Agenda item

Simon Colburn, Assistant Director (Health Environmental Services)

a.    presented the City Councils Facilities Strategy for comment prior to consideration by Executive.

b.    advised that in light of recent changes to the future growth plans of the City of Lincoln and in particular, planned urban extensions such as the Western Growth Corridor, a comprehensive Facilities Strategy was required to better understand the need for sporting facilities.

c.    explained that Sports England was a mandatory consultee on any planning application required for the proposed Western Growth Corridor development and would require a strategy before any consent was considered.

d.    referred to the Sports Facilities Assessment carried out by LK2  Associates on behalf of the City of Lincoln Council and advised that it reviewed the existing provision, current usage from sports clubs, predicted population growth, implications of the western growth corridor and the demographics of the catchment areas that surround the facilities.

e.    summarised the associated local and national sports strategies, which would influence key decisions for the sports being assessed in this review and in particular it had been aligned to the FA national pitch improvement plan (PIP)

f.     advised that the study concluded that that a tiered system should be developed for the provision of pitch based sports in the City as detailed at paragraph 3.7 of the report.

g.    explained that tier one facilities should be strategically located across the City to provide a ‘geographical split’ based on demand, population, density and available associated facilities. The remaining tiered facilities (2,3 and 4), would be then chosen to support the principal site in that sub region.

h.    advised that this approach would enable the City Council to retain control of the budget for sports and leisure facilities and strategically provide venues for sports teams and clubs based on a prescribed priority list.

i.      invited Members questions and comments.

Question: Had public consultation taken place?

Response: A public consultation had not taken place, however,  a club consultation had been undertaken on the principles of the strategy. The Facilities Strategy provided a framework and a Playing Pitch Strategy would be developed which would be more detailed and would include a public consultation.

Comment: Sports such as athletics and swimming had not been included in the strategy.

Response: Swimming and athletics had not been included, as the  strategy followed the Sports England Model for outdoor sports. A Built Facilities Strategy would be developed which would look in more detail at sports such as swimming and athletics.

Question: With all of the uncertainty of covid why had this strategy been developed now?

Response: The strategy provided a framework with planning applications and was needed for the Western Growth Corridor Planning Application.

Comment: There was a shortage of football pitches in Lincoln and only 2 cricket pitches.

Response: There were enough football pitches for adults and there was a small insufficient supply for youth football. It was very difficult to match pitches to the need. We would continue to work with football clubs to make sure that the gaps could be filled. There had been a decline in demand for cricket pitches, the Council owned the cricket pitch as Sobraon Barracks and it was managed by the University.

Question: There was a lack of playable pitches in the City, some would get water logged and could not be used.

Response: A Playing Pitch Strategy would be developed which would look at the maintenance of pitches in more detail. An investment plan would sit alongside the strategy and would assist the Council to bid for funding.

Comment: Women’s Football was a growing sport, this had not been identified in the strategy.

Response: The strategy looked at the pitches and did not identify who was using them.

Comment: Expressed concern that without public consultation this would be a done deal before the public were consulted.

Response: This strategy provided a framework,  a Playing Pitch Strategy and Built Facilities Strategy would be developed and would be more detailed, these would be brought to Policy Scrutiny for consideration.

Question: Would the affordability of these facilities be included in these strategies.

Response: Yes affordability and accessibility were key barriers in accessing physical activities and would be considered.

Comment: Requested that the strategy be brought back to Policy Scrutiny on an annual basis.

RESOLVED that

1.    the member’s comments regarding the Facilities Strategy be noted and referred to Executive.

2.    an annual review of the Facilities Strategy be scheduled into the Policy Scrutiny Work programme.