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Council to consult on new outdoor facilities guidance for proposed housing developments
Thursday 22 May 2025
Cabinet has approved the go ahead of a public consultation for the draft Outdoor Recreation Facilities Supplementary Planning Guidance (SPG) which provides planning direction for outdoor recreational spaces and facilities associated with new residential developments.
The SPG offers further guidance on the Provision of Outdoor Recreation Facilities Policy from the Replacement Local Development Plan, adopted in March 2024.
The policy requires developers to provide a specified quantity of recreational space to correlate with the size of the proposed housing development. This ensures that existing public amenities are not overstretched, and long-term sustainable communities are created, where everyone can access quality recreation spaces and facilities.
The SPG is aligned with the ‘Fields in Trust’ standards, which have become the recommended benchmark for the provision of recreation space and facilities. The guidance largely focuses on five types of recreational spaces, including support with their design, space allocation in relation to the size of the development, as well as costing assistance. The variety of facilities are outlined below:
- Playing pitches (1.2 hectares per 1,000 people), including areas marked for activities such as football, rugby union/league and cricket pitches.
- Other non-pitch outdoor sports (1.6 hectares per 1,000 people), such as tennis courts, bowling greens and athletics tracks.
- Equipped play areas (0.25 hectares per 1,000 people).
- Other outdoor provision (0.3 hectares per 1,000 people), which refers to sports facilities not included in the above categories, such as multi-use games areas and skate parks.
- Allotment provision (0.2 hectares per 1,000 people).
The SPG converts hectares per 1,000 people to square metres per dwelling to enable officers and developers to calculate the spatial requirement on-site.
In cases where the proposed development is unable to accommodate the required amount of recreational space on-site, financial contributions from the developer - equivalent to the cost of providing the required facilities on-site - may be used to support or enhance provision elsewhere in the vicinity of the development.
Additionally, the SPG helps to work out costings to maintain on-site and off-site facilities over a 25-year period.
This will support the local authority in seeking planning contributions to cover the cost of the provision and maintenance of recreation facilities throughout the county borough.
“The public consultation will influence the final shape of the SPG, which will be then forwarded to Cabinet and Council for approval. “Once adopted, the final SPG will support the interpretation and application of Provision of Outdoor Recreation Facilities Policy, provide more detailed advice to planning applicants, and will become a material consideration in the determination of planning applications. “The Outdoor Recreation Facilities SPG is pivotal in ensuring that we continue to offer high quality, inclusive and accessible recreational provision across the county borough. It will help to support the health and wellbeing of residents and will address any health inequalities that are linked to accessing outdoor recreation spaces.”