MERTON SPORTS PITCH STRATEGY FINAL REPORT JUNE 2011 Contents Section 1: Introduction 1 Section 2: Strategy Methodology 4 Section 3: Population and Sports Participation Profile 10 Section 4: Strategic Context 35 Section 5: Overview 41 Section 6: Artificial Grass Pitches 52 Section 7: Football 63 Section 8: Cricket 80 Section 9: Rugby 92 Section 10: Hockey 102 Section 11: Bowls 108 Section 12: Tennis 114 Section 13: Other outdoor sports 120 Section 14: Multi-use Games Areas 129 Section 15: Strategy and Recommended Actions 132 Section 16: Monitoring and Review 149 Glossary 150 Appendices Appendix 1: Population Change Appendix 2: Population by sports specific age groups Appendix 3: Sites and Pitches Appendix 4: FPM Appendix 5: Football Teams Appendix 6: Cricket Teams 1. Introduction Purpose Neil Allen Associates was commissioned during January 2011 to produce an in depth Sports Pitch 01 Strategy for the borough, in order that an objective assessment can be made about the current supply and demand for pitches and the potential future requirements for pitch sports needs in Merton over the next 15 years. The study updates previous strategies undertaken for the Council in 2004 and 2010. Merton contains a diverse wealth of green and open space, varying between historical parks and gardens, large open and wooded commons, local amenity spaces, equipped and natural play, and sports facilities. As in many other areas playing fields and other outdoor sports facilities are increasingly coming under pressure for alternative uses, while at the same time there is an ongoing and changing demand for places to play sport. If continuing demand is to be met, effective planning of pitch provision to ensure that there are sufficient pitches of the right quality, and in the right place, is of increasing importance. The strategic and policy context for sport and recreation provision continues to evolve. Investment is under close scrutiny and there is significant pressure to achieve more and better services with fewer resources. As Sport England has stated: ‘alongside this is a fresh drive for localism, promoting greater accountability for service delivery and improvement and giving more flexibility and responsibility for delivery to both local authorities and their communities’. This presents further challenges as well as new opportunities for thinking innovatively about how services are delivered. Drivers This strategy is required to: • Provide a robust and up to date picture of supply and demand in the borough, • Inform decision making on the need for new and enhanced pitch provision both now, and as the population grows, and the profile of the population changes • Support the creation of appropriate policy within the Local Development Framework and facilitate decisions on the protection and disposal of playing fields • Guide a strategic and innovative approach to the delivery of playing pitches in the borough up to 2026, linking with National Governing Body, regional and local priorities and in the context of the challenging financial environment. Merton Sports Pitch Strategy – June 2011 1 • Provide a strategic context for any funding opportunities that arise for playing pitch provision in the future Strategic vision The strategic vision for the report can be summarised as follows: ‘An accessible, high quality and sustainable network of sports pitches and other outdoor sports facilities, which provides opportunities for participation by all residents of the borough at all levels of play from grassroots to elite’. Objectives The objectives of the study were set by the Council and are summarised as follows: • Undertake an audit of existing pitches including the assessment of quality, accessibility and quantity of pitch sport facilities in the borough, distinguishing between sites in secured community use and sites that are not • Provide an overall pitch quality score and benchmark with other authorities both in the area and more widely • Carry out a pitch assessment of current and future need and opportunities around turf, sand and artificial pitches, in line with Planning Policy Guidance Guide 17: Planning for open space, sports and recreation (PPG 17) taking into consideration the projected population and development trends, in a variety of sports over the period to 2026 • Understand trends and needs of different users (e.g. male, female, children, disabled) including an analysis on where users are coming from • Produce maps of all marked playing pitches and develop a database of all facilities at pitches (including pitch capacity, floodlights, changing room facilities, security and accessibility) • Identify teams utilising playing pitches to set up a database of contacts, establish team generation rates (rates of teams using pitches) for whole year use if possible and assess seasonal supply and demand of pitches in all areas of the borough • Identify potential “new” sports taking into account future population trends for South West London and having regard to sports provision in neighbouring boroughs. • Identify sites for possible future pitch use from green land and sites of sufficient size to be used as sports pitches according to identified demand/possible future demand • Prepare a schedule of criteria for development that will create a future need and necessitate contributions for sport pitches, and provide evidence to support the collection of planning contributions/obligations for any future green infrastructure needs identified in the assessment. Merton Sports Pitch Strategy – June 2011 2 Methodology This strategy has been developed following the methodology outlined by Sport England in ‘Towards a Level Playing Field – A Manual for the Production of Playing Pitch Strategies’ (TaLPF) and also draws on the principles of National Planning Policy Guidance Note 17. In addition the study has also drawn on various Sport England strategic planning tools including the Facilities Planning Model, Active Places Power, Active People and Market Segmentation. Scope The strategy considers the adequacy of provision for key pitch sports in Merton, mainly: • Football • Cricket • Rugby Union • Hockey. It also considers other provision of particular importance in the sporting context of Merton, including: • Aussie Rules, American and Gaelic football • Lacrosse and other less popular pitch sports • Tennis • Bowls • Artificial Grass pitches (AGPs) which are used for football, rugby and hockey. and Multi Use Games Areas (MUGAs). Sub areas For the purpose of the study, the borough has been subdivided into sub areas based on those used by the Council in the Core Strategy (see below) Timescale The study was commissioned in early 2011, and the main field work undertaken during the winter months of February and March. The final document was submitted in June 2011 Merton Sports Pitch Strategy – June 2011 3 2. Strategy Methodology This section sets out the methodology that has been used to develop the playing pitch element of the strategy for Merton. The strategy has been developed in line with ‘Towards a Level Playing Field: 02 A Manual for the Production of a Playing Pitch Strategy’ (Sport England, 2003) (TaLPF). The aim of the Playing Pitch Methodology (PPM) is to determine the adequacy of pitch supply in a given area to meet current and future demand and to guide the development of a strategy for the future delivery of pitch sports. It seeks to promote the development of strategies that reflect the local situation. The methodology comprises eight stages, which broadly cover the issues of supply and demand. While stages one to six are largely numerical calculations, designed to evaluate the current supply and demand, it is steps 7 and 8, the evaluation of issues and solutions, which are the essential components of a successful strategy. The key stages of the Playing Field Methodology are set out in the figure below. Figure 2.1 - The key stages of the Playing Pitch Methodology Stage 1 Identifying teams Stage 2 Calculating home games per team per week Stage 3 Assessing total home games per week Stage 4 Establishing temporal demand for games Stage 5 Defining pitches used/required on each day Stage 6 Establishing pitches available Stage 7 Assessing the findings Stage 8 Finding solutions Merton Sports Pitch Strategy – June 2011 4 Our approach Demand (Steps 1 – 5) The success of the methodology depends largely on obtaining as accurate a tally as possible of the number of teams and pitches within Merton borough. To achieve this, a full audit of pitches, users and providers within the authority boundary was conducted, in conjunction with National Governing Bodies (NGBs) for Football (the FA), Cricket (the ECB), Rugby Union (the RFU), and Hockey (EH). This audit involved: • Use of data collected by National Governing Bodies on participation in their sports and the surrounding area and discussions with National Governing Bodies on the issues arising • Cross referencing of NGB data through discussions with local league secretaries, fixture lists, pitch booking lists and internet research • Clarification telephone calls to clubs and providers. Facilities on the edge of Merton’s boundaries were also considered. As well as collecting baseline data on the teams participating in and around Merton, a consultation exercise was carried out in order to provide full understanding of the issues and challenges currently experienced. This comprised: • Discussions with National Governing Bodies covering current issues and key policy and facility priorities • Discussions with officers