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Agenda item
Draft Sports Facilities and Playing Pitch Strategies
- Meeting of Heritage, Culture and Leisure Committee, Tuesday 4th September, 2018 6.30 pm (Item 53.)
- View the background to item 53.
Minutes:
Mr Mark Egerton, the Strategic Planning Manager and Mr Tony Ploszajski, the Consultant who produced the draft strategies, presented a report on the draft Sports Facilities and Playing Pitch Strategies. It was noted that the Strategies would form part of the Council’s evidence base for the review of the Maidstone Borough Local Plan.
The strategies assessed the quantity, quality, accessibility and availability of the Borough’s indoor and outdoor sports facilities and playing pitches.
In response to questions from Members, Mr Egerton and Mr Ploszajski advised that:-
·
Travel Times -
Catchment times were assessed for different facilities, for example
sports halls and swimming pools were 20 minutes driving time which
is the nationally recognised catchment but for other facilities the
driving time could be longer.
·
There should be a comparison for walking (distance
from home to the sports facility) as not everyone has a
car.
·
Football Pitches - Adult football was in decline but youth and mini soccer was in
high demand. This was complicated by
the fact that the Council’s football pitches were maintained
to an appropriate quality for recreational football but there were
more well maintained pitches by Parish
Councils outside of the town which some clubs preferred to
use. This was the reason why the
use of Council pitches were
falling.
·
It was noted that the FA had stated that by next
year they would like half of all youth and mini soccer matches to
be played on 3G pitches which were better quality surfaces.
A 3G pitch would cost in the region of £0.75m and that
re-surfacing needed to be undertaken on a 10 year basis which would
cost around £200k. However, a
good return could be made on the hiring out of these
pitches.
·
Sports Facilities
- There were many School sites that had the
appropriate facilities and opportunities to utilise these
facilities where possible should be explored instead of building
new facilities nearby.
There was a demand for an additional hockey pitch in
the South Park area but not for a full pitch but the supply was
elsewhere.
Should a sports facility be privately owned then the
Council would not be liable for any expenditure.
·
Facilities for running and cycling were not featured
as these activities did not necessarily require dedicated
facilities.
·
Moving Forward - Consultation would be carried out with Councillors on
facilities within their own Ward.
The Council needed to establish what its role was, a
facilitator and/or a provider.
The Committee would be provided with a copy of the final report prior to its presentation to Strategic Planning, Sustainability & Transportation Committee on 8th January 2018.
RESOLVED:
1)
That the strategies that form part of the
Council’s evidence base be noted and the comments on the
documents be referred to Strategic Planning, Sustainability and
Transportation Committee for consideration prior to re-engagement
with key stakeholders and all Ward Councillors;
2)
That the Committee conduct an in-depth review of
Sports Provision in the Borough once the new Leisure Officer has
been appointed and the draft Sports Facilities and Playing Pitch
Strategies have been finalised;
3)
That the Strategic
Planning, Sustainability and Transportation Committee are
recommended to expedite the consultation with Ward Councillors on
the draft Sports Facilities and Playing Pitch Strategies;
4)
That the Strategic Planning, Sustainability and
Transportation Committee are recommended to consider the
accessibility and affordability of facilities in the
borough.
Voting: For: Unanimous
Supporting documents:
- Draft Sports Facilities and Playing Pitch Strategies, item 53. PDF 92 KB View as HTML (53./1) 124 KB
- Appendix 1 Sports Facilities Strategy, item 53. PDF 7 MB View as HTML (53./2) 1 MB
- Appendix 2 Playing Pitch Strategy, item 53. PDF 12 MB View as HTML (53./3) 3 MB