Typical duties/typical work day: I head up KKP’s greenspace and open space portfolio; acting as lead specialist in this area. I am also KKP’s in-house planner; drawing upon knowledge of planning policy to ensure clients are provided with the most relevant and up to date recommendations
Current projects/regions: I’m working on key open and greenspace projects in Dover, Arun, Kettering, Wirral, Uttlesford and Bassetlaw
Favourite aspect (s) of job: I enjoy the variation in where we work and the problem solving of different challenges facing local authorities with regard to open spaces and the competing demands of future housing growth
Interesting job related facts: I’ve worked on around 40 open space projects in the last 3/4 years and over 100 projects in total during my time at KKP
Outside work: I have in last 6 months also trained as a RoSPA play area inspector and I am about to do my 9th year as a Green Flag Judge. I like swimming (including open water swimming) and I follow Moto GP
KKP’s pre-eminence in delivery of high-quality playing pitch strategies has been reinforced by further major commissions. We deliver more PPS needs assessments and strategies than any other UK practice and have unrivalled coverage across the ten UK Core Cities having delivered at least one iteration for nine – and worked with all ten.
One reason for KKP’s high reputation is the comprehensive, inter-personal on the ground consultation we deliver. This enables the gathering of a substantially greater level of local insight and understanding than can be generated from an over-reliance on survey returns. This in turn enables us to generate a comprehensive strategy and action plan which is key to driving investment into playing pitch improvements (e.g. from Section 106 and planning gain).
Recent (2019) commissions include Glasgow and Cardiff where we have worked to adapt the Sport England Guidance to account for the different sporting and planning landscapes.
Our work quality is reflected by the volume of re-commissions and the follow-up work in Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield.
Birmingham – the groundwork began in 2014, when we were commissioned to identify new delivery models for local grassroots football in Birmingham on a project jointly commissioned by the FA and Birmingham City Council. The latest PPS was delivered, by us, in 2016.
Liverpool – we completed the City’s 2013 PPS as a pilot for the new PPS Guidance: An Approach to Developing and Delivering a Playing Pitch Strategy (authored by KKP). We recently completed the 2018 update to inform the City’s FA Parklife programme.
Manchester – we produced the City’s 2017 PPS and Action Plan working closely with partners to develop a vision and objectives linked to potential FA Parklife submission. This iteration follows our delivery of its 2010 and 2013 strategies.
Newcastle – having completed its 2015 PPS we were commissioned to apply the Strategy and Action Plan to strategic housing developments and in doing so help to inform production of Sport England’s new Playing Pitch Calculator tool. We updated the City‘s PPS in 2018.
Nottingham – after delivering its 2015 PPS we were commissioned to update it in 2017/18 in lieu of a potential ‘Greater Nottingham’ application to the FA’s Parklife programme (which included hubs in Gedling, Rushcliffe and Newark & Sherwood – for which we have also delivered recent PPS assignments).
Sheffield – subsequent to completing its PPS in 2012 KKP was commissioned by the City Council and the FA to test the impact of developing a football hub sites across the city. This study gave birth to the FA’s Parklife funding initiative which has been rolled out nationally.
Key stats:
Total number of site assessments undertaken by KKP on Core City PPS projects 2,000
Total number of football clubs consulted with in Core City PPS studies c. 1,750
This is the
largest commission of its kind in the UK. The FA is looking to assess and set
out its priorities at local level so as to underpin delivery of its National
Facilities Strategy and inform discussion about required national levels of
investment with local authorities, football partners and other stakeholders.
KKP is close to
half way through its commission from the FA, DCMS, and the Premier League, to
deliver 330 local football facility plans (LFFPs) – one for every local
authority in England. The first 71 have been approved and another 80 are
in the process of final review by the FA or being signed off by individual
project steering groups prior to receipt by the FA.
A review of the
approved plans, which cover local authorities located in County FA areas of
West Riding, Birmingham, Cheshire, Manchester, Sheffield & Hallam plus
others, makes interesting reading. Thus far, a total of 1,850 separate projects
has been identified across key LFFP themes:
The development of 429 new 3G football turf pitches.
Improvements to 2,305 strategically significant grass pitches.
The development of new or refurbishment/replacement of 455 changing pavilions.
Creation of 506 small sided football facilities including multi use games areas and futsal venues.
The Football
Foundation is already working with partners to deliver the first tranche of
these over the next 3-5 years. Being able to operate with this level of
accuracy and detail is also enabling the FA, Government and partners to have an
informed in-depth discussion on how community football investment is
prioritised over the next decade.
KKP is
delighted to be delivering this ground-breaking work on behalf of the football
partners. We would like to thank colleagues across a range of organisations for
their input into the various plans; including the FA, Football Foundation,
County FAs, local authorities, clubs and community organisations.
This is an
exciting time for community football across the country: KKP is helping to
shape the facility base to enable the sustainability and development of the
sport for future generations.
