NEWS RELEASE
ISSUE DATE: 28 November 2024
London Sport commissions KKP to deliver its Playing Field Protection Project
London Sport is working with Sport England to review and tackle issues associated with loss of access to, and the closure of, playing fields in the capital. These facilities are vital to enable various communities to engage in sport and physical activity in London, but some are being lost even where there is clear evidence of demand.
The key issues about which London Sport, Sport England and other stakeholders are concerned include the:
- Strength and capacity of the planning system and Sport England to protect playing fields –loss is still occurring despite valid objections.
- Increasing number of sites categorised as “at risk of closure” and the reduced levels of community access to existing playing field sites.
- Uneven spread of playing field provision in London – which exacerbates the inequalities faced by certain groups in accessing playing field provision.
- Lack of an up-to-date evidence base to help justify playing field protection.
As a consequence, a project has been instigated to improve sector understanding of the challenges and emerging trends impacting playing field access and protection in London – and to lay the necessary evidence foundation to outline potential for future advocacy efforts.
Having attracted strong interest and in the face of strong competition, London Sport has awarded the contract to deliver this vital work to Knight, Kavanagh & Page (KKP). This decision is based on the strength of the Company’s sports consultancy credentials, its track record in playing pitch needs assessments and strategies, its delivery of national facility strategies for a range of sports and its experience delivering mitigation strategies and related planning system expertise.
The primary outcome of the work will be to provide London Sport and partners with the case for, and ideas about how to develop, an appropriate platform from which to effectively protect/support key agencies to protect playing fields across London. This is likely to encompass:
Evidence and data to support advocacy – so that all agencies involved are optimally positioned to ‘make the case’. Underpinning this will be review of existing London playing pitch strategies (PPS), development of an updated audit/database of, plus GIS mapping tools covering, existing playing fields. This is to be accompanied by advice in respect of the development of frameworks/protocols to drive all-agency consistency of data collection, storage and analysis. It should also enable the running of key scenarios to test the impact of site loss/reduction (and conversely the positive value of site improvement).
Advocacy – geared to persuading all parties of the value and importance of local and central government taking a (more) strategic approach to the protection of playing fields by, for example:
- Raising awareness among agencies with an interest in or influence over playing field retention and development – about how playing fields contribute to and enhance people’s lives – and the need to continue to invest in existing playing pitch stock.
- Applying the full range of promotional mechanisms to ensure that the way in which existing playing fields are utilised optimises participation levels.
- Providing guidance about what key agencies can do to resist playing field loss and/or drive restoration.
- Developing improved policy guidance to strengthen the position to protect London’s playing fields.
- Sharing good practice with regard to examples of where and how threatened sites have been ‘saved’.
Advocacy processes – to indicate both political and other components of the case for playing field protection and development needs to be made and be geared to securing the support of high profile, committed, political advocates. This may necessitate:
- Creation of an effective platform/agency/system to optimise collective influence and maximise potential to influence playing field protection (and development) factors.
- Finding the simplest, least complex ways possible in which key London agencies can work effectively together to determine playing field-based need and agree universal core protection processes.
- Improving cross-agency communication and collaboration to ensure that any threats of playing field loss is detected and acted upon as early as possible.
- Ensuring consistency in the way in which playing pitch needs assessments/strategies are produced, data/information is stored, accessed and shared.
In taking on this assignment, KKP brings to the table extensive linked experience.
Chris Donkin – Strategic Lead, Active Environments from London Sport commented ‘we are delighted, with the support of Sport England, to be working with KKP on this project. It put forward a strong case to be our preferred consultant for this assignment and has the best track record delivering comparable and compatible projects.’
Steve Wright, KKP principal consultant and director who will lead the project team commented: ‘KKP is delighted to have been entrusted with this vital work for London at what is a critical time for playing fields in the capital. We shall work closely with London Sport and all the stakeholders in the City to produce a report and recommendations that best address the problems faced’.
Steven Wright is available for interview. Please contact KKP via (0)161 764 7040 or email steve.wright@kkp.co.uk
KKP is online at www.kkp.co.uk