Mansfield District Council Final Playing Pitch Strategy Assessment Report January 2016 Neil Allen Associates Registered Office: 20 Brook Road, Lymm, Cheshire, WA139AH A limited company, registered in England and Wales no. 616528 Mansfield District Council: Playing Pitch Strategy Assessment Report Contents Section 1: Introduction 1 Section 2: Methodology 4 Section 3: Context 12 Section 4: Cricket 25 Section 5: Rugby League 46 Section 6: Hockey 52 Section 7: Bowls 65 Section 8: Tennis 82 Section 9: Athletics 97 Section 10: Football 107 Section 11: Rugby Union 171 Section 12: Summary 188 Appendices A. Consultees List B. Playing Pitch Sports England Checklist C. Full List of Sites 2015-2016 D. Quality Assessment Criteria E. Summary of clubs using sports provision in Mansfield district F. List of lapsed sites Mansfield District Council: Playing Pitch Strategy Assessment Report Introduction Introduction and Scope 1.1 Mansfield District Council is working in partnership with Sport England and the National Governing Bodies of Sport to produce a Playing Pitch Strategy for the ten year period 2015 to 2025. 1.2 The strategy covers the sports of football, cricket, rugby (league and union) hockey, tennis, bowls and athletics. 1.3 This document is the assessment report for Mansfield District. It summarises the key issues arising from the assessment of facilities and informs the preparation of the strategy document (under separate cover). For each of the sports covered, it aims to; • summarise the current supply of playing pitches and outdoor sports facilities; • outline current demand for facilities and evaluate projected demand up to 2025; • evaluate the overall adequacy of provision to meet current and projected future demand; and • identify the key issues for the Mansfield District Council Playing Pitch Strategy to address. Key Drivers 1.4 To help achieve its planning aims Sport England has three planning objectives, which are to seek to protect sports facilities from loss as a result of redevelopment, to enhance existing facilities through improving their quality, accessibility and management and to provide new facilities that are fit for purpose to meet demands for participation now and in the future. 1.5 The key drivers for the production of this playing pitch strategy for Mansfield District Council can be related to these three tenets, as follows: • Protect: to provide evidence to inform policy in the emerging Mansfield Local Plan, and specifically to support Site Allocations and Development Management policies which will protect playing fields and their use by the community, irrespective of ownership. • Enhance: to ensure that sports facilities are effectively managed and maintained and that best uses are made of existing resources - whether facilities, expertise and/or personnel to improve and enhance existing provision – particularly in the light of pressure on local authority budgets. • Provide: to provide evidence to inform investment decisions and to help secure external funding for new facilities and enhancements through grant aid and also through Section 106 agreements. Mansfield District Council: Playing Pitch Strategy Assessment Report Page 1 1.6 Figure 1.1 illustrates how these components link together. Vision and Objectives 1.7 The strategy (and this assessment report, which supports the strategy document) seeks to support Mansfield District and its partners in attaining its vision for outdoor sports. 1.8 Mansfield will be an area where; • accessible, affordable and high quality opportunities are provided for all ages and abilities to experience and adopt a sporting habit for life; • outdoor sport is recognised and makes its contribution to addressing health inequalities; • outdoor sport contributes positively to the image and economy of the area, raising the profile as a sports friendly district; and • sports facilities are well maintained and managed and are viable and sustainable. 1.9 To achieve the strategic vision, the strategy therefore seeks to deliver the following objectives; • to ensure that the amount of pitches is sufficient to meet current and projected future need; • to provide facilities of appropriate quality; • to support increasing participation in the pitch sports and sustainable club development; and • to consider the rationalisation of sports pitches where appropriate to facilitate higher quality, viable and accessible facilities. 1.10 To do this, it is essential that provision for each sport continues to evolve and improve to meet with changing needs and aspirations. This assessment and strategy will guide the delivery of facilities for the relevant sports across Mansfield for the next ten years. Mansfield District Council: Playing Pitch Strategy Assessment Report Page 2 As part of this strategy work, a wider stakeholder group made up of relevant council representatives and sports consulting bodies informed the assessment work and actions in the strategy. These can be found in Appendix A. Mansfield District Council: Playing Pitch Strategy Assessment Report Page 3 Methodology Introduction 2.1 This section summarises the methodology that has been used in the preparation of this assessment report and the strategy document (i.e. action and implementation plan) that is under separate cover. The documents have been produced in line with guidance by Sport England: • Assessing Needs and Opportunities Guide for Indoor and Outdoor Sports Facilities (Consultation Draft; December 2013) and • ‘Playing Pitch Guidance, An approach to Developing and Delivering a Playing Pitch Strategy (Sport England 2013). 2.2 Several steps of the process are common to all sports and these are detailed below. The methodology for analysis is however varying for each sport (in line with the guidance documents) and this is explored in the sport specific sections. Consultation Process 2.3 As part of this process, relevant schools, sports bodies and clubs were consulted to inform views on quality, quantity, demand and other needs. Details of who has been involved in informing this assessment and strategy are provided in Appendix A. Consultation took place between April and December 2015. 2.4 A high proportion of teams in Mansfield District successfully engaged with the process as set out in Table 2.1. Table 2.1: Club Survey Response Rate Response Rate Athletics Football Cricket Rugby Rugby Hockey Tennis Bowls League Union 100% 75% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 84% Appendix A lists those who have been consulted to help inform this playing pitch assessment and strategy. Site Assessments 2.5 Sites assessments, surveys, and questionnaires were used to evaluate the existing quality and future needs of pitches and other sports provision. These took place during the playing season for each sport as required by the guidance. Site visits were therefore carried out as follows; • Summer sports - cricket, rugby league, tennis and bowls - April to August 2015 • Winter Sports - Football, hockey, rugby union - October and November 2015 Mansfield District Council: Playing Pitch Strategy Assessment Report Page 4 For each site an assessment matrix was completed. These matrices are different for each sport. The methodology to inform the quality scoring of sites is based upon that set out in the guidance documents and is available in Appendix D. Sports England Active People Surveys and Market Research Sport England produce theoretical tools which have been used to inform this assessment and to build up a picture of the potential sporting activity in Mansfield District. These include; Market Segmentation - Sports Market Segmentation is a web-based tool developed by Sport England to help all those delivering sport to better understand their local markets and target them more effectively. Sport England have split the adult population into 19 segments or types based on their age, gender, socio-demographic information, and overlaid sporting activity and preferences to show the sporting habits of each segment, their motivations to play sport, satisfaction with the sporting experience, top sports they currently play and would like to play, and factors that could encourage them to do more sport. Active People Surveys - The Active People Survey (APS) measures the number of adults taking part in sport across England and in each local authority area and provides a breakdown of participation in each sport. It can be used to evaluate how active the population are and to identify areas to improve participation. Geographical Analysis 2.6 The assessment covers the area within the local authority boundaries of Mansfield District. Research however identified some cross boundary movement (in particular with Ashfield District and Newark and Sherwood District). The impact of this is taken into account by considering the facilities outside of the district that are used by residents of Mansfield and the level of use of sites in Mansfield by non residents. The reasons for the cross boundary movement are also evaluated. This assessment is undertaken within sport specific sections. 2.7 To provide a further understanding of the spatial distribution of both supply and demand, as well as to add a geographical dimension to analysis, the district has been divided into two sub areas. These are illustrated on Map 2.1. The first covers the area of Mansfield urban area which includes all urban areas outside Warsop parish (e.g. Forest Town, Mansfield Woodhouse, Pleasley, etc.). The second focuses on Warsop parish, the more rural northern part of the district, including Market Warsop, Church