Pitch (Planning) Power!

KKP has recently received effusive feedback on our work successfully supporting local authority clients in Wirral and Birmingham at planning inquiries. In both cases, KKP colleagues were brought in to support and amplify playing pitch and outdoor sports facilities needs assessments and strategies (PPOSS), which we delivered, to defend the councils’ position opposing the potential loss of playing fields – to unwanted residential development.

One of the planning colleagues with whom we worked, in his feedback to KKP, cited the fact that his Authority had commissioned a comprehensive PPS and that the detail contained therein was thus robust, thorough and difficult to challenge. He went on to praise the way in which my colleague ‘prepared his evidence, defended it in the face of testing cross examination (from the appellant’s KC) and assisted the Council’s KC in his cross examination of the appellant’s equivalent expert witness’.

Sport England’s principal planning manager, who worked on both, weighed in making the point for the first inquiry, that ‘the Inspector clearly references the fact that the PPOSS protects the site and that there was no evidence presented that the appellant had explored bringing it back into use – I do believe that your evidence helped secure this decision’. This was followed up, for the second, by him saying ‘another good appeal decision, well done once again! – this one is particularly helpful as it’s clear that the inspector understood the PPOSS methodology when considering the case being made that the site was surplus’.

While we are rightly proud of our contribution to these planning inquiries, we are equally satisfied with the fact that the needs assessments upon which the defence is built enabled the local authorities (and KKP) to withstand what were described as ‘bruising’ and ‘gladiatorial exchanges’.

A key point, one regularly reinforced by our wider cohort of local authority planner clients, is that ‘PPOSS documents need to be kept up to date and regularly refreshed as both the availability of sites and user profiles are dynamic and subject to change’. This is critical. In another metropolitan authority, the growth in the number of football teams over the five-year period between KKP’s prior and most recent PPOSS delivery equated to circa 70 teams.

From a facility funding perspective, ensuring that such information is fully up to date is critical as, based on this specific example, it can be the difference between being able to secure developer contributions to build a full-sized 3G pitch as opposed to a much smaller and arguably less beneficial facility.

This scenario is, particularly in more densely populated urban areas, not uncommon fuelled by the seemingly inexorable growth of junior football of which a substantial component is the further evolution of the girl’s and women’s game.

The fact that housing is a central Government agenda and that the quest for land for housing development is as relentless as the growth in football means that the value of having an up-to-date, high quality, thorough, robust and regularly refreshed PPOSS is, arguably, higher than it has ever been.

For more information about the above, or if you would like to discuss your upcoming PPOSS requirements contact Steve Wright (steve.wright@kkp.co.uk).

KKP is the UK’s leading authority on, and deliverer of, playing pitch, outdoor sports, indoor sports and open spaces needs assessments and strategies (plus combinations thereof). www.kkp.co.uk

The FA National Facilities Strategy: The Football Foundation commissions KKP to update 200+ local football facilities plans

The number, condition and accessibility of grassroots football facilities (natural grass and 3G) have an ongoing impact on participation (among male and female players of all ages) and on the value and effectiveness of the domestic player pathway.

The FA’s 10-year strategy to change the landscape of football facilities in England has, for the last 4-6 years, been underpinned by an action plan for investment in every local authority, referred to as a local football facility plan (LFFP). These are utilised, by the Football Foundation and county FAs as one (among others) of the strategic indicators of facility need (albeit preferably endorsed by an up-to-date PPS generated needs assessment) and thus help to justify Foundation capital investment.

Working closely with the FA and county FAs, the Football Foundation, Sport England and the DCMS, KKP delivered the original LFFP programme. Run over an intensive two-year period, all 318 LFFPs, one for each local authority in England, were completed by between 2018 and mid-2020.

The feedback on existing facilities received at the time as part of the LFFP process mirrored the national strategy painting a picture of poor-quality grass pitches, changing pavilions requiring refurbishment and insufficient club/team access to sports lit, 3G football turf pitches.  Having, as part of that process, spoken directly to over 2,000 grassroots football clubs, 300 local authorities plus a range of other stakeholders, the LFFPs developed by our team and the county FAs identified an excellent portfolio of pipeline projects.

This new round of refreshed LFFPs will update information held at all levels about the extent to which projects listed in the original plans have been implemented and the impact on local supply/demand. The process will also ensure that the new LFFPs reflect the 13% year-on-year growth in levels of participation in the girl’s and women’s game – which necessitates additional consideration in respect of the nature and quality of ancillary provision. Arguably also fuelled by the success of the national team, it is predicted that women and girls will account for 21% of all football demand by 2030.

It also reflects the Government’s desire to see that a wider range of sports benefit from this investment.

The majority (200+ and possibly up to 250) of the LFFPs originally commissioned are being updated. In some instances, local government structural change (resulting in fewer individual local authorities) need now to be accounted for. There is also a need for revised national capital expenditure estimates to inform the FA/ Football Foundation dialogue with the new Government about future investment in playing pitch provision.

Claire Waldron, Senior Facilities Planning Manager at the Football Foundation said ‘we are pleased to have commissioned KKP to update the excellent work delivered on the first round of LFFPs. KKP was commissioned, because of the quality of its submission, its knowledge and understanding of the LFFP process and because of its continued pre-eminence delivering playing pitch strategies – the findings and recommendations from many of which will usefully inform this process’.

Paul Hughes, Senior Consultant at KKP who is leading the national refresh process said ‘we were delighted to have been commissioned to deliver this assignment. In so doing, we are looking to build on the strong stakeholder commitment when we ran the original LFFP process, our own PPS-generated information and the excellent relationships we have with the Foundation, county FAs, NGBs and other partners in the sector’.

Contact: Paul Hughes: Senior Consultant (paul.hughes@kkp.co.uk)

 

Notes

KKP is a leading UK-based multi-disciplinary national and international sports consultancy practice. It offers specialist advice and impartial, objective and creative support to a wide portfolio of clients.

Full detail about KKP’s work, clients and projects is available at www.kkp.co.uk

 

KKP – delivering the Birmingham Sports Strategy

In mid-2023, Birmingham City Council commissioned KKP to deliver the City’s new 10-year Sports Strategy.

The aim is to create a vision for sport in Birmingham informing its ambition to get more people participating in sport and providing opportunities from grassroots through to elite performance. Having now undertaken a good proportion of the consultation KKP is, taking account of the financial pressures that the City Council now faces, reviewing the whole sports offer in the City and is in the process of developing its revised strategy framework.

The Sports Strategy, reflecting the substantively altered fiscal circumstances of the City, will help to provide realistic direction for the Council in its maintenance, development and delivery of sustainable sport, across services and facilities and inform how it meets the needs of residents and local communities. It is being co-ordinated with and delivered alongside the Physical Activity Strategy concurrently being developed by the City’s Public Health team. This will ensure a joined-up approach and vision.

It will align to Sport England’s ‘Uniting the Movement’ and Sport Birmingham’s ‘Uniting Birmingham’ strategies and is being developed within the context of Birmingham’s ‘Be Bold’ outcomes, the City’s Corporate Plan and Major Events Strategy. Birmingham and Solihull is also a Sport England Local Delivery Pilot (LDP) area.

Birmingham is the largest local authority in Europe. With a population of almost 1.2 million, it has a significantly younger and more ethnically diverse population profile than the national average.

Renowned for its passion for sport, Birmingham has, to date, annually hosted a series of major sporting events. In summer 2022 it staged the most inclusive Commonwealth Games ever showcasing its ability to deliver an international major event, inspiring local people to get involved and demonstrating sport’s ability to impact local communities and provide wider social benefit.

The City’s diverse range of sports clubs, community organisations and voluntary groups all provide opportunity for people to engage in sport and physical activity from informal entry level to organised activity and competition and up to talent and elite performance levels. Their work is delivered by a huge, dedicated workforce of volunteers, coaches, officials and administrators.

The City’s public and privately operated sports and leisure facilities including the Alexander Stadium, and other Commonwealth Games funded venues accommodate a significant proportion of this participation and provide a range of sporting opportunities for residents.

Birmingham is also one of Britain’s greenest cities. More than one fifth of its area comprises parks, nature reserves, allotments, golf courses and playing fields, many linked by rivers, watercourses and its extensive canal network. This will be further enhanced by implementation of the Our Future City: Central Birmingham Framework 2040.

A key issue is the part sport plays in tackling physical inactivity levels and addressing substantial inequalities in participation. Birmingham is the 7th most deprived local authority area in the country, 43% of its population resides in the 10% most deprived areas in England (IMD 2019) and this figure rises to 51% among under 16s. The Sports Strategy will consider and proscribe the role that sport will play in engaging the City’s deprived and ethnically diverse communities, women, disabled people, and those with long term health conditions.

Dave Wagg, Head of Sport and Physical Activity at Birmingham City Council commented “we are delighted, with the support of Sport England, to be working with KKP on this strategy. We are fully aware of the depth, breadth and quality of the Company’s work and welcome its review of what we do, where why and how – and how we can best adapt to the present situation. The intention is to build upon our strengths and identify key areas for improvement. A key reason for KKP’s appointment is its proven expertise and major city strategy experience in Manchester, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Sheffield, Bristol, Cardiff and, of course, previously in Birmingham”.

Andrew Fawkes, principal consultant at KKP is leading KKP’s Sports Strategy project team. He commented: ‘KKP is proud to be entrusted with this work with the City Council and partners on this strategy at what is a difficult time. We are working closely with key staff and stakeholders to help it consider and take on the very considerable challenges that developing a directive and impactful strategy now presents.

Andrew Fawkes is available for interview. Please contact KKP via (0)161 764 7040 or email andrew.fawkes@kkp.co.uk

KKP is online at www.kkp.co.uk

Notes for editors

KKP is a leading UK-based multi-disciplinary national and international practice. It offers specialist advice and impartial, objective and creative consultancy support to a wide portfolio of clients. This commission builds on KKP’s extensive track record in this field – which includes delivery of sport/physical activity strategies for, among others, Liverpool, Nottingham, St Helens, Wyre, Blackpool and LB Bromley.

Full details of KKP’s work, clients and projects are available at www.kkp.co.uk

Play – training for the unexpected!


Children’s play facilities are still an important aspect of leisure provision for young people but there is also a growing recognition of the place of X-sports in local authority open spaces’ and facilities strategies. Paul Barrett explains how some of KKP’s recent projects offer some pointers for the future.

To the casual observer it is easy to overlook play facilities as one of the essential elements of an open spaces or sports facility strategy. There they are: adjacent to or part of a park or open space, quiet for much of the day during the school week until they fill with children and accompanying adults when the school day ends. However, if you are or have been one of those parents or carers, you will be all too aware of how important these play spaces are to a huge number of people, younger and older, across the community.

The stated mission of Play England is for England ‘to be a child-friendly country where all children and young people have freedom to play at home, at school, in parks and public spaces…where all children and young people can regularly play and have the freedom (time, space, permission and opportunity) to do so’. It considers play to be ‘an essential part of every child’s life and vital for the enjoyment of childhood as well as social, emotional, intellectual and physical development’.

Play needs assessments and strategies often function as a starting point for consideration of facility provision in a wider context – sometimes as a stand-alone process but most often as part of an open spaces’ strategy. KKP’s extensive experience in this field includes recent play strategies for Reading, Dudley and South Somerset. Each of these is a good example of how play provision is about much more than the installation and maintenance of equipment.

First and foremost, it is vital to consider play sites as part of a whole environment. This starts with an assessment of supply and demand: has the area (usually a local authority area) got sufficient provision of the right scale and quality in the right places to provide for the communities that need them now. We then consider population growth and projected housing development and the extent to which they are going to create greater demand in the future?

These judgements are not subjective. Fields in Trust provides guidance and recommendations for different catchment areas for play provision, which offers a useful starting point. In its guidance, play areas are generally classified as LEAPS (local equipped areas of play) or the normally larger NEAPS (neighbourhood equipped areas of play). Each of which reflects likely requirements for space and facility provision. Having evaluated what is there, we review and analyse the catchment areas they serve verifying the extent to which provision can be deemed to be sufficient and accessible to key local communities and populations.

Provision gaps and the quality of what is ‘on site’ is then evaluated: is it well-located (in the right place!), visible, well-lit, safe? Are the facilities and equipment in place appropriate? Is the condition not only of the available equipment but of the surrounds, surfaces and adjacent spaces and amenities good or poor? Should/could it be replaced, reimagined or even relocated?

If there are deficiencies, we consider what can be done to meet the standards of the guidance and the expectations of local communities. However, the answers to such questions are rarely quick or simple.

Quality assessment of facilities is underpinned by consultation with local communities, local officers and those involved and engaged with young people and youth provision. These conversations, often delivered alongside site visits, reveal challenges and options that may not be immediately obvious to the outside eye. For example, it is not uncommon (and is often a positive idea) to locate children’s play space adjacent to basketball courts, skateparks, multi-use games areas (MUGAs), and informal football provision.

On occasions, however, the use of sports play spaces can be dominated by specific groups or sometime predominantly male users – which can then impact perceptions of play provision accessibility and safety. This prompts questions about what can be done to improve the relevance and quality of provision for disabled people or to actively encourage women’s and girls’ usage and activities. This encompasses what facilities (and combinations thereof) might work best and how spaces can be made welcoming for everyone who might want to use them. Sport England has published useful guidance on how to make facilities look, feel and be safer for women and girls.

In addition, while provision of facilities and activities for young people is often well supported by local residents, there can be an underlying assumption among some that ‘youth provision’ is inevitably accompanied by anti-social behaviour. However, frustrating such assumptions might be, they need to be discussed and addressed if strategies are to be optimally effective. This is addressed via consultation with local youth groups and those who will use specific facilities. In addition to seeking to address the concerns of residents and stakeholders, this can also work to ensure that young people ‘own’ (and are subsequently inclined to use and look after) any new play equipment installed.

Alongside play strategies, we also assess cycling and walking access and related strategies. A recent assignment for Northwest Leicestershire Council involved assessing linkages between residential areas, key places of work, education, leisure, heritage, retail and other amenities across four main areas of population. Working extensively with Sustrans, we delivered extensive consultation with local communities, stakeholders and interested groups (of which there were many) all of which asked interesting questions and made constructive suggestions – helping produce a better outcome as the strategy progressed. This was supplemented via the use of data sources as an evidence base to support route proposals. These included the Propensity to Cycle Tool, an online and interactive planning support device which provides an evidence base to inform investment in cycling.

A, just completed, KKP facility strategy assignment which falls firmly into the ‘out of the ordinary’ category is our work assessing need for action (X) sport (skateboarding, BMX, in-line skating and scootering) facilities in Manchester. Reflecting the increased profile of skateboarding and BMX following their inclusion in the Olympic Games it is intended to build on the connection with younger participants and competitors and to cater more effectively for the high level of participation and interest in the City.

In Manchester we assessed the feasibility (and the potential component elements) of a major skateboarding and freestyle BMX indoor facility as part of its elite sport provision. This process was undertaken alongside a needs assessment and the development of a strategy for provision of new and improved skate and BMX facilities at outdoor and park sites across the city.

In implementing this, the City is looking to offer a high-quality, easily accessible network of X-sport venues. These will both better serve the recreational ambitions of people in all its communities and, possibly, offer an entry point via which someone ends up on the path to elite competition and Olympic glory.

While the sports themselves are relatively new to the realm of elite and certainly Olympic competition, the planning process remains essentially the same. It incorporates in-depth data-collection, effective use of KKP’s sector-leading geographic information systems (GIS) to assess accessibility and reach into key communities plus a wide range of community-based meetings and consultation.

We gathered the views of local residents, existing facility users and interest groups, liaised with the national governing bodies of the various sports, conducted numerous site visits and extensive research to create a range of proposals and options for viable and sustainable facilities that will both stimulate use and stand the test of time.

The process also involved KKP team members assessing the approach taken to developing outdoor action sports facilities in European cities such as Malmo and Bordeaux and visiting existing indoor/outdoor skateboarding provision in Northamptonshire, Nottingham and Lancashire.

While these highly valuable learning opportunities took us out of our immediate sporting comfort zones, we are looking forward to revealing our inner X sport radical selves in due course. To provide accurate and informed assessments of the installation and maintenance costs of provision KKP worked with Abacus Associates and, given its extensive experience of skate and BMX facility design, we are confident that our team will emerge from this process with a first-class strategy and only minor grazes.

The City of Manchester is forward looking in the way in which it is considering investment in such facilities. The newly acquired elite status of X sports fits well with Manchester’s vision of itself as a national and international focal point for both elite and community sport – and play. With a large, diverse population, good regional connections and national transport links, numerous NGBs have already made it their home in and X sports are a welcome addition to the roster.

Paul Barrett is a senior consultant with KKP.

KKP to deliver national officials feasibility study for Ireland

Sport Ireland, working in partnership with Sport Northern Ireland, has commissioned KKP to deliver research, consultation and recommendations to inform development of a national technical officials’ development plan (TODP) for Ireland.

This action directly reflects, and is an immediate response to, commitments made in, Sport Ireland’s recently launched Statement of Strategy 2023-2027 and Sport NI’s Corporate Plan 2021-26.

It follows hard on the heels of the Review of Women’s Sports Officiating in Ireland undertaken by KKP in 2022 and will utilise and build upon the findings of that process. The TODP report will:

  • Identify and describe the range of roles undertaken by technical officials in Ireland.
  • Assess levels of activity among technical officials in Irish sport and consider the key factors which affect recruitment, retention and attrition.
  • Evaluate the needs of technical officials and of those who support them.
  • Review the support currently provided to technical officials and those working to support them.
  • Make recommendations about what should be included in the TODP and how it should be led, resourced and managed.

Sport Ireland and Sport NI are actively seeking to secure strong support for this process from NGBs (all Ireland and NI) plus the active participation and support of other key agencies such as LSPs and third sector education providers. To this end, NGBs and others with an interest in this process are being encouraged to:

  • Confirm their willingness to be consulted and to indicate who, within their organisations might be the most appropriate contact.
  • Make it possible to include as many current and former technical officials as possible from the widest cross-section of sports in a national survey – scheduled to be conducted in spring 2024.

Consultation, survey and focus group/ workshop processes will include and capture the views of:

  • People involved (an a paid/voluntary basis) in the recruitment/organisation/training/support of officials.
  • Current/aspiring/former paid and voluntary technical officials from a wide range of individual/ team sports, disability sport and sports where specialist officiating is required.
  • Officials ‘covering’ all levels and types of technical experience and the full range of roles.
  • People with expertise/opinions in respect of volunteering issues for officials and knowledgeable representatives from the education system and LSPs.

The process is scheduled to run between November 2023 and May 2024.

Project leads are Fiona Larkin at Sport Ireland (flarkin@sportireland.ie) and Michael Cooke from Sport Northern Ireland (michaelcooke@sportni.net).

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KKP is one of the UK’s largest independent sport and leisure management practices. It delivers planning, consultancy and research services to the sports sector in the UK, Ireland, China and Southeast Asia.

Contact: John Eady (CEO) john.eady@kkp.co.uk