Playing pitch sports
The detail relating to playing pitches and sports is included within the Playing Pitch Strategy (PPS) Assessment Report which looks at demand and supply across the borough seeking to deliver these objectives:
- ensure that all valuable facilities are protected for the long- term benefit of sport
- promote a sustainable approach to the provision of playing pitches and management of sports clubs
- ensure that there are enough facilities in the right place to meet current and projected future demand
- ensure that all clubs have access to facilities of appropriate quality to meet current needs and longer- term aspirations.
Planning Practice Guidance uses the following definitions of a playing pitch and playing field. These definitions are set out by the Government in the 2015 ‘Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order’.
Playing pitch is defined as a delineated area of 0.2 ha or more which is used for association football, rugby, cricket, hockey, lacrosse, rounders, baseball, softball, American football, Australian football, Gaelic football, shinty, hurling, polo or cycle polo.
Playing field – the whole of a site which encompasses at least one playing pitch.
Although the statutory definition of a playing field sets out a minimum pitch size of 0.2 ha, this PPS considers smaller sized sites that contribute to the supply side, for example, a site containing a mini 5v5 football pitch. This PPS counts individual grass pitches (as a delineated area) as the basic unit of supply. The definition of a playing pitch also includes artificial grass pitches (AGPs).
As far as possible, the assessment report aims to capture all of the outdoor sports facilities within Central Lancashire, although there may be instances, for example, on school sites, where access was not possible and has led to omissions within the report (although facilities at sites not accessed are still included within the PPS where provision is known to exist from other data sources). Where pitches have not been recorded within the report, they remain as pitches and for planning purposes continue to be so. Furthermore, exclusions of a pitch do not mean that it is not required from a supply and demand point of view.
Match equivalent sessions (MES)
Playing pitches have a limit of how much play they can accommodate over a certain period of time before their quality, and in turn their use, is adversely affected. As the main usage of pitches is likely to be for football matches, it is appropriate for the comparable unit to be match equivalent sessions but may for example include training sessions.
Based on how they tend to be played this unit for football, rugby union and rugby league pitches relate to a typical week within the season for each sport. For cricket pitches it is appropriate to look at the number of match equivalent sessions (MES) over the course of a season.
Pitch capacity
The capacity for pitches to regularly provide for competitive play, training and other activity over a season is most often determined by pitch quality. As a minimum, the quality and therefore the capacity of a pitch affects the playing experience and people’s enjoyment of playing football. In extreme circumstances it can result in the inability of the pitch to cater for all or certain types of play during peak and off peak times. Pitch quality is often influenced by weather conditions and drainage. As a guide, each National Governing Body has set a standard number of matches that each grass pitch type should be able to accommodate without adversely affecting its current quality (pitch capacity).
Future demand is an informed estimate made of the likely future demand for pitches in the study area. This is generally based on the most appropriate current and future population projections for the relevant age and gender groupings for each sport. Key trends, local objectives and targets and consultation also inform this figure.
Casual use or other use could take place on natural grass pitches or AGPs and include:
- regular play from non-sports club sources (e.g. companies, schools, fitness classes)
- infrequent informal/friendly matches or training sessions
- more casual forms of a particular sport organised by sports clubs or other parties
- significant public use and informal play, particularly where pitches are located in parks/recreation grounds.
The quality of playing pitch ancillary facilities has been assessed via a combination of site visits and user consultation to reach and apply an agreed rating as follows:
- good
- standard
- poor.
The ancillary facility rating is primarily influenced by the type of amenities which are available on a site accompanied by their quality, such as a clubhouse, changing rooms, showering provision, car parking, dedicated official and spectator facilities and boundary fencing.