Selecting the Right Artificial Grass Surface
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Selecting the Right Artificial Surface for Hockey, Football, Rugby League and Rugby Union Foreword This new guidance and policy statement for planners and consultants, to schools and selecting the appropriate artificial sport surface universities as well as clubs and local authorities. has been jointly developed by the national In particular, the group is aware of the investment governing bodies (NGBs) of Hockey, Football, opportunities provided by major education-led Rugby Union and Rugby League in conjunction capital programmes and believe that this guidance with the Football Foundation and Sport England. will help ensure that the correct surfaces are selected and that maximum benefit is achieved especially Following the publication in August 2009 of where there is any loss of playing fields 4. England Hockey Board’s updated policy 1 on the 2 use of long pile 3G pitches , which allowed This new guidance is fully supported by all accredited long pile turf pitches to be used for members of the working group who intend to some competitive games, there was a real continue to work together to ensure that this opportunity for the National Governing Bodies guidance is used when any decisions are made (NGBs) to come together to develop joint guidance. with regard to selecting artificial surfaces for new This should ensure that any available investment pitches or replacing the playing surface of existing for artificial grass pitches is used in the most facilities. effective and strategic way to meet the needs of The members of the ‘AGP Working Group’ are: their sports. All the governing bodies agreed that the playing surfaces of artificial grass pitches England Hockey Board (EHB) (AGPs) 3 should be selected on the basis of clearly Football Association (FA) articulated needs and a strong evidence base. A joint working group was set up consisting of the Football Foundation (FF) NGBs, the Football Foundation and Sport England, to develop this guidance. Rugby Football Union (RFU) The group believes that this guidance should be Rugby Football League (RFL) used by everyone involved with AGPs from Sport England (SE) Getting as many people as possible to give sport a try “ is one of my top priorities so it’s important that new facilities are multi-use and accessible. As a keen hockey player and a fan of football and rugby I’m pleased to see them all working together to ensure that, where appropriate, artificial pitches are more versatile. Hugh Robertson” MP Minister for Sport and the Olympics 1 England Hockey Policy Long Pile Turf Pitches (3G), 1 August 2009. http://www.englandhockey.co.uk/page.asp?section=75§ionTitle=Facilities 2 Third Generation (3G) Pitches consist of long synthetic fibres infilled with a combination of rubber and / or sand granules specific to the performance characteristics required for individual sports. 3 Note: To avoid the current confusion in terminology, the members of the working group have agreed to use in the future the consistent term Artificial Grass Pitch or AGP to describe the range of facilities often also described as Artificial Turf Pitch (ATP) or Synthetic Turf Pitch (STP). For consistency the terms AGP and ‘artificial’ are used throughout this document. 4 For further information on the potential loss of playing fields please refer to: A Sporting Future for the Playing Fields of England Policy on planning applications for development on playing fields. http://www.sportengland.org/playingfields Contents 1. Introduction • Why is the guidance required? • Who should use this guidance? • Relationship to other technical guidance • Relationship to other strategic planning guidance • Strategic planning tools. 2. Methodology • How should this guidance be used? • What questions need to be asked? The 4 Step Process • Who can help with providing the answers? • What surface choices are available? • Prioritisation: The decision. 3. Conclusion 4. Appendices Appendix 1: Categories of Artificial Grass Pitches Appendix 2: Glossary of terms Appendix 3: References 5. Useful Contacts Introduction This guidance note has been developed by Sport • Cost driven decisions where the cheapest England, the England Hockey Board, the Football installation is accepted believing that ‘it will Association, the Football Foundation, the Rugby do’ as it is artificial grass and therefore suitable Football League and the Rugby Football Union for all sports only to find that the use of the and is intended to provide a simple, consistent, pitch is significantly limited due to safety and agreed methodology and approach to selecting sport specific criteria. the right type of artificial grass surface for playing hockey, football, rugby union and rugby league. Sports facilities on school sites This guidance is not about the detailed technical The Building Schools for the Future (BSF) and requirements as these are covered in depth in the Academies programmes are making significant published guidance of the governing bodies, investment into new and upgraded AGPs, and Sport England and The Football Foundation 5. therefore the BSF investment provides a real The technological advances in artificial grass in opportunity to deliver the right AGPs in the right recent years has led to the widespread use of places. It is the intention of the working group that artificial grass surfaces for training and competitive the methodology advocated in this document is play in rugby league, football, hockey and rugby used to inform the selection of AGPs on school union. Selecting the right surface can be very sites to ensure maximum benefit is gained for the confusing as each sport has its own specific school and the community by selecting the most performance requirements and subsequent testing appropriate surfaces for the site. criteria, and the picture is further complicated by the wide range of different artificial grass products Replacement of existing natural turf pitches that have specialised playing characteristics. To comply with Sport England Playing Field Policy It is not possible to provide a surface that can meet it is necessary, whenever there is a loss of a playing the needs of all sports therefore, it is essential that pitch, to make the strategic case for the new pitch the right artificial grass surface is selected to and its surface. One important consideration is maximise the benefit from the investment and whether the current pitch is used for competitive minimise the impact of any loss of playing field games and whether the new pitch surface will be which would result from the pitch construction 6. able to continue accommodating these. The guidance in this document will help users to decide This document sets out why, when and how the and then present their case to the local planning guidance should be used and by who, as well as authority as well as to Sport England in their remit signposting users to other relevant tools and guidance as statutory consultees. that complement and support this guidance. Change of AGP playing surface Why is the guidance required? There are now many AGPs where the playing The working group have identified there is currently surface needs replacing. In some cases it may be no clear guidance or common approach to the appropriate to consider installing a different playing selection of surfaces for AGPs and this has led, in surface to meet the local and strategic need. some cases to the incorrect selection of surfaces However, it is very important that the type of in particular as a result of: playing surface is not changed without proper consideration i.e. by using this methodology. It is • A lack of understanding of the wide range and also not recommended to change a surface type relative importance of the factors that need to just to meet the requirements of a particular be considered when selecting an AGP playing funding programme, unless this methodology has surface 7 been followed and the alternative surface identified as an appropriate decision. In some cases, for • Confusing and misleading statements by a example where Sport England funding has been few suppliers and installers of AGP surfaces involved, it should be noted that it is very unlikely either in misunderstanding what is required or that funders will agree to a change in surface type in extreme cases ‘pressure selling’ of their unless this methodology has been followed and particular product the proposed surface for the AGP approved. 5 See Appendix 3 6 See Sport England Playing Field Policy E5 and Planning Bulletin 8. 7 Note: Whilst reference is made to the playing ‘surface’, this also includes the overall construction including shock pad etc required to achieve the specified performance criteria. Who should use this guidance? Relationship to other technical This guidance has been developed to help a wide guidance range of users to make decisions strategically and This document is not intended to provide technical site specific with a consistent approach and guidance as this is covered in greater detail methodology. Listed below are some examples of elsewhere. However, it is based on the assumption who might use the guidance and how: that the detailed guidance available from the 8 organisations listed below will be followed, as • The national and regional facility officers of the doing so is critical to the long term success and FA, RFU, RFL and EHB will use this safe performance of any AGP: methodology to develop and implement facility strategies with partners • England Hockey Board • Local Authorities, Planning Authorities, Town • Football