main facilities in Hyndburn are at Hyndburn Leisure Centre, Mercer Hall Leisure Centre, Norden Sports Centre and Spa Naturel. There are numerous “local gyms” throughout the borough, and high schools with gym facilities (although community access to these is unknown). What is noticeable is that there is no large gym chain in Hyndburn, although there is competition from DW Fitness in Blackburn.
14.6.2 When considering all gym/health and fitness related facilities, there is an excellent spread across the Borough. Gym use is the joint most popular sport (in terms of participation) in Hyndburn at 12.2% (having attended at least once in the last 4 weeks) and it is likely that the demand is currently met, however, consultation would be required to get a true picture of supply and demand.
14.7 Golf Courses/Driving ranges
14.8 It would appear as though the demand for golf is met in Hyndburn with 5 golf courses and 1 driving range. It should be noted that there are no municipal courses in Hyndburn.
14.8 Other facilities
14.8.1 In terms of the nature of this strategy, there are no other significant facilities in the Borough.
14.9 In Summary
14.9.1 The analysis in this section has examined the current level of sport and leisure facility provision in this borough, with a particular focus on supply and demand.
14.9.2 It is clear that a more comprehensive review should be carried out, particularly focussing on the quality of facilities, availability to the community, geographical distribution and comparisons with other similar local authorities. The extensive research which would be Section II– Supply and Demand
required in gathering such data (particularly around consultation) has not been possible under the remit of this strategy.
14.9.3 However, the desk based research used has clearly identified areas of strength and areas of weakness in terms of sport and leisure facility provision in Hyndburn, both facilities in Council ownership and those owned by other providers.
14.9.4 There have been significant levels of investment in facilities in recent years. The investment (in both new facilities and improvements to existing facilities) has obviously increased the quantity of facilities, but also undoubtedly improved on the quality of provision.
14.9.5 Hyndburn Leisure have recently undergone significant improvements across their facilities. Over the last 5 years, investment in the following facilities has been made:
Refurbishment of changing rooms, squash courts and gym at Hyndburn leisure Centre Building of a ladies only “Feelgood Factory” at Hyndburn Leisure Centre Refurbishment of the changing rooms, gym and health suite (sauna / steam) at Mercer Hall Leisure Centre Refurbishment of the track at Wilson’s Playing Fields (2006)
14.9.6 Hyndburn Borough Council has provided funding (often match funding external sources) for the majority of these improvements. However, the Council’s capital spending has reduced significantly over the last couple of years and will continue to do so in order to achieve budget reductions required with reduced funding from central government. It is unlikely that Council resources will be to continue to fund significant improvements to facilities, or indeed new facility provision.
14.9.7 Some local schools and colleges have also benefitted from significant investment in sports facilities over the last 2 years, particularly at Accrington Academy and Accrington and Rossendale College. The latter opened a new 3G artificial turf pitch in 2011. As well as opening its own new 3G pitch (2011), Accrington Academy also opened a new 25m 6 lane swimming pool in 2012. This pool may remove any previous shortfall in provision in the Borough.
14.9.8 The following facilities have also been developed in recent years:
Wilson’s Playing Fields - £300,000 investment in a new track in 2004
Accrington Tennis Club – secured £50,000 of Inspired Facilities funding for improvements and flood lighting
14.9.9 In these tough economic times, this level of investment across sectors is unlikely to be sustained, and therefore alternative funding sources (e.g. National Lottery, Sport England etc.) will be key to any future facility investment in Hyndburn. With increasing competition for the same funding pots, organisations will have to be creative in projects which they are bidding for, by: Section II– Supply and Demand
Referring to National Governing Bodies’ Whole Sport Plans to identify opportunities for collaborative working.
Joining resources for large scale projects
Looking at “sport” based projects rather than “facility” based e.g. an indoor athletics centre rather than a sports hall
Consulting extensively with partners, members of the public and key organisations when developing projects
14.6.13 Unfortunately this is the same situation which local authorities across the country are faced with. Despite this, there is still the opportunity to improve or increase the supply of sport and leisure facilities in Hyndburn Section III– National Governing Bodies and Local Organisation Plans
15. National Governing Bodies’ Facilities Strategies and consultation with NGB’s 15.1 When producing a plan for facilities in any locality, this should not be done in isolation. Many National Governing Bodies of sport have their own facility strategies which will certainly influence the priorities of any local strategy.
15.2 A search was conducted for NGB facility strategies (for sports linked to the facility types discussed in Section II of this strategy). Several were identified which were deemed relevant to a facility strategy for Hyndburn and are discussed in more detail below. Some of the partners involved in the production of this strategy also consulted with National Governing Bodies in order to explore any potential shared priorities.
15.3 A summary of the priorities of NGB’s taken from their strategies and any consultation is highlighted below, broken down by the relevant individual sports.
15.4 Athletics
15.4.1 England Athletics Strategic Facility Plan 2012-17 was produced in part to inform its own work and future investment into local athletics facilities, but also to inform and guide local stakeholders in this vitally important facet of the sport. The current economic climate means that a strategic document such as this is of particular importance in ensuring that priorities are clearly established and communicated to facility owners, users and investors, and to ensure that the process of development and preservation is effective at a local level.
15.4.2 The facility development agenda for England will work with UK Athletics on a National level and with Athletics Networks on a local level to address future competition and training needs; to engage and exploit opportunities with other sports and agencies and to deliver support and guidance to clubs, schools and communities. The priorities for investment underpin and support the activity and programme priorities delivered by Athletics Networks.
15.4.3 Track and field venues face increasing challenges in terms of maintaining quality facilities coupled with the increasing cost of operations. More usage of tracks, engagement and collaboration between parties is to be encouraged to maximise use of tracks in and out of athletics competition in order to meet maintenance costs and improvements. The modernization of changing and social provision is also important to help sustainability and attract new participants.
15.4.4 There is a need for more locally based covered training facilities, linked to formal track and field venues that could also be utilised by other sports to help viability. Full venue assessment is to be introduced for track and field venues in relation to facilities for disabled athletes and best practice guidance will be provided to assist operators in this area.
15.4.5 Innovative solutions are required for new ‘compact’ facility models to drive mass participation. Facilities to fit restricted spaces and multi-sport areas; integration of tracks Section III– National Governing Bodies and Local Organisation Plans
and straights with synthetic pitch developments; mobile sprint straights to take the sport to communities and further enhancement of higher education facilities for community access12.
15.4.6 In the North West, 234,000 adults take part in athletics at least once a week and it is estimated that an additional 35,000 under 16s take part in track and field alone, again at least once per week. Athletics participation remains on an upward curve and various indicators support the view that this will continue in the medium term based on a high level assessment of latent demand and the rapid take up of new initiatives such as in ‘Run England’.
15.4.7 England Athletics identify the following facility types as priorities:
Road and off-road running environments Track and field venues Indoor training facilities Clubhouses and social facilities Non-standard ‘Compact Athletics’ models
15.4.8 Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool (All a relatively short journey from Hyndburn) have also been identified as priority cities for facilities improvements.
15.4.9 Considering track and field venues, England Athletics have 9 priority work areas, of which, 2 are more relevant than most in Hyndburn:
“Identify and assist the funding of a range of field facility and equipment improvements and adaptations to help convert ‘B’ venues into ‘A’ venues and to enhance disability provision.” – there may be opportunities which could be explored at the Borough’s one current facility (Wilson’s Athletics Track) to make improvements with the possibility of some funding available from the governing body
“Provide financial models and best practice studies to illustrate maximising track and field usage to increase revenues without compromising athletics activity, including sharing facilities, club mergers, cross-sport usage, infield mixes etc.” – the strategy highlights case studies where the transfer in management of athletics tracks from local authority to established clubs have been successful. This may be something which the Council/Leisure Trust may be interested in exploring.
15.4.10 The closest indoor athletics training facility to Hyndburn is at Sports City in Manchester (Level 4 facility). Hyndburn has a well-established Athletics Club with in excess of 200 regular members. In the winter, travelling this far to train for such a high number of club members (the majority of which are children) is unlikely. Therefore, there may be demand for such a facility in Hyndburn.
15.4.11 England Athletics Facility Strategy discusses that a flexible approach to the problem of indoor training provision is more likely to be successful than seeking to procure dedicated athletics training venues, and discusses the benefits of including provision for athletics in
12 Taken from England Athletics Strategic Facility Plan 2012-17 Section III– National Governing Bodies and Local Organisation Plans
sports halls or multi-sport indoor areas. There is also a preference, if feasible, for co-locating indoor facilities with outdoor tracks. Therefore, a few opportunities for Hyndburn do exist and could be explored in more depth:
Conversion of existing school / leisure trust based facilities (sports halls) to build capacity for indoor athletics track
Seek funding for a new indoor athletics facility (which is multi-purpose) in an area of the Borough which is low in terms of facility provision
15.4.12 England Athletics will promote more vigorously the idea of utilising artificial pitches for athletics training opportunities. An example can be seen in the layout that shows the integration of a 100m running straight and a 200m 6-lane training circuit within a hockey pitch enclosure.
15.4.13 This may present an opportunity which Hyndburn Leisure Trust and Hyndburn Borough Council may wish to explore with the current under-utilised artificial turf pitch at Hyndburn Leisure centre.
15.4.14 While it is very unlikely that funding would be available from England Athletics, the governing body would strongly support bids which help meet their strategic aims, and particularly encourage bids to Sport England’s Inspired and Iconic facilities programmes.
15.4.15 There is a firm interest from one high school in Hyndburn in bidding for athletics related facilities on their site.
15.5 Basketball
15.5.1 The development of a comprehensive network of facilities, to address the requirements for a major indoor international team sport, remains the biggest challenge facing England Section III– National Governing Bodies and Local Organisation Plans
Basketball in its efforts to meet the demand for court-time to play and to practice, and thereby increase participation and improve performance.13
15.5.2 There is a large latent demand from people of all ages, who wish to play basketball, which is placing increasing pressure on clubs to obtain access to affordable, suitable facilities. The basketball community identified access to affordable, appropriate facilities as the most important ingredient for success in the 2006 online basketball survey commissioned by Sport England.
15.5.3 The strategy plans for a network of facilities across the country including a National Basketball Centre, regional performance basketball centres, and a series of community club basketball centres.
15.5.4 The nearest facilities to Hyndburn are the performance centre in Manchester and the community club centre in Barrow.
15.5.5 The strategy for developing a network of specialist basketball centres will continue will continue to be driven through basketball clubs working in partnership with relevant local and regional strategic partners
15.5.6 The National Basketball Facilities Plan 2009-2013 demonstrates that basketball in England is in need of dedicated facilities that are primarily for club use in order to meet and maintain the growth targets illustrated in England Basketball’s Four-Year (2009-2013) plan. Hyndburn has various facilities which could be adapted primarily for basketball use on a small scale, but few suitable venues for facilities of a community club or bigger nature.
15.5.7 There is a firm interest in creating a basketball performance centre at Accrington Academy, and extensive consultation has taken place with the governing body. A summary of comments received from the National Basketball facilities Officer can be seen below:
“Our 2013-17 Facilities Strategy will continue to work on the same themes as 2009-13 with a focus on multi court basketball facilities to meet the ever increasing demands from people of all ages wanting to play our sport.
The basketball facility at Accrington Academy would provide the Rossendale Raptors with a home to base their national league, and development programmes. In addition the venue would be suitable for national league games, regional and national training camps, and would also serve as a host for social/casual basketball participation opportunities such as our Ball Again and I’m Basketball initiatives. The facility with dedicated time for basketball use would be integral in the delivery of basketball in Lancashire and the surrounding area and as such the area is within the England Basketball 2013-17 Facilities Strategy.
Given the size of the basketball clubs existing membership and its future plans for central venue leagues etc. I don’t think they would have any trouble filling a 3 court basketball facility. For example Manchester Community Basketball Club have exclusive use of the 3 basketball court Amaechi centre throughout the week and weekends but with a full junior
13 England Basketball Facilities Plan 2009-13 Section III– National Governing Bodies and Local Organisation Plans
and senior programme as well as community and development sessions they still need to book 20+ hours a week at other facilities in the area.”
15.5.8 There are basketball clubs located in Hyndburn who would also be able to make use of such a facility. England Basketball would strongly support a bid from this area for a basketball performance centre.
15.5.9 Similar views were expressed from the Regional Officer for England Netball.
15.5.10 With interest from both England Basketball and England Netball, there is a clear opportunity to create a performance centre which covers both sports if funding can be found to do so.
15.6 Swimming
15.6.1 The ASA Strategy 2009-13 identifies key themes in order to help grow the sport over the 4 year period. One of these themes is facilities.
15.6.2 The ASA is not a provider of swimming facilities and has no funding, the role of the ASA in terms of facilities is therefore one of a catalyst or facilitator. Without an adequate and suitable provision of facilities for swimming, the ASA will fail to reach its key strategic objectives.14 It’s role in terms of facilities is mainly to support other organisations in helping to achieve growth in the sport.
15.6.3 With recent investment in Hyndburn helping to meet any latent demand (New swimming pool opened in 2012), it is unlikely that further increases in pool provision are required in the Borough. However, 2/3s of Hyndburn’s pool stock reside in buildings which are in excess of 30 years old. Both these pools were due to undergo extensive refurbishments before the governments free swimming capital modernisation pot was withdrawn. It is unlikely that funding will be available on this scale again in the near future, so any swimming related developments in Hyndburn would most likely require private funding.
15.7 Rugby League
15.7.1 In order to maximise its growth potential and build on its successes to date, Rugby League must meet the increasing demands of those who wish to enjoy it at every level. The provision of facilities which are appropriate to the needs and specification of their users is at the centre of those demands.15
15.7.2 Priorities of the RFL Facilities Strategy 2009-13 include:
Providing all weather flood lit training and match venues Training/changing facilities for clubs with large junior sections
15.7.3 With a growing rugby league presence in the borough and a lack of facilities (including grass pitches), there are opportunities worth exploring for links between the local rugby league
14 The ASA Strategy 2009-13 15 RFL Facilities Strategy 2009-13 Section III– National Governing Bodies and Local Organisation Plans
clubs and a number of high schools for converting existing facilities into those suitable for both outdoor rugby league and indoor rugby league training.
15.8 Cricket 15.8.1 Ensuring that appropriate facilities of the right standard are available is an essential requisite in the realisation of the National Strategy for Cricket. This Facilities Strategy analyses these requirements and identifies the main priorities for investment over the next few years. It is based upon an extensive survey of existing facilities in 2,700 clubs, consultation with County Cricket Boards (CCBs), the First Class and Recreational Forums, Sports England, Local Government Authorities and the English Federation for Disabled Sport.16
15.8.2 According to the strategy, in general terms there are sufficient indoor facilities. The main priority is for these to be upgraded with those catering for wider District and County requirements taking precedence. However, locally, there is no specialist indoor cricket training facility in the county. This is surprising given that cricket is one of the most popular sports in terms of participation in the county. Locally, there are 62 cricket teams in Hyndburn coming from 7 clubs and several “pub teams”.17
15.8.3 This highlights a possible demand for indoor cricket training facilities in Hyndburn, with the potential for current facilities to be converted for this type of use.
15.9 Other sports
15.9.1 Some consultation has also been had with other National Governing Bodies of Sport. NGB’s for volleyball and judo were involved in consultation with Accrington Academy. The Academy also consulted with NGBs for archery, handball and modern pentathlon.
15.9.2 Volleyball England did not include Lancashire as a priority area for investment and would therefore be unlikely to support any facility development financially, although highlighted that it was likely that there would be sufficient local demand to use such a facility if available.
15.9.3 The governing body for judo have a strong interest in developments in the local area, however, it is likely that current provision could be adapted to cater for this need. Accrington Academy will be looking to accommodate this within current facilities.
15.10 NGBs in Summary
15.10.1 The majority of information provided in this section is taken from desk based research of available NGB strategies. However, some face to face consultation did take place, particularly with England Basketball and England Netball.
15.10.2 In the context of this Hyndburn facilities strategy, the following points should be noted:
16 ECB National Facilities Strategy 17 Hyndburn Playing Pitch Assessment & Strategy 2011-16 Section III– National Governing Bodies and Local Organisation Plans
Many sports where facilities strategies were not readily available have not been included in this section of the strategy. Should partners look to invest or seek funding in facilities for other sports, it is strongly recommended that they consult with relevant NGBs
Many of the strategies considered expire in 2013. Some NGBs are in the process of renewing their strategies and preparing whole sport plans. It is strongly recommended that these are referred to where available for any future facility development.
16. Local Organisation Priorities 16.1 As part of the consultation process, local organisations where asked to provide details on their priorities in terms of investment in facilities.
16.2 Responses were received from 4 organisations, and are summarised below:
16.3 Hyndburn Leisure Trust
16.3.1 Work with other partners (education sector, local Football club) to develop a broad range of sport/leisure facilities that meet the needs of a diverse population with a general tendency to low incidence of participation in sport/physical activity. The Trust is particularly keen to explore transferring "traditional" sporting offers to more modern facilities within education/partner settings in order to develop more family orientated (not necessarily sport) facilities. NB It is envisaged that these facilities would have a commercial edge that would help to subsidise leisure activities for those on limited income.
16.3.2 In particular, we would focus on a redevelopment of the astro turf pitch at Hyndburn Leisure Centre. The Trust manages a full size sand based astro turf pitch at Hyndburn Leisure Centre, Accrington. At the current time the pitch surface is in a poor state (no significant investment to the surface since 1983) and is currently being considered for decommissioning as a sporting facility. Current user groups would be disbanded or signposted to alternative provision, which may present transport, access and cost issues.
16.3.3 We wish to secure the long term future of the outdoor facility by bringing together a collective of key participation and growth sports: Football, Athletics, Cycling, Hockey, Handball, Basketball and Netball; developing an innovative and accessible multipurpose facility (polymeric type 3 surface) built on a sound and sustainable business plan. Considerable work has been undertaken to engage NGBs / Clubs to establish latent demand and new product development to support the business plan. The Council may provide match funding for this project should another source of external funding be secured.
16.3.4 At Mercer Hall Leisure Centre, enhancement of the pool hall (surround and ceiling) and development of the front of the building as a flexible multi use area are our priorities.
16.3.5 At Wilson’s Athletics Track, the development of new changing room/pavilion complex to include small studio and gym facility is an option which we wish to pursue. This would bring an indoor facility to an area (Clayton-le-moors) low on facility provision and could be used for some level of indoor training from the local athletics club.
16.4 Accrington Academy Section III– National Governing Bodies and Local Organisation Plans
16.4.1 The Academy intend to develop an excellence arena that will form part of a Hyndburn Sports Village approach. The facility would house a sports hall, coaching centre and administrative base for NGBs. The development would also incorporate a community zone and lit pathways to further develop an infrastructure that would tie all sports together. The facility would be able to house up to national level competition and would have seating for 400. Consultation has taken place with several NGBs who have shown a high level of support.
16.5 New Era Complex
16.5.1 New Era is going through substantial change following Lancashire County Councils Young Peoples Service restructure. As a result of the restructure, New Era has been earmarked by Lancashire County Council’s Young People’s Service as Hyndburn’s 'The Zone'. This will see a shift from being more focused on community use to being more focused on young people use. This change is likely to occur in early 2013, although it is hoped that all current community users will be retained. As a result of this restructure, New Era will have building work carried out to make it into 'The Zone'.
16.5.2 It is currently uncertain how any proposed building work will affect current sport and leisure facilities at the site.
16.6 Norden High School and Sports College
16.6.1 Increasing public usage and good maintenance of the facility are our main priorities at present.
16.7 Summary of Local Organisation priorities
16.7.1 The is clear correlation between the priorities for investment between some of our local organisations and those of some of the National Governing Bodies. Opportunities presented by both Hyndburn Leisure Trust and Accrington Academy to work closely with NGBs to develop their facilities should be considered a priority for the Borough.
16.7.2 With responses received from only 4 organisations, further consultation with other facility providers should be carried out. This may identify opportunities for joint working in terms of facility development. Section III – Findings and Recommendations
17. Gaps in facility provision 17.1 Although by no means a comprehensive study of all facilities in Hyndburn, the desk based analysis used for producing this strategy has identified several issues or weaknesses in sport and leisure facility provision in the borough.
17.2 What is not as clear is the level of demand for facilities in Hyndburn. While the tools available via Sport England (Sports Facility Calculator, Facility Planning Model, Active Places Power etc) provide some insight into the demand for a given facility type, a more comprehensive review of demand would require further consultation, particularly with members of the public.
17.3 This section will briefly group together all the gaps in facility provision identified by this strategy.
17.4 The following have been identified as areas where supply does not (or may not) meet the demand for a facility type.
There are enough sports halls and courts to meet the current level of demand if all facilities were available for community use. However, the level of community use available, particularly at school sites means that at peak times there is likely to be some unment demand for sports hall and court provision.
There is a lack of access to sports halls/courts for people living in Baxenden, Clayton-le- Moors, Great Harwood and Huncoat. Not only do the nearest facilities fall outside of an acceptable catchment area, there is also a lack of good public transport links to facilities in the Borough from most of these areas.
People from the north of the borough have the greatest distance to travel to an artificial turf pitch.
There is a lack of indoor bowls facilities in Hyndburn.
There are no indoor tennis facilities in Hyndburn.
There are no regionally significant sports facilities in Hyndburn.
There is a lack of “specialist sport” facilities in Hyndburn.
There is no indoor cricket facility in Lancashire.
There is no indoor athletics facility in Pennine Lancashire.
Section III – Findings and Recommendations
18. Opportunities 18.1 Opportunities to improve or increase sport and leisure facility provision in Hyndburn are apparent. None more so than increasing the availability of community use of existing facilities, particularly those which are school based.
18.2 In terms of sports hall provision or number of courts, the 28 courts in the borough is more than enough to cater for the current demand, and any likely future demand due to increases in population or increased demand for sports hall based sports. That is, if all of these courts were available for community use. This presents several opportunities:
Identify sites where the community use of sports halls can be extended.
Schools to work together, sharing best practice between those who currently rent out their sports hall to the public and those who don’t
Explore options for joint working/dual use agreements with Hyndburn Leisure as is currently in place at Norden High School and Sports College.
Alternative use at Hyndburn Leisure – e.g. if there are enough courts across the borough providing access to mainstream sports (e.g. badminton, basketball etc) it may be possible for Hyndburn Leisure or one of the other providers to seek alternative uses for their sports hall/s. This would be dependent on other sites increasing the level of community access to their sports halls.
18.3 In addition, there is a clear opportunity for joint working between Hyndburn Leisure and Accrington Academy in terms of the newly built swimming pool. This could range from a small scale (e.g. assistance with pool programming, provision of swimming instructors/lifeguards) to a larger scale e.g. Hyndburn Leisure managing the community programme on behalf of the Academy.
18.4 A similar opportunity exists at Accrington and Rossendale College, where Hyndburn Leisure Trust may have the capacity to manage the new facilities (3G artificial pitch and gym) on behalf of the college.
19. Priority Options 19.1 In any partnership arrangement, it is difficult to get numerous parties to agree on the same priorities, as different actions will benefit different organisations. This is likely to be the case in terms of leisure providers in Hyndburn. Each school, council facility, private/voluntary club will see their plans or their facilities as the priority.
19.2 Choosing priorities for the strategy is a difficult process partly because there are so many competing needs but also because a balance must be struck between the rationale for any action or investment and the possibility of a real progress been made on it. For example, it could be argued that an Olympic size swimming pool in the borough is a priority, however, the likelihood of progress being made on such a priority is slim. Section III – Findings and Recommendations
19.3 The analysis in this strategy has identified gaps in provision which have been discussed. These should be considered alongside the priorities of National Governing Bodies of sport and to some extent the priorities of Hyndburn’s local sport and leisure facility providers. It is important the all the information gathered be considered collectively rather than in isolation when determining the priorities for Hyndburn, which are listed below:
To address the lack of access to both swimming pools and sports halls for residents in Huncoat and Baxenden wards.
To address the lack of access to swimming pools for residents in Rishton and Barnfield
To address the lack of access to sports halls for residents in Great Harwood and Clayton-le- Moors
Investment in a regionally significant sport and leisure facility in Hyndburn
Work collaboratively with NGBs whose priorities correspond to areas of need identified in Hyndburn and to the priorities of local organisations
To establish a closer working relationship between sport and leisure providers in the Borough
20. Recommendation Options 20.1 The following list of recommendations are based on the information provided throughout this strategy. While each recommendation stands on its own merit, it is important that these recommendations are not considered in isolation. For example, implementing one recommendation might negate the demand for implementing another, and therefore the bigger picture should be kept in mind when considering these recommendations.
Collectively commission in depth research in to the demand for sport and leisure facilities in Hyndburn with a particularly focus on public engagement
Seek funding for a new facility which incorporates use for indoor athletics in Baxenden / Hollins High School. Should this not be possible, there may be opportunities to convert existing facilities to enable indoor athletic use at other sites.
Improve public transport options from Baxenden and Huncoat to Leisure Centres in the Borough.
Increase the level of community access to existing school facilities
Explore the feasibility of Hyndburn Leisure Trust taking on the management of school based facilities across the Borough
Upgrade of / Change of use to the artificial turf pitch at Hyndburn Leisure Centre, particularly focusing on sports with NGB interest and high public demand. Section III – Findings and Recommendations
Seek funding to provide a basketball and netball performance centre on the site of Accrington Academy. Ensure that such facility be adaptable for use in other sports.
Work collaboratively to seek external funding to build a regionally significant facility in the Borough
Continue to invest in the refurbishment/upgrading of existing facilities
Consider change of use in facilities which there may not be the demand for e.g. consider alternative options for the sports hall at Hyndburn Leisure Centre (should community use be increased at other centres)
Organisations should communicate with each other during funding applications to avoid competing for the same funds where possible