Brighton & Hove City Council Playing Pitch Strategy

1.1 Background

a.

Brighton & Hove City Council are committed to ensuring residents have sufficient access to high quality sport and leisure facilities. As part of the council’s overall strategic planning for sport they commissioned Continuum Sport and Leisure to lead on the production of a new Playing Pitch Strategy 2025 – 2041 (PPS), replacing the previous 2016 PPS. Consistent with the previous strategy this PPS includes analysis and review of facility supply, demands, accessibility and availability for the four primary playing pitch sports of Cricket, Football, Hockey and Rugby.

b.

The leading priorities set out in this study aim to complement the findings of the 2021 Sports Facilities Investment Plan and the 2024 ‘Let’s Get Moving’ physical activity and sport strategy provide a clear direction for improvements to the sport and physical activity infrastructure throughout the City.

c.

This strategy has been agreed by all the key playing pitch strategy National Governing Bodies (NGBs) of sport in partnership with Sport England. Each local authority in the country is encouraged to produce this evidence base to inform future decisions regarding the demand and supply of existing and new playing pitches in a given area. The strategy document informs an action plan which details potential facility developments based on the demand and supply analysis. This action plan will be reviewed and amended, in partnership with stakeholders and the Strategy Steering Group where necessary on an annual basis.

d.

The supply side information contained in the strategy is generated through standard facility audits used for all levels of facility from parks to elite sport, with findings then validated by the relevant NGB of that sport. The demand side information is generated from surveys of current and potential users including local sports clubs as well as club and team data provided by the relevant governing bodies of sport and facility booking records where available. The council’s Planning Policy, Healthy Lifestyles team, City Parks, and Leisure Contracts Service have provided context and a local perspective on the overarching vision and principles driving the strategy and the outcome objectives.

e.

The resulting action plan is a guide on how enhanced and new facilities might be developed, pending viability testing, funding confirmation and planning permission where necessary, where they might be developed and the lead organisation to meet identified demand, address opportunities that may arise and provide sustainable management and operational models. Often projects are delivered through the council or the sport's governing body engaging with voluntary, education or commercial partners. Each potential project identified in the action plan will be reviewed and re-evaluated considering the situation at the time. The strategy and action plan provide a 'snapshot' of the position at the time of writing. Factors on both the demand and supply side may have changed as well as the cost and viability of the project at the point when an individual project is being considered during the life of the strategy.

f.

When applying for funding to develop new facilities or improve current facilities, Sport England, NGBs, and most other funding organisations, require evidence of the current demand and supply of facilities in an area to justify the proposed project. This strategy - developed and agreed in partnership with these same organisations - is the document that provides this information on playing pitches and ancillary facilities and is vital to the success of any funding bid.

g.

Through the implementation of this strategy, the council has a leading role to play in enabling access to sporting opportunities at a cost that is acceptable to the wider community. Rottingdean Parish Council, the only parish Council in the City, has a supporting role to play in the provision of casual football pitches and community access park tennis courts. Although they are not directly responsible for the provision and maintenance of the pitches in their Parish Council, they provide support to the clubs in the area.

h. 

The council play a leading role in developing better quality facilities by engaging and empowering community organisations through the asset transfer process to independently manage and operate existing and new facilities.

1.2 Why the strategy has been developed

a. 

Alongside the need for the council to ensure an up-to-date evidence base and need within the local plan, the purpose of the strategy is to support the council’s overarching principles of positively shaping the future of Brighton & Hove. A key part of the future provision is the council’s important direct and indirect contribution to improving health and increased physical activity levels of Brighton & Hove residents. The strategy will assist in establishing how to best meet the current and future health and wellbeing needs of Brighton & Hove’s community clubs, organisations, and residents, contributing to the priority of making the City of Brighton & Hove a better place to live and work.

b.

The council’s main rationales for producing this updated strategy and associated action plan are detailed below:

• To evaluate the current quantity, quality and accessibility (including disability, gender, youth etc) of playing pitches in Brighton & Hove
• To assess the future needs of playing pitches over the plan period.
• To provide a robust and up to date assessment of sports pitch provision in the City to assist with future City-wide development plans
• To provide up to date strategic evidence of need in the prioritisation and implementation of playing pitch development projects.

1.3 Vision and key deliverables

a. 

The vision for the Brighton & Hove Playing Pitch Strategy is to provide an assessment of the needs for playing pitches, management of public parks, and opportunities for new provision. The assessment should identify specific needs and quantitative and/ or qualitative deficits or surpluses of playing pitches across Brighton & Hove.

b.

The key deliverables of the Brighton & Hove Playing Pitch Strategy are as follows:

• Assess current sport pitch provision by reviewing existing supply and demand through site audits and stakeholder consultation
• Identify future demands aligned to population growth, housing projections and strategic needs of sport, health and wellbeing outlined in the Local Development Plan
• Provide strategic sport by sport recommendations for improvements, maintenance, and development (Protect/ Enhance/ Provide)
• Provide strategy recommendations with site specific action plans addressing key issues.
• Identify supply and demand for facility type either changing rooms, toilets or clubhouse/ café.
• Note specific locations for accessible, women and girls or youth demand for facilities.
• Provide site prioritisation list for future enhancements or additional provisions required for BHCC community use pavilions.

1.4 The approach to developing the strategy

a.

The strategy aims to be robust, based on local needs (currently and projections to 2041), and deliverable. This objective is assured by adhering to the 'ten steps' advocated in the current Sport England’s ‘Playing Pitch Strategy Guidance’ and the ‘Assessing needs and opportunities guide for indoor and outdoor sports facilities’. This guidance is detailed below.

Figure 1.1 - Ten stage approach to Playing Pitch Strategy

Stage A

• Step 1: Prepare and tailor the approach.

Stage B 

• Step 2: Gather supply information and views.
• Step 3: Gather demand information and views.

Stage C

• Step 4: Understand the situation at individual sites.
• Step 5: Develop the current and future pictures of provision.
• Step 6: Identify the key findings and issues.

Stage D

• Step 7: Develop the recommendations and action plan.
• Step 8: Write and adopt the strategy.
• Stage E - Step 9: Apply and deliver the strategy.
• Step 10: Keep the strategy robust and up to date.

b.

This 10 step approach is split into 5 key stages of the strategy process. This report covers stages A – D, with Stage E, the application, delivery, and renewal of the strategy, being the responsibility of the council, with support from the playing pitch NGBs, Sport England, and wider funding partners.

c.

In accordance with the national guidance for the development of playing pitch strategies, section 3 of the Brighton & Hove PPS sets out the findings of the assessment of needs for playing pitch facilities in the study area, both currently and in the future.

d.

The findings are presented in summary format and should be read in conjunction with separate appendices for each playing pitch sport (Appendices A – D). These documents provide the findings of the detailed research and consultation undertaken to ensure that the facility needs findings summarised in section 3 are fully robust.

e.

Section 4 of this PPS sets a range of potential future change scenarios (e.g., loss of key playing pitch sites, new provision, substantial population growth in a particular area) and strategic scenarios for addressing identified needs (e.g., change of use from one pitch sport or pitch surface to another, greater community use of education playing pitches).

f.

The PPS scenarios considered have emerged from discussion with the members of the Brighton & Hove Playing Pitch Strategy Steering Group and inform the policy recommendations (section 5) and action plan that follows in section 7.g.Strategy concludes with recommendations for the protection and enhancement of existing facilities and for the provision of new facilities, where considered necessary, to address identified current or future needs to 2041.

National policy adherence

h.

There is also a need to adhere to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). Para 103 of the NPPF 2024 states: “Planning policies should be based on robust and up-to-date assessments of the need for open space, sport and recreation facilities (including quantitative or qualitative deficits or surpluses) and opportunities for new provision. Information gained from the assessments should be used to determine what open space, sport and recreational provision is needed, which plans should then seek to accommodate".

i.

Sport England’s guidance highlights the importance of undertaking detailed assessments of sports facility needs and the benefits of sports and physical activity within local authority areas (as well as considering the range of possible options and scenarios for meeting priority needs and achieving positive outcomes identified through this process), before making recommendations for future action. Specifically, the guidance recommends that local authorities:

1. Recognise and give significant weight to the benefits of sport and physical activity.
2. Undertake, maintain and apply robust and up-to-date assessments of need and strategies for sport and physical activity provision, and base policies, decisions and guidance upon them.
3. Plan, design and maintain buildings, developments, facilities, land and environments that enable people to lead active lifestyles.

j.

The guidance published by Sport England also advocates that strategic recommendations and action planning consider the following hierarchy of needs:

1. Protect existing sports facilities where these are sustainable and continue to perform a valuable role in meeting community needs.
2. Enhance existing facilities that meet these criteria but need improvement to continue to be of value
3. Provide new or extended facilities where there is found to be substantial unmet needs currently or predicted for the future.

1.5 Tailoring the approach - Which sports to include?

a.

The council agreed that the playing pitch sports facilities to be included in the strategy are:

• Football
• Rugby (Union & League)
• Cricket
• Hockey
• Other playing pitch sports

b.

Within these sports and facilities, the strategy seeks as far as is practicable, to include consideration of all forms of play, whether:

• Club and league based (formal) play and training (including reference to indoor nets for cricket)
• Less formal programmed forms of the respective sports (e.g., friendly and recreational game formats outside the sport’s governing bodies affiliated structures)
• Un-programmed play by groups of residents, workers, students out of school.

1.6 Management and delivery

a.

The development of the strategy has been managed by the Brighton & Hove Playing Pitch Strategy Steering Group. Internal stakeholders within the steering group include representatives from Brighton & Hove Council’s Sport and Leisure, Parks, Sports Facilities, Public Health and Planning teams.

b.

The external stakeholders included in the Steering Group are made up of representatives from Sport England, Football Foundation, Sussex Football Association, England Rugby, England Hockey, Sussex Cricket Foundation, England & Wales Cricket Board, and Continuum Sport & Leisure Ltd, the consultants appointed to co-ordinate the strategy development to the point of the recommendations and action plan.

c.

As part of the process the consultant team also consulted with the following other National Governing Bodies: Rugby Football League, and American Football.

2.1 - The extent of the study area

a.

The study area will cover the entirety of Brighton & Hove, as well as the University of Brighton and University of Sussex sport campuses which are located just outside of the city boundaries but are used by clubs and residents in the city. As an important part of the Strategy will be to identify future need for pitch provisions based on population growth and areas of housing growth as identified in the ongoing development of the new Strategic Housing Market Assessment. Throughout the strategy, the study area is split into East, Central, and West analysis areas to match with the split of the City in the previous 2016 Local Plan.

Figure 2.1 - Map of Brighton & Hove split in to the East, Central and West analysis sub-area

b.

There are also sports teams from inside Brighton & Hove that use facilities outside the City boundary as well as teams from neighbouring local authority areas that use facilities in Brighton & Hove. This cross-boundary movement has been taken into consideration when considering future needs for each particular sport both in terms of specialist and strategic facilities that serve a sub-regional catchment area, and the local community sporting needs for Brighton & Hove residents.

2.2 - Tailoring the approach - What makes the study area different?

a.

In tailoring the approach, it is important to understand the following unique aspects of the area:

• Brighton & Hove is largely urban in character, with a built-up seafront and City centre, but does include some areas of rural land, particularly in the north and east of the City.
• 44% of the City is part of the South Downs National Park and is protected.
• Brighton & Hove were reported to have the highest proportion of physically active residents of any local authority in the country1.
• The council is committed to helping to improve welfare and wellbeing, as demonstrated in the council’s Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy (2019-2030). Sport has an important part to play in welfare and wellbeing, with access to sport facilities, and suitability of sports facilities for all is an important consideration, including minority groups, those with disabilities, females andthe older generation
• Brighton & Hove City Council, Healthy Lifestyles team have set up a Club Development Network to ensure clubs have a direct line of contact with the Council, and vice versa. Other subgroups formed as part of ‘Let’s Get Moving’ are: Children and Young People’s Alliance, Active Ageing Alliance and Active Environments.

Population profile and growth

b.

Any playing pitches or ancillary facilities which are developed from the study will need to meet the needs of Brighton & Hove’s future populations as well as its current population. Figure 2.2 summarises the most up to date population projections which are available for Brighton & Hove. These projections are from 2022 to 2041 and demonstrates that Brighton & Hove’s population is projected to grow by 4.5% from 2022 to 2041, this is lower than the national average of 7.1%. Although the projected population increase is lower than the national average, an increase of over 12,000 residents will greatly increase the demand for sport and recreation pitches in the City.

Figure 2.2: Population projection for Brighton & Hove 2022 to 2041 (Brighton & Hove City Council Strategic Housing Market Assessment)

Health

c.

It is useful to understand the health profile of Brighton & Hove both in regard to identifying health issues which new or improved facilities can contribute to addressing and with regards to understanding the propensity of a local population to be active. Brighton & Hove’s Local Authority Health Profile (statistics ranging from 2019 to 2022) states that the health of residents is comparable to the national average.

d.

Figure 2.3 provides an overview of the performance of Brighton & Hove across several Department of Health key health indicators in comparison with regional and national averages. Where figures for Brighton & Hove are highlighted in red, they are worse than the national average, where they are highlighted green, they are better, and where they are orange, they are comparable. This shows that Brighton & Hove performs well in comparison to the national averages for both childhood and adult obesity rates and comparably for life expectancy.

Figure 2.3 Table of health indicators in Brighton & Hove, East Sussex, and England (OHID LA health profiles)

e.

It is vital that there is a sufficient supply of good quality community playing pitches so they can help contribute to maintaining the positive indicators reported and improving poor health indicators. Sport England research has found that increased physical activity can help reduce the risk of developing a range of negative health risks, therefore providing ample supply of accessible, high-quality sports pitches is essential to protecting the health of Brighton & Hove residents.

Deprivation

f.

Deprivation and the social and economic factors behind the figures directly affect the propensity and ability of the catchment population to access and use facilities and be active. Investment into community sports facilities can also form an important element of the regeneration of deprived areas and provide more accessible opportunities for movement and physical activity. An awareness of how deprivation affects a local population can also influence how activities are delivered and what type of initiatives are launched to increase participation.

g.

Figure 2.4 illustrates Brighton & Hove’s deprivation rank against other areas within the region for the years 2015 and 2019. As shown on the table, Brighton & Hove’s deprivation rank has improved from 2015 to 2019 (where rank 1 is most deprived), signalling an improved state of deprivation in the area over the past 4 years. That being said, Brighton & Hove is the most deprived local authority of all surrounding local authorities.

Figure 2.4 Brighton & Hove and neighbouring areas deprivation rank (ONS English indices of deprivation 2019, ONS English indices of deprivation 2015)

h.

Figure 2.5 shows a map of Brighton & Hove split up into analysis sub areas and Lower Layer Super Output Areas (LSOAs) with different colours outlining their relative Index of Multiple Deprivation (The darker blue areas are the most deprived Local Super Output Areas, whilst light green are the least deprived). Understanding the most deprived areas of Brighton & Hove is helpful in knowing the neighbourhoods which may have the most difficulties accessing sport and leisure facilities due to their lack of resources. The most deprived areas on the map are within Hangleton and Knoll, Whitehawk, and Moulsecoomb. These are neighbourhoods to consider when looking at the development of sports facilities and initiatives to increase participation and accessibility.

Figure 2.5 Levels of deprivation across Brighton & Hove by lower layer super output areas (IMD 2019)

How does the population participate?

i.

Sport England’s Active Lives Survey provides a comprehensive assessment of physical activity and sports participation at a local authority, county, regional and national level. Active Lives measures a range of performance indicators including activity rates, indoor and outdoor activity, and satisfaction with local sports provision. Active Lives also provides analysis of activity across a range of demographics including, gender, deprivation levels and age.

j.

Figure 2.6 outlines the percentage of the population of Brighton & Hove, East Sussex, and Nationally who are physically active (150+ minutes per week), fairly active (30-149 minutes per week), and inactive (less than 30 minutes per week). 

The graph shows that Brighton & Hove reports significantly more active residents (79.0%) than the county average (66.2%) and national average (63.4%). An activity rate of 79.0% makes Brighton & Hove, the most active Local Authority in the country, suggests that residents in Brighton & Hove have a very high propensity for physical activity and are more active than all other local authorities in the region. Physical activity rates may increase following the development of new or improved playing pitches.

Figure 2.6 Activity levels in Brighton & Hove, East Sussex County Council and England 2022 to 2023 (Sport England Active Lives survey 2023)

k.

Figure 2.7 shows that Brighton & Hove reported a significant increase in physically active residents from November 2020-21 to 2022-23, recording a 10.9% increase in active adults, which is significantly greater than both county and national average. This suggests that there is an increased propensity to exercise and remain physically active in Brighton & Hove, which should be capitalised on in the Playing Pitch Strategy.

Figure 2.7 Activity Levels in Brighton & Hove, East Sussex County Council and England between 2020 to 2023 (Sport England Active Lives survey 2023)

l.

Children’s physical activity rates in Brighton & Hove have dropped below the regional and national average in the last year with the proportion of physically active children in area (43.2%) lower than the regional (48.2%) and national (47.8%) rates (figure 2.8).

Figure 2.8 Levels of children’s physical activity (Sport England Active Lives survey Academic Year 2023 to 2024)

m.

The majority of children’s physical activity outside of school hours in Brighton & Hove takes place outdoors at 54.3% (figure 2.9). This proportion is just below the rates in the South East Region (56.9%) and the national average (55.9%). This highlights the importance of providing and maintaining high quality community outdoor sports facilities, including playing pitches, in ensuring children can be physically active.

Figure 2.9 Children’s physical activity outdoor out of school hours (Sport England Active Lives survey Academic Year 2023 to 2024)

2.3 Trends in participation in pitch sports

a.

Nationally, Sport England's latest Active Lives Survey (ALS) data report published in April 2024 and covering the 12 months from November 2022 to November 2023 shows that self-reported regular participation (i.e., taking part at least twice in the last 28 days) in the leading playing pitch sports in England by adults (aged 16+) has recovered to pre covid levels and in some sports continuing to grow.

b.

Football – recovered to pre covid levels of 4.4% in 2021/22 and has continued to grow to 4.6% in 2022/23, which is higher than levels previously recorded in 2017/18 at 4.5%. The highest level of participation recorded was in 2015/16 at 5.2% and 2016/17 at 5.0%. The FA’s insight shows that youth football is growing at an average of 3.09% per annum. Section 4 looks at a number of scenarios including (4.6) a significant increase in demand by an age group or sport.

c.

Cricket – has declined slightly in the last year from 0.8% in 2022/23, its highest level of participation, to pre covid levels of 0.7%. Generally excluding 2019/20 and 2020/21 due to Covid, regular adult cricket participation has been consistent at 0.7%.

d.

Rugby Union – has recovered to pre covid levels of 0.5% in 2022/2023 an increase from 0.4% in 2021/22. The highest level of participation recorded was in 2015/16 and 2016/17 at 0.6%.

e.

Hockey – returned to pre covid levels of 0.3% in 2020/21 and has continued to grow to 0.4% in 2022/23, matching its highest level of participation previously recorded in 2015/16.f.In the eight years since the last update of the playing pitch strategy in Brighton & Hove, there has been significant changes in the local picture of both pitch supply and pitch demand including the successful delivery of a number of playing pitch project priorities identified.

g.

On the supply side, for cricket the level of fine turf provision remains the same, but there has been a reduction in the number of NTP’s available for community use in the area. There are plans in place with Sussex cricket for the provision of 3 new NTP’s to be provided for the City.

h.

For football there has been significant additional provision across the area with new full sized 3G AGPs at Hove Park School (2021), Patcham High School (2021), the University of Sussex (2019) and Portslade Sports Centre as well as a 70x31m 3G AGP at Hove Park (2018) with LED sports lighting installed in 2021. In addition, the AGPs at Stanley Deason Leisure Centre, and the 60x40m 3G AGP at the University of Sussex have all been resurfaced. There are also 4 new small-sided 3G AGP’s at Withdean Sports Complex and a full-size pitch at Cardinal Newman School being completed ready for the 24/25 season.

i.

There has been some change to grass football pitch provision with new youth grass pitches developed at Happy Valley Rec. ground, improvements to pitch maintenance at Aldrington Rec ground (Wish Park), Greenleas Rec ground, Happy Valley Rec ground and Nevill Playing Fields and at the time of reporting the youth pitches at Mile Oak Rec ground and one of the adult pitches at Nevill Playing Fields were being renovated.

j.

For the sport of hockey, the sports lighting at Stanley Deason Leisure Centre and both hockey pitches at Blatchington Mill School were upgraded in 2023 and 2024 respectively but there has been a loss of one full sized pitch in the area.

k.

For rugby union there are fewer senior grass pitches available across the area but improvements have been made to the two senior pitches at Hove Rugby Club to increase the carrying capacity of the pitches. The 3G pitch at Brighton Rugby Club is no longer World Rugby Compliant(WRC), meaning no contact rugby can take place.

l.

With regard to demand for playing pitches, in the case of cricket, whilst there has been a decrease in the number of clubs in the area the number of teams have increased from 92 to 149 teams. The number of adult male teams have increased by 23 teams (a 52% increase), there are an additional 5 women’s teams (+250%) and 7 mixed teams, a category not previously recorded in the last Playing Pitch Strategy. The number of youth teams has also grown with an additional 16 boy’s teams (+40%) and 6 girl’s teams (+100%).

m. 

Football demand in the City has increased to 326 teams since the previous audit in 2016 when 260 affiliated teams were registered in the City, an increase of 66 teams. There has been a reduction in adult male teams (-12) and an increase in adult female teams (+19 teams, including small sided), youth football (+22) and mini soccer (+37) teams.

n.

With regard to hockey, Brighton & Hove HC is a large well established community club and they report a growth in playing membership.

o.

The community rugby union clubs in Brighton & Hove are well established and support large playing memberships and multiple teams. There has been a reduction in the number of adult male teams since 2016 but a large increase in the number of age grade teams (+ 11) and mixed mini squads (+12).

3 - Findings and Facility Needs

a.

Detailed Assessment of Needs reports were undertaken for each of the 4 key playing pitch sports, which assessed the current supply, demand, and future needs for facilities across the City. These reports are summarised in this section, leading to conclusions on playing pitch needs. These reports (covering Stages B and C of Sport England's Playing Pitch Strategy Guidance) and supporting site-specific audit reports have been checked and challenged by representatives of the relevant sport’s governing bodies and are appended as follows:

• Appendix A: Cricket - Assessment of Need Report
• Appendix B: Football - Assessment of Need Report
• Appendix C: Hockey - Assessment of Need Report
• Appendix D: Rugby - Assessment of Need Report

b.

This chapter provides an overall summary of supply, planned and proposed changes to supply, current and latent demand, covering the following leading questions as part of the Playing Pitch Strategy methodology.

• What are the main characteristics of the current supply of and demand for provision?
• Is there enough accessible and secured community use provision to meet current demand?
• Is the provision that is accessible of sufficient quality and appropriately maintained?
• What are the main characteristics of the future supply and demand for provision?
• Is there enough accessible and secured community use provision to meet future demand?

3.1 Club consultation

a.

To understand the current landscape of clubs in Brighton & Hove, the demand and issues facing each specific sport covered within the strategy, data was collected from a survey which was distributed to the playing pitch sports clubs in the City. By analysing the data, it provides insight into whether the current level of provision for sport and physical activity is meeting the demands of these sports, the existing and latent demand for growth as well as potential priority project developments. A summary of the results of the club survey is provided below. 51 individual sports clubs responded to the invitation to complete the survey. Figure 3.1 below shows the team response rate for affiliated clubs of each key playing pitch sport identified in the strategy brief.

Figure 3.1 Team response rate for affiliated clubs of each steering group sport

b.

The club survey also received responses from wider playing pitch sports clubs, including:

• American Football
• Australian Rules Football
• Baseball
• Outdoor Fitness and Training
• Gaelic Football
• Rugby League
• Softball

A summary of findings from the club consultation process is provided below.

3.2 Changes since the last strategy

Clubs and teams

a.

In terms of expressed demand, the main changes since the last assessment is the continued growth in playing pitch sports at community sports clubs by children (including girls, most particularly in the younger age groups) at the City’s leading cricket, football, hockey and rugby clubs. There has also been an increase in demand among adults for opportunities to play pitch sports recreationally outside the traditional sports club model, including participation in less formal small-sided games and shorter formats.

b.

In terms of sports clubs and teams, the current picture of demand in the City in comparison with the position in 2016 is shown in figure 3.4 below. All the pitch sports have seen growth in overall numbers and diversity of teams although several of the smaller football and cricket clubs have folded (some due to the pandemic) and there has been a fall in the number of adult men’s teams in football and rugby. Cricket has seen a growth across all formats of the game and hockey has seen growth in adult and youth girls teams. The fall in adult men’s teams is outstripped by growth in women and girls and mixed provision in football and rugby.

Figure 3.4 – Community demand for pitches and sites

Cricket

Football

Hockey

Rugby

Total

Playing pitches

c.

The number of playing pitch sites and playing pitches in Brighton & Hove available for community use - both in 2024 and in 2016 (the season the needs assessment was carried out for the previous PPS) - are set out in figure 3.5 below for each pitch type (natural turf and artificial turf) and for each of the major playing pitch sports for which there is a current demand in the City.

Figure 3.5 – Supply of community pitches and sites

d.

The most significant changes in playing pitch supply in the City over the last eight years include the significant additional provision across the area of new full sized 3G AGPs at Hove Park School (2021), Patcham High School (2021), University of Sussex (2019), Portslade Sports Centre (2019), a 70x31m 3G AGP at Hove Park (2018) as well as 4 new small-sided 3G AGP’s at Withdean Sports Complex and a full-size pitch at Cardinal Newman School being completed ready for the 24/25 season.

e.

There has been grass pitch improvements made to a number of football sites (Aldrington Rec ground (Wish Park), Greenleas Rec ground, Happy Valley Rec ground, Nevill Playing Fields, Mile Oak Rec ground) and the two senior pitches at Hove Rugby Club which will help to increase the carrying capacity of the pitches.

f.

The 3G pitch at Brighton Rugby Club is no longer World Rugby Compliant, meaning no contact rugby can take place and there has been a reduction in the number of rugby grass pitches available for community use.

3.3 Current supply

Natural turf pitches

a.

The sites with natural turf playing pitches in Brighton & Hove are listed in figure 3.6 and figure 3.7 and shows the distribution of natural turf playing pitch sites across the City.

Figure 3.6 Natural turf playing pitches with community use in Brighton & Hove

Figure 3.7 Distribution of natural turf playing pitch sites

Artificial turf playing pitches

a.

Sites in Brighton & Hove with artificial grass playing pitches (and the sports the sites provide for) are listed in Figure 3.8. The locations of these artificial pitches showing their distribution throughout the City are in Figure 3.9. For cricket, NTP means Non-Turf Pitch which is an artificial strip located adjacent to a fine turf table or as a standalone wicket instead of a fine turf wicket table, this type of facility is used mainly for junior cricket and for recreation level adult cricket and practice.

Figure 3.8 – Artificial Turf Playing Pitches with community use in Brighton & Hove

Figure 3.9 - Distribution of AGP sites in Brighton & Hove

3.4 Is there enough provision for current demand?

Cricket – No.

a. 

The assessment of facility needs shows that the majority of fine turf pitches in the City are either over played or used to capacity, despite a number of sites having NTPs to support fine turf capacity. Many of the larger clubs utilise secondary sites to ensure all their teams have pitches at the weekends, with Portslade CC, Rottingdean CC, St Peters CC, and Brighton & Hove CC all using secondary sites to supplement the facilities at their main site. Many council owned sites are shared between clubs with 2 or 3 clubs regularly playing matches at the sites. There are 2 sites under capacity which may be able to cater for some of this demand, as well as NTP’s and grass pitches on education sites which are not used.

b.

Overall, the cricket clubs in Brighton & Hove benefit from good security of access on their home grounds, however Palmers CC are reliant on a 5-year rolling agreement and Portslade CC’s lease on Benfield Valley Recreation Ground is expiring in 2026.

Football – No

c. 

A number of playing field sites in Brighton & Hove have pitches that are being played to capacity or overplayed, in the main, they are sites that are the home ground for large youth clubs with a number of teams and a limited number of pitches. The sites with large youth clubs that are overplayed are:

• Braypool Recreation Ground – Hollingbury Hawks (also used by Sussex Sunday League)
• Hill Park – Saltdean United FC
• Nevill Playing Fields – Various youth clubs
• Nuffield Playing Felds – Woodingdean Wanderers
• Waterhall Sports Ground - Hollingbury Hawks (also used by Sussex Sunday League)
• Wild Park – Coldean Colts

d. 

There is no spare capacity for adult 11v11, youth 11v11, or youth 9v9 pitches in the peak period based on discounting poor quality pitches and those that are unsecured from the supply. These pitches are discounted as they are less attractive to clubs due to their quality and uncertainty over long term community access. There is sufficient spare pitch capacity currently for Mini Soccer (7v7 and 5v5 pitches).

e.

There are shortfalls in provision of floodlit 3G pitches to meet training demand. There are several clubs who travel outside of the area for training or use sand-based pitches or grass areas for training, which constrains the growth aspirations of these clubs and contributes to latent demand. The FA training scenario suggests one full sized floodlit 3G AGP can accommodate the training demand from 38 teams, based on this there is a shortfall in current supply, with investment needed in the provision of one more full size equivalent 3G football AGPs across the area. This should be strategically located in the East of the City to support the larger youth clubs enabling them to meet the needs of their teams for training and matches.

Hockey - No

f.

Although there is capacity at Stanley Deason Leisure Centre, the playing surface is in poor condition and needs resurfacing. This limits the amount of play it can receive and its attractiveness to community clubs to use for matches with clubs preferring to play elsewhere. Other sites are at capacity for matches, requiring careful scheduling to accommodate all fixtures.

Rugby – No

g. 

Overall, the rugby pitches in Brighton & Hove are over-used and cannot sustain the current demand for training and matches. The two clubs (Brighton RFC and Hove RFC) manage the quality of their pitches through careful operational management and are often required to cancel training and matches to protect the pitches for future use.

h.

This is particularly problematic for Hove RFC at Hove Recreation Ground as the pitches on site are particularly overused, especially the two training pitches. Whilst the pitches at Brighton RFC are overused, this is to a lesser extent as non-contact training can take place on their 3G pitch. Should this pitch be resurfaced and made World Rugby Compliant (WRC) again, this would further reduce the over play on their grass pitches. The WRC 3G pitch at the University of Sussex is good quality, however, it hosts limited community use due to the amount of student sport it accommodates. There is some spare capacity at the site, however not enough to satisfy the training demands of either club. The 3G pitch developed at Cardinal Newman School during the course of this study is proposed to be suitable for rugby, subject to testing. This would be an ideal location to absorb some training demand from Hove RFC, being less than a mile from the club. Additional capacity could also be accommodated by exploring regular community access to education sites across the City which are within suitable catchment of each club, including:

• Dorothy Stringer School
• Hove Park School – Nevill Campus
• Varndean High School
• Cardinal Newman School

i.

All of these schools listed above are within a 10-minute driving catchment of at least one of Brighton RFC or Hove RFC and have rugby pitches which are not currently used by community groups. If community use was secured at all the schools listed, an additional 5 grass pitches could be added to the supply of community rugby pitches.

j.

Both clubs have secure use of their sites, with long term leases in place at both Hove Recreation Ground (80+ years) and Brighton RFC (90+ years), although only the pavilion is covered under the lease at Brighton RFC with the pitches being under annual license.

3.4 Is the provision of sufficient quality?

Cricket - No

a.

The club managed fine turf cricket pitches across the City are mostly maintained to a ‘good’ level, whereas the council managed pitches were mostly rated as ‘standard’ or ‘poor’ leaving some opportunities to improve pitch quality thereby increasing playing capacity. Opportunity to secure ECB funding for pitch quality improvement on shared football/cricket sites is available under the new joint FA/ECB PitchPower initiative. This funding would support the required improvement to the maintenance regime of council owned pitches. As highlighted above, many clubs use council owned pitches as secondary sites, often with multiple clubs playing regularly on the pitches. The high level of usage on the pitches may be a contributing factor to the generally ‘poor’ or ‘standard’ quality, suggesting that the scheduling of matches and allocation of secondary sites should be investigated.

b.

There are some NTPs which have lost community use due to their poor condition (ie University of Brighton and Longhill Sports Centre), but those NTP wickets which are available for community use are generally good quality. The non-turf practice net systems are in good or standard condition with only the nets at the University of Sussex in need of upgrading.

c.

Investment into pavilions is required including new or refurbished provision at a number of sites, where the current provision is inadequate or failing into disrepair. These sites are:

• Braypool Recreation Ground
• Preston Park (Cricket Pavilion)
• Patcham Place Recreation Ground (permanently closed)

Football - No

d.

The majority of AGPs in the area are good quality, with newly laid playing surfaces, however two are poor and no longer meet FA standards, requiring resurfacing (Brighton RFC and the University of Brighton. A number of grass pitches (21%) are of poor quality and suffer from poor natural drainage, compaction of the ground, and overuse, thereby limiting the playing capacity of these pitches. To address this issue on a large scale it would require significant additional investment in maintenance works at the frequencies required to effectively aerate and de-compact the playing surfaces of the poor-quality natural turf pitches. It is noted that due to the pressure which the council budget is under, this may not be possible for all sites. The council should consider exploring options of alternative management models for sites, such as asset transfers or support from volunteers, in order to improve the quality of sites and mitigate budget restrictions.

e.

The delivery of the grass pitch improvements recommended by the Grounds Maintenance Association through the recent Football Foundation's PitchPower pitch assessment reports would go a long way to improving the playing capacity at the sites assessed. In most cases, this will necessitate increased revenue investment in enhanced pitch maintenance regimes with club sites with secure usage potentially being supported by grant funding from the Football Foundation's Grass Pitch Maintenance Fund.

f.

The ancillary facilities supporting community club football across the City are generally poor quality with several sites needing improvement. The facilities at Patcham Place Recreation Ground and Waterhall Sports Ground are currently closed due to vandalism and damage, the facilities at Easthill Park are also closed. There were ongoing works to the ancillary facilities at Hill Park during site visits, as part of the improvements undertaken by Saltdean United FC. There is a lack of basic changing or toilet facilities at Hollingbury Park (Brentwood Road) and a further three sites (listed below) only have public toilets available with no changing or shelter for matches. This limits their usage, particularly by women and girls’ teams and ideally dedicated toilet provision and some shelter should be provided at each site.

• Southwick Hill Recreation Ground
• Rottingdean Recreation Ground
• Wild Park

g.

Improvements to the current provision is also needed at the following sites to modernise facilities and make them fit for purpose to accommodate women and girls and provide disability access:

• Aldrington Recreation Ground (Wish Park)
• Braypool Recreation Ground
• Greanleas Recreation Ground
• Happy Valley
• Nuffield playing Fields
• Victoria Recreation Ground

Hockey – No. 

h. 

The playing surfaces on the artificial grass pitches at Stanley Deason Leisure Centre and University of Sussex are of poor quality and need resurfacing. The pitches at Blatchington Mill School will also require resurfacing in 2-3 years time and should have an independent assessment now to confirm the pitch conditions and timescales for resurfacing.i.The clubhouse and changing facilities at Blatchington Mill School, the home site for Brighton & Hove HC, are poor and in need of improvement. The school support proposals for a new clubhouse and changing rooms but is dependent on the club lease being extended beyond its current duration.

Rugby - No

j.

Drainage to half of the city’s naturally drained rugby pitches available for community rugby is classified as ‘inadequate’ with only two pitches having engineered drainage systems in place (Hove Recreation Ground). The maintenance regimes of pitches are generally ‘Poor’ with 6 of the 10 pitches being maintained to a ‘Poor’ standard. Hove RFC are currently accessing Football Foundation funding to improve their pitch maintenance having undertaken Pitch Power Assessments which rated all pitches as ‘Basic’. Whilst more investment in pitch maintenance has potential to deliver quality improvement (and thereby increase playing capacity by reducing cancellations), this is challenging in the current financial climate and the pressures on local authority and sports club budgets.

k.

If the necessary funding could be secured, the installation of engineered drainage to the pitches would be beneficial. Installing pipe drainage to an adequately maintained pitch would increase its playing capacity by 0.5 ‘Match Equivalent Sessions’ (MES) each week, whilst a more sophisticated pipe & slit drainage system would increase the weekly playing capacity of each pitch by one full MES.

l.

The 3G pitch at Brighton RFC was previously WRC and suitable for contact rugby to be played, being utilised for matches by the 1st and 2nd teams. However, the surface is now no longer WRC due to the poor quality of the surface and cannot be used for any contact training or matches. The club currently use the pitch for non-contact training. Resurfacing this pitch and maintaining it to a good quality would allow the club to significantly reduce the overplay of their grass pitches for both training and match play.

3.5 Future supply and demanda.

Planned new supply - On the future supply side, there are committed projects (or current planning applications) for new and enhanced playing pitch provision in the City which, taken together, will address much of the current need for additional playing pitch capacity. These ‘pipeline’ projects are:

Hill Park

Saltdean United FC are currently developing a new 3G stadia pitch, replacing their current stadia grass pitch, alongside wider ancillary projects.

Toads Hole Valley

A new full size 3G pitch has been proposed as part of a housing development in the area.

Moulsecoomb 

B&HCC are working to develop a 7v7 3G pitch with WRC surface in the area. Although this pitch would be too small to meet demands for rugby matches, it could absorb some training demand.

Longhill Sports Centre

The sports centre is exploring options to develop a full size 3G pitch with WRC surface.

St Andrew CE Primary School 

The school have been granted planning permission for a new 3G pitch.

Varndean College

 The school have been granted planning permission for a new 3G pitch.

Aldrington Recreation Ground (Wish Park)

The council are seeking to develop a new cricket NTP at the site, creating a new pitch, subject to planning.

Braypool Recreation Ground 

The council are seeking to develop a new cricket NTP at the site, creating a new pitch.

East Brighton Park

The council are seeking to develop a new cricket NTP at the site, extending the current pitch

b.

Population growth 

In terms of estimating future demand for community playing pitches, assuming current levels of participation per capita and the forecast population growth (+12,477) people resident in Brighton & Hove City by 20412), application of Sport England's Playing Pitch Calculator (PPC) tool indicates a potential need to secure more playing pitch capacity. This additional capacity will need to be achieved through a combination of investment in new provision, enhancement of existing pitches and negotiating and securing more community access to existing and any planned new school and college playing pitches.

c.

As football is the most popular pitch sport, the additional demand for football pitches generated by the impact of population growth will be by far the largest. The PPC indicates there will be a requirement to provide an additional 7 natural turf pitches (+2 adult football pitches, +4 youth football pitches and +1 mini soccer pitches) plus around 14 additional weekly training slots on a 3G artificial pitch, equivalent to 0.35 additional full size floodlit AGPs.

d.

Population growth will also create need for additional playing pitch capacity for cricket, rugby and hockey although at a much lower level than for football (see Figure 3.10).

Figure 3.10 – Additional capacity needed by 2041- Population change only: Sport England playing pitch calculator planning tool

e.

In considering future playing pitch capacity needs, it is important to note that the run of the Playing Pitch Calculator shown in figure 3.10 above that this additional capacity does not account for improvements made to existing provision, which could increase the capacity of pitches and reducethe need for new pitches. The calculation also assumes ‘static demand’ i.e., the proportion of the population by age group and gender that currently play pitch sports stays the same.

f. 

Recent trends suggest further growth in demand to play rugby, football and cricket among women and girls stimulated by recent successes of the national teams, the hosting and winning of major tournaments such as the 2022 Women’s Football Euros and the upcoming 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup to be held in England, of which Brighton & Hove is one of the host Cities, together with recently announced changes to physical education policy and practice in schools aimed at equal opportunities for girls. Football is the playing pitch sport where demand increase is likely to be the greatest and have the most impact on future playing pitch needs. England Hockey have a strategic focus on 5-11 years and will be hosting the EuroHockey Championships in 2027 which is likely to increase demand.

g. 

For this reason, it is recommended that, for the purposes of facility planning, the PPC estimates in figure 3.10 should be considered as the minimum future requirement for new playing pitch capacity that is likely to result from population growth to 2041. Scenarios to illustrate the impact on the future pitch needs of a large scale increase in demand in women’s and girl’s rugby, football, cricket and hockey are explored in section 4 of this study (using Sports England’s Playing Pitch Calculator). Actual growth should be monitored as part of regular PPS updates to identify whether the population growth or participation growth scenarios outlined in section 4 are proving to be accurate. Future needs should be revised on an ongoing basis to ensure facilities are planned accordingly.

h.

A further key consideration in the assessment of future playing pitch needs is the extent to which the clubs based in the City deliver on their development aspirations. Research and consultation for this strategy has found that a significant number of playing pitch sports clubs in the area have embraced the youth, women and girls and recreational participation development initiatives and programmes of the national governing bodies. Accordingly, these clubs aspire to convert latent demand for their sport into new teams and/or to develop more playing opportunities at a recreational level alongside traditional league competition provided that required pitch capacity can be secured along with the additional volunteer coaches/ team managers needed to run the additional teams and activities.

3.6 Is there enough provision to meet future demand?

a.

The clear conclusion of the assessments of need for playing pitches in Brighton & Hove is that, by 2041, there will be a need to provide additional playing and training capacity for all four major playing pitch sports.

Cricket – No

b. 

There is not sufficient accessible and secured community use provision in the City to meet future demand. There is a need for a minimum of 12 additional good quality grass wickets in the area, which could be met satisfied by developing 1 large square (12 wickets) or 2 smaller square (2x 6 wickets). Due to the lack of space in Brighton & Hove however, the planned new supply detailed above (see para 3.5a), to develop an additional 3 NTP wickets across Aldrington Recreation Ground (Wish Park), Braypool Recreation Ground, and East Brighton Park will be able to contribute toward meeting this demand and provide new standalone pitches at both Aldrington Recreation Ground and Braypool Recreation Ground, subject to planning. These NTPs, whilst a positive addition to the supply, will not however address the full demand and growth projections for cricket in Brighton & Hove.

c.

To provide further capacity, the council should seek to explore options for community use at the 4 education sites which currently do not have community use (Brighton College, Lancing College Preparatory School, Roedean School, and Mile Oak Primary School).

d.

In relation to meeting demand, pitches rated as poor quality are deemed to not have any capacity for cricket by the ECB, so it is important that the square at Patcham Place is improved to at least standard quality. For those pitches that are standard quality there is some scope to increase the playing capacity of the existing supply by improving the quality of the pitches used by cricket clubs and teams based in Brighton & Hove, but these are mainly council sites and would require an increase in maintenance budget which is already under significant pressure due to the wider budget pressures on local authorities.

e.

PitchPower (and ECB funding) is available to cricket clubs as of April 2024, providing potential for joint PitchPower and Football Foundation projects for sites with both football and cricket facilities. This could open an avenue to increased capacity and quality at joint sports sites such as Braypool Recreation Ground, Horsdean Recreation Ground and Rottingdean Cricket and Football Club which are used at or above capacity.

f.

There are also opportunities to increase the utilisation of council owned sites which are currently used by community clubs. East Brighton Park currently has a total surplus of 40 MES, which will be further increased should the council realise their proposed development of an additional NTP on the site. There are some limitations to the amount of peak period use the pitch can receive as, despite having 24 grass wickets, there is only 1 pitch which limits the pitch to one match at a time.

g.

Investment into pavilions is required in the area including new or refurbished provision at many sites across the City. Clubs have noted that their current facilities are either not suitable for women’s and girl’s teams or are insufficient for any further growth of the club. Many pavilions were rated ‘Poor’ and have been included as projects in the action plan (section 7) including those at:

• Aldrington Recreation Ground (Wish Park)
• Braypool Recreation Ground
• Patcham Place Recreation Ground – Currently closed
• Preston Park (Cricket Pavilion)

h.

The key pavilion projects across all sports are highlighted in Section 7 of this strategy in the Action Plan to assist the council in prioritising the leading pavilion projects and those which will have the most positive impact on community sports.

Football – No. 

i. 

By 2041 additional grass pitches and artificial pitches will need to be developed to address forecast population growth, unmet and latent demand identified by clubs.

j.

To continue to deliver on the FA's strategy to transfer more affiliated competitive football to 3G surfaces and meet the needs of clubs and players for improved facilities further secured provision of 3G AGP pitches is needed. Investment in at least 1 additional full-size FA registered floodlit 3G AGP’s is needed to cater for current demand plus an additional 0.35 full sized pitch equivalent for the demand generated by future population growth. This totals a need for 1.35 full sized 3G FTPs in the City, equivalent to 1 full size AGP and a 7v7 AGP. There are already proposals to deliver 2 new full-sized pitches at Saltdean FC (East) and Toad Hole Valley (Central), and a small pitch (60x40m) at Moulsecoomb Community Leisure Centre (East), which would meet this demand. The council should also engage with the stakeholders managing and operating 3G pitches which are in a poor condition to encourage and support them in resurfacing their facilities.

k.

Additional natural turf pitches are needed for adult 11v11, youth 11v11 and youth 9v9 for match play by 2041 in light of the scale of forecast population growth and demand. Given the lack of space within the City to provide further grass pitches the council should look to improve the quality of pitches in the area to provide additional capacity, consider reconfiguring spare 7v7, 5v5 pitches to accommodate larger pitch sizes, investigate options to increase community use on education sites in the area, or consider the development of additional 3G AGP’s to cater for this shortfall.

l.

Transferring match play onto 3G pitches should also be explored at sites where there is capacity to accommodate this as well as making improvements to pitch quality on key grass football sites to increase capacity, such as Braypool Recreation Ground and Wild Park.

m.

Ongoing assessments of team generation rates in line with population growth should be completed due to the high rates of year-on-year growth found by the FA insights. This will ensure that pitch requirement figures can be updated in line with concurrent data.

Hockey – No

n.

There is spare capacity at Stanley Deason Leisure Centre, but the facility needs to be resurfaced to be of sufficient quality to accommodate future demand. The location of the pitch in relation to the current clubs is not ideal but is within Sport England’s recommended minimum drive time of 20 minutes. There are no other sites within the City which have surplus match capacity, with clubs having to carefully plan schedules to meet the current level of match and training demand.

o.

The majority of current supply is secured, with Brighton & Hove HC co-owning the facility at Blatchington Mill School, with a lease agreement in place with 8 years remaining. Stanley Deason Leisure Centre is council owned and secure, however the University of Sussex does not have a Community Use Agreement in place and this should be secured as part of any future resurface of the pitch. Southwick HC also has no security of tenure on their current facility just outside of the City in Steyning, should they be displaced from this site then there would be further demand on the facilities in the area.

p. 

Improvements to changing provision is needed at Blatchington Mill School and the council support proposals to develop a new clubhouse with changing rooms, but this is dependent on the school extending the clubs lease past its current 8 years and sufficient funding being sourced by the club and school.

Rugby – No 

q.

There is currently insufficient provision for rugby to meet future demand. Improvement to the maintenance and drainage at all pitches would increase the number of match equivalent sessions in the City, but this is likely to be difficult due to the pressures on council and club budgets and would still not bring all the pitches within their carrying capacity due to amount of training demand.

r.

Additional capacity could also be accommodated by exploring regular community access to the pitches at Dorothy Stringer School (1), Hove Park School (1), University of Sussex (2), Brighton College (1), Varndean High School (1), and Cardinal Newman Catholic School (2).

s.

The current capacity deficit in Brighton & Hove is 12 MES including training sessions. To accommodate this on natural turf pitches (assuming adequate natural drainage and adequate maintenance) would require 6 natural turf pitches. Due to the lack of alternative green space which would be suitable for developing additional grass pitches, this demand may be reduced by considering enhanced maintenance and drainage of current rugby pitches.

t.

The overuse of grass pitches is mainly due to the level of training demand. Whilst Brighton RFC currently use their 3G pitch for non-contact training, there is a need for this pitch to be resurfacedin order to comply with World Rugby regulations. If resurfaced and certified for contact rugby, itcould accommodate some of the clubs training demand and match demand. This is a priority project for the area, ensuring there is appropriate management of the facility, community use is secured and a sufficient sinking fund is in place for a future resurface.

u.

The 3G pitch developed at Cardinal Newman School during the process of this study is proposed to be suitable for rugby, subject to testing, this would be an ideal location to absorb some of the training demand and possible youth match demand for Hove RFC, especially as it is less than a mile from the club. The new facility is subject to a community use agreement, and this should be monitored by the council to ensure there is good community access and that a sinking fund is in place for a future resurface.

v.

The council are also exploring options to develop a small sized WRC 3G AGP at Moulsecoomb Community Leisure Centre which may also be able to accommodate some youth training demand from each club.

Figure 3.11 – Estimate of minimum future additional playing pitch capacity needs to 2041 to meet current and future demands based on current unmet demand and future population growth

w.

The options or scenarios in Brighton & Hove for meeting the identified capacity needs are explored in more detail in the following section.

a.

As part of the Strategy Development process a number of scenarios have been identified as options to meet the future facility needs summarised in the preceding section. The Steering Group has considered these scenarios along with their potential implications on the future picture of provision for the leading playing pitch sports in Brighton & Hove and how best to meet existing and future playing pitch facility demand. These scenarios have also been considered in relation to setting the priorities for future enhancement and provision detailed in the action plan for playing pitches in section 7 of this Playing Pitch Strategy – i.e., the initial action plan.

4.1 Improved quality of sites

4.1a.

Before considering the provision of new playing fields it is important to first consider the potential for increasing capacity of existing sites (particularly those grounds owned or leased by community clubs) as these have resources and structures in place (e.g., grounds maintenance, coaching) and an established sporting identity developed over many years.

4.1b.

Improving the quality of ancillary facilities such as practice, changing and social provision can also have an impact by sustaining and retaining existing demand and on attracting under-represented groups (e.g., the provision of suitable changing provision for women and girls).

Cricket 

4.1c. 

As set out above in para. 2.5, the existing ‘poor’ and ‘standard’ quality fine turf cricket pitches at key cricket sites in the City also used for football – e.g. Patcham Place Rec, Braypool Rec, Aldrington Rec, and East Brighton Park - have potential to secure ECB funding via a new joint PitchPower football and cricket pitch improvement programme to be launched in 2024. Improving the quality of these four fine turf pitches at key sites from ‘standard’, or ‘poor’ in Patcham Recreation Ground’s case, to ‘good’ quality would increase the total playing capacity by approximately 133 match equivalent sessions a season (i.e. +2 MES per season x 39 ‘standard’ strips/wickets + 5 MES per season x 11 ‘poor’ strips/wickets). It should be noted that this includes the 24 wicket square at East Brighton Park, which although has significant capacity for matches in theory, can only accommodate 1 match at a time, therefore the actual increase in MES is lower than the 133 in practice.

4.1d.

Other improvement priorities for cricket in Brighton & Hove relate to ancillary facilities which are important both to sustain existing membership and participation and to meet the quality expectations of potential new players including women and girls, a priority for the ECB and the council. The priority sites for cricket pavilion improvements are detailed in the recommendations (section 7).

Football

4.1e

The delivery of the grass pitch improvements recommended by the Grounds Maintenance Association through the Football Foundation's PitchPower pitch assessment reports to 27 pitches at 5 key football sites in the City (e.g. Braypool Rec, Happy Valley Rec, Nevill Playing Fields, Victoria Rec, and Aldrington Rec) would go a long way to improving the playing capacity at selected club sites supported by funding from the Football Foundation's Grass Pitch Maintenance Fund. For example, if the existing ‘standard/basic’ or ‘poor’ quality assessed pitches were all upgraded to good/high this would create an additional capacity of +40 MES a week. This would meet the identified need to 2041 of additional natural turf football pitches. Outside of the key sites identified above, there are an additional 12 pitches that are rate ‘poor’ or ‘basic’ by Pitch Power reports that, if improved, would further increase playing capacity in the City.

4.1f

However, in light of the high playing capacity of floodlit 3G pitches relative to natural turf, the quality improvement that would have the greatest positive impact on football in the City is resurfacing theplaying surface at Brighton RFC to ensure it passes FA regulations for match play. Although this pitchwould be primarily used by Brighton RFC for training and matches, it would still provide opportunities for football clubs in the area. As identified above in paragraph 2.4a, there are a number of pipeline 3G pitch projects being assessed which may be realised over the strategy period, providing further 3G pitch provision.

4.1g.

There are a number of football changing pavilions (some serving both football and cricket) that need substantial quality improvement or replacement in order to sustain and grow participation particularly among women and girls aligning with FA and council priorities. The priority projects are set out in the action plan (section 7).

Hockey

4.1h.

Hockey The clear quality enhancement priority to sustain existing hockey participation in Brighton & Hove is to upgrade the worn playing surfaces to the sand based AGPs at Stanley Deason Leisure Centre and University of Sussex, as well as carry out an independent assessment of Blatchington Mill School to confirm the pitch conditions and timescales for resurfacing.i.A key project for Hockey in Brighton & Hove is the development of a new pavilion and changing rooms at Blatchington Mill School, home of Brighton Hockey Club. The current ancillary facilities available to the club at the school were rated poor and not sufficient for the club.

Rugby

4.1j.

As set out in para. 3.4j, half of the naturally drained rugby pitches in the City are classified as having ‘inadequate’ drainage. If the necessary funding could be secured, which is unlikely in the current financial climate, the installation of engineered drainage to these pitches would increase the playing capacity by 0.5 ‘Match Equivalent Sessions’ (MES) each week per pitch (assuming installation of a pipe system), whilst a more sophisticated pipe & slit system would increase the weekly playing capacity of each pitch by one full MES.

4.1k.

There is a need for the 3G AGP pitch at Brighton RFC to be resurfaced so that it can be used for contact training and matches. Currently, the pitch surface is not deemed suitable for contact rugby and is only used for none contact training. Should the pitch be resurfaced, this would help reduce the current overplay on grass pitches at the club and may provide opportunities to cater for some football demand. 

4.1l.

In 2022, PitchPower assessments were made available to rugby clubs. These assessments provide pitch maintenance recommendations, support, and funding if applications are successful. This process can help guide and support both clubs in improving the quality and capacity of their playing pitches. Priority sites for PitchPower assessments and associated maintenance actions are highlighted in the action plan (Section 7).

4.2 More community use at education sites

4.2a.

Whilst the Government seeks to widen access to sports facilities on school premises as part of the Department for Education’s School Sport and Physical Activity Action Plan, investment available from its Opening Schools Facilities Fund has been restricted to revenue spending on capacity building, sports leaders/coaches, equipment to deliver community activities out-of-hours specifically targeted at under-represented groups in sport and physical activity living in areas of relative deprivation. Whilst the Opening Schools Fund is scheduled to end in early 2025, should it be extended Active Sussex should consider the findings of this strategy to increase community access of sports facilities at school sites. A priority for further exploration in Brighton & Hove should be St Margaret’s COE Primary School. Consultation during this study has identified that the schools’ 7v7 football pitch is available for hire but has not received any enquiries from clubs. 

4.2b.

Varndean High School find themselves in a similar situation to St Margaret’s, with their senior rugby pitch being available for community use, but no clubs are currently hiring the facility. Given the significant demand for additional rugby pitches in the City and the school’s proximity to both Hove RFC and Brighton RFC, the use of this pitch could help reduce the overplay at either club site, subject to suitable ancillary facilities being available.

4.2c.

The education sites highlighted above have specifically expressed an interest in hiring out their pitches for community use, however further opportunities to increase community access to education facilities in strategic locations (detailed in Section 7) should be explored by the council to help meet the current and future surplus demand highlighted in Section 3.

4.3 Change of use from one sport or pitch type to another

a.

The most common scenarios involving change of pitch type are:

• Upgrading natural turf pitches to 3G artificial football turf and to rugby turf
• Resurfacing sand-based hockey AGPs as 3G football turf.

b.

The first scenario has potential to make a significant impact on meeting existing and future capacity shortfalls for football and for rugby in Brighton & Hove. Whilst the current proposals to address the demand for football by developing additional AGPs on natural turf pitches identified in section 3.5, and AGP proposals which may support rugby usage at Cardinal Newman School and Longhill Sports Centre, the resurfacing of the current AGPs at Brighton RFC should be the key priority.

c.

None of the sand-based hockey AGPs used by the hockey clubs in the City are currently considered at risk of loss due to change of playing surface. Any proposed future changes would need to ensure Sport England and England Hockey are consulted.

4.4 Potential loss of availability of key sites

a.

Little imminent threat to availability of key community playing pitch sites in Brighton & Hove has been identified in the course of the research and consultation for this PPS. The rugby pitch at Brighton Hove & Sussex Sixth Form College is being considered for replacement by the college, with discussions around developing a MUGA in its place. This pitch is largely unused due to its significant slope and is no longer used by Hove RFC, however consultation would be needed with Sport England to determine the new provision would be suitable mitigation for loss of a rugby pitch.

b.

Nevertheless, in the absence of either a formal Community Use Agreement (CUA) or binding grant funding conditions, there is always a risk of loss of availability of education pitches for community club use. This loss of availability is potentially a concern in Brighton & Hove for clubs as CUAs or grant conditions are not in place with a number of schools in the City that hire pitches to these clubs on a seasonal or term by term basis. Examples include Hove Park School, University of Sussex, and Longhill Sports Centre.

c.

There is little to no mechanisms in place in Brighton & Hove to manage those CUAs that are in place, which could mean that key facilities are lost to community use or the full level of access required by planning conditions is not provided. The council should consider ways to manage this going forwards as effectively as possible.

d.

The over-riding priority recommendation of the PPS is to continue to retain the existing overall quantity of land in the City available for use as playing pitches, so it will be important to try to secure these education pitches for community use where possible. 

4.5 New or reinstated pitches in Brighton & Hove

a.

As detailed in para. 3.5 above under the heading ‘Planned Provision’, there are advanced plans for a number of new or reinstated playing pitches in the City that will impact substantially on addressing the overall future needs identified in figure 3.10.

b.

The proposed projects more than cater for the 1.35 additional full size floodlit 3G AGPs needed by 2041, many of which have already been granted planning permission. Where possible football use of sand dressed AGPs should be moved to new 3G AGPs to enable growth of hockey on site.

c.

The 3 NTPs planned for development at Braypool Rec, Aldrington Rec, and East Brighton Park will provide additional capacity for cricket, with the NTPs at Braypool Rec and Aldrington Rec creating additional pitches, however these pitches are generally used to complement natural turf wickets. The demand for 12 additional natural turf wickets is unlikely to be met by developing new pitches due to the lack of land available in the City, it may be more realistic to meet this demand by improving maintenance to ‘poor’ and ‘standard’ quality pitches in the City, as discussed in section 4.1 above.

d.

In the 2023/24 season, new junior football grass pitches were developed at Happy Valley Recreation Ground. The pitches are open to all clubs to book and are currently used by Woodingdean Wanderers. There are no additional plans to develop new natural turf pitches in the City.

e.

There are no proposed new Hockey AGPs in the City. The movement of football training from Hockey AGP’s to new 3G pitches should be a priority on key hockey sites.

f.

Finally, in the case of rugby, Cardinal Newman School have recently developed a new 3G AGP which will be available for rugby clubs to use for training on and includes a rugby specific shockpad, however at the time of this report is subject to testing to confirm world rugby compliance, if approved this allow contact rugby and could be used for some matches. The school is with easy reach of Hove RFC being only half a mile away. Longhill Sports Centre are exploring options to develop a new 3G pitch with WRC shockpad, providing facilities which could be used for training and contact matches. The sports centre has been in discussions with Hove Rugby Club and Lewes Rugby Club about their appetite for training use. Longhill Sports Centre is located in the East of the City, 10.2 miles from Hove RFC and 8.2 miles from Brighton RFC, so may not be an ideal location for training for either club. Brighton & Hove City Council are exploring options to develop a 7v7 3G AGP at Moulsecoomb Community Leisure Centre which would have a World Rugby Compliant surface. This would be too small to satisfy match demand but with the Leisure Centre between 4 and 5 miles away from each rugby club but could be a suitable facility to satisfy some youth training demand from either club

4.6 Significant increase in demand by an age group or sport

a.

Nationally, Sport England's latest Active Lives Survey (ALS) data report published in April 2024 suggests that participation in all four key playing pitch sports has returned to, and in some cases exceeded, levels of participation prior to COVID-19. In the 5 years following the pandemic, participation in all sports has been increasing year on year, with hockey recording it’s highest levels of participation since the data started being collected. The focus of England Hockey on youth hockey (5-11 years) and hosting the EuroHockey Championships in 2027 will continue to drive demand in all age groups. The FA report that youth football is growing at 3.09% per annum, and the growth in number of junior teams identified in figure 3.4 shows that there has been a strong growth in junior sports participation across the City. Figure 3.4 also identifies a significant growth in women’s and girls’ teams across all playing pitch sports.

b.

While hockey participation is already evenly split between the genders, the governing bodies of football, cricket and rugby all have a clear strategic focus on delivering more opportunities for women and girls to play and compete. As identified in the detailed assessments of future need for each sport, it is demand growth from women and girls that is likely to be the most significant over the next planning period and place the most pressure on the available capacity in the peak hours at existing pitches.

c.

This demand growth is particularly evident in football and, if sustained, will place additional demand pressure on the available stock of youth and mini soccer pitches and 3G AGPs as well as on the existing stock of pavilions many of which do not have adequate changing and toilet facilities.

d.

The FA’s insight shows that youth football is growing at an average of 3.09% year on year. Brighton & Hove’s previous strategy in 2016 predicted a growth of 22 teams based on population rates to 2030, this number has already been exceeded in 2024 by an extra 44 teams in the City, which is a growth rate of 3.15% per year.

e.

In view of these demand pressures, a further run of the Playing Pitch Calculator has been made to show the possible impact on pitch needs with an adjusted demand rate of 69% for youth football (3.15% iterative increase per year over 16 years).

f.

To meet football demand from 12,477 additional residents and adjusting demand for a growth of 69% in youth football for matches and training in the peak period until 2041, the PPC indicates that the equivalent capacity of +2 adult football pitches, +6 youth football pitches and +3 mini soccer pitches will be needed in the area (totalling +11 natural turf pitches) as well as 20 hours of training on a 3G pitch equivalent to half an additional AGP needed.

g.

The needs for additional playing pitch capacity for community football in the area by 2041, identified in figure 3.11 in the above section, should therefore be considered as a minimum requirement as they take no account of any increase in the rate of demand within the area population. The adjusted needs based on this scenario for football are as outlined in figure 4.1.

Figure 4.1 – Estimate of impact on pitch needs of a demand growth scenario for youth football

h.

Brighton & Hove are one of the City hosting the 2025 Womens Rugby World Cup and are part of the RFU’s Impact 25 programme. The programme will see over £12 million invested nationally into community rugby clubs to upgrade facilities and make them more inclusive for women and girls as well as supporting female coaches and match officials. Funding has been allocated to Brighton & Hove RFC for toilet and sanitary provision upgrades. It is anticipated that the World Cup and the Impact 25 programme will increase the participation of women and girls nationally, and especially within Brighton & Hove as a host City. As such, the estimated facilities needed to cater for future demand outlined in figure 2.4 should be treated as the minimum required.

i. 

Actual team generation rates should be monitored as part of regular PPS updates to identify whether the population growth or participation growth scenarios outlined above are proving to be accurate. Future pitch capacity and demand should be revised on an ongoing basis to ensure provisions are planned accordingly.

5.1 Introduction

a.

This section of the Playing Pitch Strategy sets out a number of overarching strategic recommendations, endorsed by the Strategy Steering Group, aimed at ensuring the on-going provision of high-quality, accessible playing pitches that can meet the needs and demands of the city’s current and future populations. The recommendations respond to the facility needs highlighted in section 3 of this Playing Pitch Strategy.

5.2 Planning policy

a.

The need to protect the existing scale of facility provision for artificial and natural turf playing pitches remains similar to the findings of the previous strategy in 2017 but with the growth in demand across all sports the requirement to provide further enhancements to facilities to accommodate this demand has increased.

b.

Given the evidence presented, the principles established in the current Local Plan Policies with regard to community, sport and recreation facilities i.e., policies CP7 (Infrastructure and Contributions), CP16 (Open space), and CP17 (Sports Provision) - need to be maintained but updated as part of the new City Plan to reflect current Sport England Playing Fields guidance.

c.

These current planning policies established in the City Plan for Brighton & Hove (2016) are set out in full at Appendix F to this document. A review of the City Plan focusing on the strategic policies in City Plan 1 has commenced. The new plan will be known as City Plan 2041. The first stage of public consultation takes place from 4 November 2024 to 20 January 2025.

d.

The strategic recommendations of the Brighton & Hove City Council’s Playing Pitch Strategy Steering Group for playing pitches are set out in the following paragraphs. The recommendations are based on the Needs and Opportunities Assessment completed in 2024 reported in this document and its appendices, as agreed by the Steering Group.

5.3 Protect

a.

This Playing Pitch Strategy has assessed existing and future needs for all provision across the area. The firm conclusion is that there is an identified need to retain the existing quantity of sports facilities within the City whilst recognising that the distribution of facilities may change (for example, through any change of sites of poor quality or of limited value for community sport being offset by new provision). This headline finding and recommendation remains applicable in relation to any examination at LPA level.

b.

It is therefore recommended that, in line with Sport England’s playing fields policy and as proposed, the new Local Plan should continue to maintain a policy framework to resist granting planning permission for any development which would lead to the loss, or would prejudice the use, of a playing field or sports facility unless:

• the loss resulting from the proposed development would be replaced by equivalent or better provision in terms of quantity and quality in a location well-related to the users of the existing facility
• the development is for alternative sports and recreational provision, the needs for which clearly outweigh the loss or
• the development is for a small part of the site that does not affect or prejudice the use of playing pitch provision or
• where it has been demonstrated that it will result in an enhanced sport or recreational facility.

c.

Should a current or newly created sports facility exist in Brighton & Hove City Council that is not mentioned in this Strategy and appendices, its omission is not an endorsement by the council, Sport England or the relevant national governing body of that sport of its disposal.

d.

It is also recommended that the council continue to work with strategic sports partners (Sport England and the National Governing Bodies of sport) to seek agreements to secure access for community sport at those sites in the City where there is existing access, but long-term access is currently unsecured (i.e. by means of Community Use Agreements).

e.

Where sports facility sites are in the council's ownership, the policy of securing community access through asset transfer to community clubs and/or sports associations should continue to be applied, provided that:

• The facilities are assessed as 'good' quality by the relevant governing bodies of sport prior to transfer and
• the transferee is able to demonstrate it has the capacity and resources to maintain the facilities to good quality (and this forms part of any service level agreement). 

It is recommended that the terms of future transfer agreements include incentives for the clubs to deliver sports development outcomes (e.g. grow numbers of teams, volunteering, and sporting opportunities for under-represented groups).

f.

It is recommended the council continue to seek to influence the design and specification of any new education sports facilities and extensions to existing facilities to ensure their suitability for both education and community use (i.e., provided to Sport England and/or the relevant sport’s national governing body design dimensions and standards as opposed to education dimensions and standards).

g.

It is further recommended that the council negotiates secure affordable community access as a condition of planning consent (via formal Community Use Agreements) for applications from education providers of sports facilities relating to:

• extending hours of permitted use
• extensions to existing sports facilities
• provision of new or enhanced sports facilities

5.4 Enhance and provide

a.

It is recommended that the Local Planning Authority continue to seek the advice of appropriate sport national governing bodies whenever pre-planning proposals or planning applications involving new sports facilities are brought forward or new S106 Agreements for sports facilities are drafted. This is to ensure that the design, layout and management plans maximise the community value of the new facilities and that any maintenance plans meet any relevant Performance Quality Standards.

b.

For all developments involving the creation of one or more residential units, contributions should be sought (under Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 or through the Community Infrastructure Levy mechanism) towards the delivery of 'off site' priority sports and recreation infrastructure projects as identified in the Playing Pitch Strategy in locations well-related to the proposed development. Appropriate contributions should also continue to be sought for ongoing maintenance of any new sports facilities.

c.

The priority projects are those set out in the Action Plan current at the time the planning application is submitted. The initial Action Plan is at Section 7 of this document. The priority projects includesites in private ownership and on school sites outside thecouncil’s control. Accordingly, the lead party responsible for progressing the actions is identified in the Action Plan along with supporting agencies.

Where a site specific policy in the Local Plan allocates the provision of sports facilities and open space facilities. On-site provision will typically be secured via a legal agreement and contributions may be sought (under Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 or through the Community Infrastructure Levy mechanism) towards its delivery and maintenance.

d.

The latest version of Sport England's Playing Pitch Calculator planning tools should be used, as appropriate, to scope the appropriate scale and approximate costs of new provision and to provide the starting point for project specific negotiations of S106 and/or CIL developer contributions. (For example, if 500 new dwellings are proposed at an average of 2.4 persons per dwelling, the additional population total to enter into the Calculator will be 1,200). The figure per dwelling can be adjusted based on local factors and specific development details.

e.

It is recommended that in the case of all planning applications with implications for sports facilities (both indoor and outdoor), the latest version of Sport England's Model Planning Conditions should be used as appropriate. Current model conditions cover the following:

• Protection/New Provision of Sport & Recreation Facilities
• Compensatory Provision, Continuity of Use and Phasing of Development;
• Built Design and Layout
• Playing Field Provision
• Operational Matters.

f.

It is recommended that the council’s Strategy Steering Group, comprising of membership from Sport England, and the NGB’s, should review and update the Action Plan and priority projects annually during the strategy period. In line with Sport England guidance a full review of the strategy will be required after 5 years. If no annual monitoring takes place a full review is required after 3 years.

6a.

Based on the findings of the assessment of current and future facility needs for the four major playing pitch sports summarised in section 3 of this strategy and detailed in sport-specific reports at appendices A to D, the following recommendations are made for strategic provision of playing pitch facilities in Brighton & Hove to 2041.

6b.

The recommendations assume the quantum of population growth forecast in B&HCC Strategic Housing Market Assessment 2023 – i.e. +12,477 additional residents by 2041 and take into consideration the range of potential scenarios available to the council and its partner sports bodies to address the facility needs detailed in section 4 above.

6.1 Protect

a.

In the context of current demand, future net population growth and the development aspirations of key sports clubs – particularly to grow opportunities for more women and girls to play cricket, football and rugby - the over-riding priority recommendation of the PPS is to continue to retain the existing overall quantity of land in the City available for use as playing pitches.

b.

Protecting the supply of playing fields, playing pitches and ancillary provision should continue to be a core principle in the planning policies of Brighton & Hove City Council in its emerging Local Plan.

c.

The relevant existing planning policies for the protection of playing pitches in Brighton & Hove are detailed in Appendix F of this Playing Pitch Strategy.

d.

Strategic recommendations aimed at maximising the effectiveness of local planning policy in Brighton & Hove and the planning process to both protect playing fields, playing pitches, ancillary provision and to secure community access are set out in Section 5 above.

e.

Effective use of the planning process to ensure protection of access to education playing pitches is particularly critical to community sport. Continued access to school and college playing fields at weekends is key to many community football clubs in the City to deliver their programmes of match play for growing numbers of youth and mini-soccer teams.

6.2 Enhance and provide

a.

It is recommended that a number of existing playing pitch facilities should be prioritised for investment in upgrades (subject to funding, planning and feasibility) in order to continue to meet existing demand from community teams and individuals and to ensure, where possible, that additional capacity is provided to contribute to meeting demand growth.

b.

Greater playing capacity will be needed in future as a result of population growth and as a consequence of demand growth stimulated by the sports development initiatives of local clubs supported by the council and other stakeholders including the relevant sport’s governing bodies. Improved safeguarding and accessibility at ancillary facilities will also be critical to attracting and retaining players, particularly women and girls who remain under-represented in cricket, football and rugby participation.

c.

The assessment of needs and the possible scenarios to address the needs has established that the additional playing pitch capacity that is likely to be needed over the strategy period will not be achievable without significantly improving the maintenance of many sites.

Recommended facility enhancement and new provision by sport

Cricket

Adrington Recreaction Ground, Braypool Recreation Ground and East Brighton Park

Develop non-turf pitches

Patcham Place Recreation Ground

Commission joint ECB/FA Pitch Power assessment and deliver recommendations to raise quality from poor.

Benfield Valley Recreation Ground 

Renew club lease to secure future community use.

Nevill Playing Fields and University of Sussex 

Provide new or upgraded non turf practice net systems.

Preston Park

Investigate options to safeguard against ball strikes.

Education sites

Explore options for community use.

Braypool Recreation Ground

Explore the feasibility of self-management opportunities with local sports clubs.

Aldrington Rec, Braypool Rec, Nevill Playing Fields, Patcham Place Rec, Preston Park (Cricket Pavilion)

Repair/upgrade/replace pavilions as necessary (e.g. replacement roofs, improved security, enhanced facilities for women & girls, disabled access).

Football

Key natural turf sites (for example Braypool Recreation Ground, Happy Valley Recreation Ground) 

Deliver FA PitchPower pitch quality report recommendations for natural turf improvement 

Longhill Sports Centre, Moulsecoomb Community Leisure Centre, Toads Hole Valley

Investigate the feasibility of proposed 3G projects and deliver planned 3G pitch projects Brighton RFC, Dorothy Stringer School, University of Brighton Support resurfacing of 3G pitches, where the surface is coming to the end of its usable life.

St Margarets C of E School

Support the school in hiring out their pitch to community clubs

Aldrington Recreation Ground, Braypool Recreation Ground, Greenleas, Happy Valley Rec, Nuffield Playing Fields, Patcham Place Rec, Preston Park, Victoria Recreation Ground, Waterhall Sports Ground (bottom area), Withdean Sports Complex, Wild Park

Repair/upgrade/replace pavilions as necessary (e.g. replacement roofs, improved security, enhanced facilities for women & girls, disabled access)

Withdean Sports Complex

Upgrade sports lighting to LED

Braypool, Hapy Valley, Waterhall Sports Ground (bottom area)

Explore the feasibility of self-management opportunities with local sports clubs

Hockey

Blatchington Mill School

• Support the school in developing a new clubhouse and changing rooms.
• Support BHHC in extending their lease at the school.
• Support resurfacing of both existing pitches.

Stanley Deason Leisure Centre and University of Sussex

Resurface the existing pitch.

Rugby

Brighton RFC

Resurface existing AGP to meet World Rugby regulations for contact play

Waterhall Sports Ground (bottom area)

Repair, upgrade or replace pavilions as necessary. For example:

• replacement roofs
• improved security
• enhanced facilities for women & girls
• disabled access

Hove Recreation Ground

Investigate options to install engineered drainage on the 2 remaining pitches with natural drainage

Education Sites

Explore options for community use

Cardinal Newman School, Varndean High School

Support the school in hiring out their pitch to community clubs

Hove Recreation Ground, Waterhall Sports Ground (top area)

Undertake Pitch Power assessments and action recommended maintenance

7a.

This section of the strategy provides an outline action plan related to the potential development and delivery of the priority projects and facility needs for sport and recreation as set out in the previous sections.

7b.

Figures 7.1 – 7.3 presents the projects split by analysis area, in alphabetical order, with a reference to their potential to be progressed either in the short term (defined as within 2 years approximately), the medium term (defined as within 2-5 years) or longer to progress - for example projects dependent on acquisition of land, the outcome of wider area development planning or large-scale review of options, feasibility and viability. Figure 7.4 that follows highlights a number of sites which present opportunities for providing or extending community sports. These sites sit outside of the main action plan as further work is required to investigate relevant permission, access, suitability, and funding.

7c.

Figure 7.5 identifies those sites that are not identified in figures 7.1 – 7.3 (for enhancement or new provision) or 7.4 (opportunity sites) but are in need of protection for community sport through the planning system. The omission of any playing pitch site from this Strategy is not an endorsement by the council, Sport England or the relevant national governing body of that sport of its disposal.

7d.

The action plan is a guide to how facilities might be developed, pending funding confirmation and planning permission where necessary, where and whom they might be developed by to meet identified demand, exploit opportunities that may arise and provide sustainable management and operational models often through engaging with either voluntary or commercial partners. A number of project proposals within the strategy are subject to design and cost analysis and for some projects feasibility testing and options appraisals.

7e.

Each potential project must be evaluated considering the current situation, as the strategy and action plan set out the position at the time of writing; so, factors on both the demand and supply side may have changed as well as the cost and viability of the project at the point when an individual project is being considered within the lifespan of this strategy. The action plan should be reviewed and adjusted on an annual basis by the Strategy Steering Group to ensure these factors are taken into consideration.

7f.

The immediate priority for Brighton & Hove City Council, as with many local authorities at the time of this strategy, is to protect and continue to maintain the current level of facilities to ensure no loss of provision during the current challenging time for local authorities. The current pressures on public sector budgets alongside increasing operational costs and capital costs (for maintenance and new facilities) means the council must plan prudently for future needs.

7g.

The updates to the Action Plan should in turn inform periodic updates of the council's priorities for investment and future decision on funding either through capital grant and / or financing and budgetary planning.

Figure 7.1: Priorities and actions for playing pitches in Brighton & Hove (West)

Aldrington Recreation Ground

Benfield Valley Recreation Ground

Blatchington Mill School

Brighton Football Club (RFU)

Easthill Park

Greenlease

Hove Park School - Valley Campus

Hove Recreation Ground

Cardinal Newman School

Nevill Playing Fields

Toads Hole Valley

Victoria Rec

Waterhall Sports Ground(bottom area)

Withdean Sports Complex

Figure 7.2: Priorities and actions for playing pitches in Brighton & Hove (Central)

Braypool Recreation ground

Preston Park

University of Brighton

University of Sussex

Varndean High School

Wild Park

Figure 7.3 Priorities and actions for playing pitches in Brighton & Hove (East)

Bevendean Recreation Ground

East Brighton Park

Happy Valley Recreation Ground

Longhill Sports Centre

Nuffield Playing Fields

Stanley Deason Leisure Centre

St Margarets C of E School

Figure 7.4: Opportunities for providing or extending community sports opportunities to be investigated further at the following sites

All pending funding and relevant permissions. All potential opportunities listed are dependent on the support of the site owners/operators.

Figure 7.4: Opportunities for providing or extending community sports opportunities to be investigated further at the following sites

Analysis area - East

• Bevendean Primary School - Football
• Brighton Aldridge Community Academy - Cricket
• Football Hamilton Lodge School and College for Deaf Children - Football and Hockey
• Portslade Sports Centre - Football
• Roedean School - Football, Cricket and Hockey
• Rottingdean Cricket & Football Club - Football and Cricket
• Rottingdean Recreation Ground - Football
• Saltdean Oval Park - Football
• The Crew Club - Football
• The Manor Road Gym - Football
• University of Brighton - Rugby
• Whitehawk Football Club (The enclosed ground) - Football

Analysis area - Central

• Balfour Junior School - Football
• Carden Park - Football
• Hertford Junior School - Football
• Hill Park - Football
• Hollingbury Park (Brentwood Road) - Football
• Horsdean Recreation Ground - Football and Cricket
• Patcham High School - Football and Cricket
• Patcham Junior School - Football
• St Bernadette Catholic Primary School - Football
• University of Sussex - Football and Cricket
• Varndean High School - Football and Cricket
• Wild Park - Football

Analysis area - West

• Benfield Valley Recreation Ground - Football, Cricket
• Brighton Hove & Sussex Sixth Form College Sports Centre - Rugby
• Cardinal Newman Catholic School - Football
• Cottesmore St. Mary’s RC Primary School - Football
• Dyke Road Park - Football
• Hove Park - Football
• Hove Park School - Nevill Campus - Football
• Knoll Park - Football
• Portslade Aldridge Community Academy - Football
• Portslade Sports Centre - Football
• Mile Oak Recreation Ground - Football
• Withdean Sports Complex - Football
• Nuffield Playing Fields - Football
• Southwick Hill Rec Ground - Football
• Waterhall Sports Ground (top area) - Baseball

8.1a.

Throughout the development of this strategy Brighton & Hove City Council and key partners have continued to emphasise the importance of facilities for sport and physical activity to improve the health and wellbeing of the local population. Alongside this is the recognition of the vital contribution these facilities make to the local economy and quality of life for all residents, communities, and visitors.

8.1b.

Through this strategy a number of priorities have emerged for the area for the council to consider and plan for. Football has grown significantly since the last strategy putting pressure on the facilities in the area. There is a clear need to provide more artificial grass pitches across Brighton & Hove, this includes continuing to progress the current planned AGP pitches as well as new ones identified, there is the evident need to improve existing grass pitch sites as well introduce or extend community use at education sites. For cricket there is a need for at least one new fine turf pitches (of 12 wickets) as well as additional NTP’s alongside pitch improvements to support the clubs especially those with large junior sections. The key priority for hockey is the resurfacing of the pitches at Blatchington Mill School and Stanley Deason Leisure Centre. The rugby clubs in the area have high levels of demand for matches and training, with identified pitch improvements that will improve capacity as well as resurfacing the WRC AGP at Brighton RFC.

8.1c.

As well as the investment needs identified the overarching need is for the council to protect the overall quantity, maintain the quality and secure availability for the wider community to the existing supply of sports facilities. Within Brighton & Hove, like many local authorities, many playing pitches are located on education sites which require new or on-going community use agreements to protect future usage and extend community access where possible.

8.1d

Alongside direct provision Brighton & Hove City Council also plays an enabling role in developing better quality facilities by engaging and empowering community organisations through the asset transfer process to potentially independently manage and operate facilities funded through partnerships with Sport England and National Governing Bodies of Sport as well as other funding organisations.

8.1e

As local authorities continue to manage difficult budget decisions and the challenges of providing both statutory and critical non-statutory services, the important role physical activity has in positively impacting on the health of the nation is even more evident. Investment into the future health and wellbeing of Brighton & Hove’s residents will be impacted very positively by the priorities highlighted within this strategy. This will be in the form of both protecting the current playing pitch facilities as well as investing in improved and new facilities where the opportunities arise.

8.1f.

Brighton & Hove City Council has always recognised and must continue to do so, despite the ongoing challenges, the importance of protecting and investing in accessible and sustainable community sports facilities which play a critical role in providing activities and opportunities and improving the lives and wellbeing of all of their residents.

Read Appendix A – Assessment of Needs Report Cricket.

Read Appendix B – Assessment of Needs Report Football.

Read Appendix C – Assessment of Needs Report Hockey.

Read Appendix D - Assessment of Need Report Rugby.

To understand the current landscape of clubs in the Brighton & Hove area, data was collected from a survey distributed to the sports clubs in the area. 51 individual sports clubs responded to the invitation to complete the survey. A summary of the club survey results is provided in the strategy introduction with this appendix providing the results of key questions asked and details of clubs aspirations for improved facilities.

Figure F.1 Club responses – Growth trend last 3 years

Two thirds of sports clubs (62.75%) reported an increase in active members from three years ago, with 29.41% of clubs reporting similar levels of active members. This growth of active members suggests a significantly greater demand for playing pitch and ancillary facilities to support club’s growth in playing memberships.

Figure F.2 Future growth

Looking to the future, over 85% of the clubs surveyed were positive regarding plans for growth over the next three years/seasons, emphasising further the strength of the club sector in Brighton & Hove as well as likely rising demand. The remaining 14% of the respondents do not have any further plans to grow, signalling a need to maintain the current provisions for these clubs to remain sustainable.

Figure F.3 Club needs – Meeting demand

Nearly two thirds of clubs responded that they do not have sufficient programming time available at the sporting venues they access to meet current training demand from their memberships and 54.9% for match play. This shows the supply or availability of facilities and resources is not meeting the demands of the sports clubs, signalling a potential need to increase accessibility and capacity of sport facilities.

Figure F.4 Club response – Playing pitch ratings

In terms of the quality of sports facilities available to the sports clubs in the area, nearly 50% of respondents rated their playing facilities as ‘average’, with only 32.65% rating their facilities as ‘good’ or ‘very good’. This is a largely positive response, suggesting that the current quality of sports facilities in Brighton & Hove is suitable for the clubs and organisations that use them, with only 20.41% of respondents rating their facilities as ‘poor’ or very poor’. There is however a clear need to upgrade these facilities rated as Poor as well as trying to improve average pitches to a good quality.

Figure F.5 Main site – Playing pitch improvements

The majority of clubs (89.80%) believe they are in need of change or improvements to their current main playing facilities to sustain or grow their club. This data shows that support is clearly needed for those clubs who are keen to promote growth or in many cases to ensure sustainability and longevity. Whilst the strategy details a number of enhancements and investment needs for sport and physical activity, the Council also acknowledges that in difficult financial times, the maintenance of the current stock of facilities is of prime importance as well as planning for the future.

Figure F.6 Main site – Ancillary facilities rating

Only 18.37% of clubs rated the ancillary facilities (clubhouse, changing rooms, social spaces etc) at their main site as ‘good’ or ‘very good’, with 69.39% rating their facilities as ‘average’ or worse (12.24% of clubs responded that this question was not applicable to them). This highlights a clear need for the ancillary facilities at club sites across Brighton & Hove to be enhanced.

Figure F.7 Main site – Ancillary facilities improvement

75% of the respondent clubs consider they need to improve or change their ancillary facilities to sustain the appeal of their club to existing members and to attract new members. This is key to accommodating the growth of sports clubs and noting that two thirds of sports clubs in the area have grown in the past three years, as identified in figure F.2 the demand on facilities is under pressure. Therefore, whilst a high majority of clubs are keen to expand further, there appears a need to invest in the wider infrastructure for clubs such as ancillary / support facilities to support this.

The impact of cost of living on clubs and organisations

It is important to investigate how the economic environment is affecting clubs and participants so that they can be supported. Significant financial impacts may reduce clubs’ ability to operate sustainably, and negatively impact members ability to continue participating. The 49 responses to Q9, ‘What impact (if any) do you think the ‘cost of living crisis’ will have on your club/organisation are summarised in figure F.8 below.

Figure F.8 Key themes of the impact of cost of living on clubs and organisations

The most common impact of increased cost of living was that the cost of pitch hire has increased, this along with increased utility costs, has a knock-on effect on membership prices. Clubs are often forced to increase membership prices to cover increasing costs, this is observed in the responses received from clubs in Brighton &Hove with nearly 50% of clubs increasing their membership fees. Nearly 50% of responding clubs have stated that members are struggling to pay membership fees. Some clubs (26.53%) are offering members bursaries to help support them, ensuring they can still afford memberships and are able to participate in the club activities. Initiatives like these need to be protected to ensure physical activity rates are protected across the district and residents in areas of high deprivation have access to organised sport and physical activity.

Survey summary

Many clubs are looking to grow over the next three years, and they are reporting needs for further development of facilities to achieve these goals. The data has shown that the majority of clubs are not satisfied with the facilities that they have access to, highlighting a need for improvements. Most clubs believe they are in need of funding to grow for a range of reasons, many of which are linked directly to facilities and improving the accessibility of provisions to members.

Club aspirations and demands for facility improvements

The clubs surveyed cited a range of aspirations and facility needs to assist in growing and developing their respective clubs. A number of these have been considered during the formation of the strategy action plan in discussion with the steering group, however not all of these needs were considered as priorities at the time of the strategy being developed and therefore have not been included in the action plan. The table below illustrates the aspirations provided by the responding clubs, in their own words, as part of the survey process for reference and information.

AFC Varndeanians

Improved maintenance on the Withdean pitch will help with more usage and enhance the playing experience. The pitch is not at a satisfactory standard

Brighton & Hove Cricket Club

Growth in demand from the community and schools to use our facilities.

We need to upgrade showers and toilets to a modern standard as they are currently 40 years old. Our ambition is to support disability sports groups but we do not have a disability toilet?

Brighton & Hove Scorpions AFC

Marked pitches reduce coaches time and allows more accurate officiating. Currently use unmarked rugby pitch we manually set up with cones. Would reduce cancellations due to bad weather.

Brighton & Hove Hockey Club

Replace surface and do some repairs. To grow we need another pitch. We are trying to build a clubhouse that we will manage and clean but we need permission to use the land owned by Brighton & Hove City Council.

Brighton Baseball Club

Need to develop an additional diamond and improve fencing & seating areas for fans around the existing 2 diamonds.

Brighton F.C. (Rugby Club)

Greater investment in pitches will allow for greater use; also ATP needs investment to enable rugby to be replayed on the facility. The clubhouse was built circa 1994, and needs significant development to cater for additional players, different sexes and accessibility. There is a pavilion (on the lower Waterhall site) that the club could, with support of the Council, assimilate into its management structures to redevelop, not just for its growing rugby participants, but for a range of other sports, such as football, cricket etc.

Brighton Malayalee Association Cricket Club

Proper maintenance is required Pavilion facilities need to be improved.

Brighton Rogues Hockey

We want to reach out to women in vulnerable groups to help them with finding better wellbeing in sports.

Brighton, Worthing and District FL

Action is needed as poor pitches and facilities are driving teams away and extortionate prices given the facilities.

Clarendon Athletic

To allow safe play for youth teams and enough time for matches during the season, pitches need more care

Coldean colts

There is an additional area at the top of the park that could sustain another pitch with some work done to it. We could benefit with some external storage of which we wouldn’t be against paying for or contributing to. There also needs to be additional toilets as 1 toilet isn’t enough. Disabled access down to the pitches would help as the park is surrounded by steep banks. The club could double in size in the next 3 years if we had the facilities.

Hollingbury Hawks Youth & Colts FC

More teams in general, more cancellations due to weather and very importantly fewer sites with toilet access which affects all female matches. There is a need to improve council changing rooms. We currently don’t have a base only a garage lock up.

Hove Park Colts FC

Our girls section is continuing to grow and the need for specific changing facilities/toilets limits the availability of pitches. With climate change the winters have become wetter which has led to the cancellation of lots of games. This has put a lot of strain on the clubs arranging fixtures at end of the season. Better maintained pitches with drainage would allow more games to be played. We had lots of council pitches pulled but were able to play on our main pitches due to better maintenance.

Hove Rugby Football Club

Overall increase in demand for both training and playing surfaces, due to increased numbers of youth (both male and female) and social teams. We desperately need two additional changing with private showers.

Mile Oak FC

Mile Oak FC requires a 3G pitch at the recreation ground to allow for all the teams who wish to play on the site throughout the week. This would allow all day matches on Sunday, training on Saturdays and mid weeks for our youth teams growth. Our main objective is to grow the girls game at the site as well as further youth boy teams, allowing for more teams, more space and greater impact. The club would also like to start up a Ladies Vets football team and football for disabilities. The next change would be to have cubicle showers in the changing rooms, to allow for the Ladies and Girls game to change and get clean and dry after use.

Palmers CC

Better outfield maintenance. We would like a tea room and scorers covered area.

Patcham United

More pitches are required for 9v9 matches and there is a need generally to have greater number of 3G pitches as weather has a major impact on grass pitches

Poets' Corner Football Club

Maintenance - lawn mowing, drainage, goal post sockets

Preston Dynamos 1958

The pitch is prone to flooding and games are moved to council pitches for roughly 2 months of our playing season.

Preston Park Cricket Club

Suitable well maintained pitches with changing and tea facilities not available. If we had access to suitable local facilities we could grow/expand.

Rottingdean CC

Additional changing rooms for Ladies and youths.

Rottingdean Village FC

Our planned increase in players and teams will put increased demand on existing pitches which are barely fit for purpose. We would be interested in discussing with the council how we might take over responsibility for pitch maintenance.

Saltdean United FCW

We would like to develop the top pitches further to allow more space.

St Peters Cricket Club

The cricket clubhouse at Preston Park is in need of significant improvements in all areas (changing rooms, shower/toilets, layout, functionality, space for activity, storage space, disability access). The ground may also benefit from installing artificial pitches on both squares to help meet demand. There is a need for more storage facilities that are fit-for-purpose and appropriately located to ensure equipment can be stored and accessed more easily and efficiently.

St. Matthias CC

Insufficient pitches for training as ground is used by 3 clubs

Sussex Girls JPL RTC

We need a base to enable our program to improve, we need better opportunities to enable us to give girls better facilities and pitches and somewhere to socialise. including changing rooms and showering facilities.

Sussex Sunday Football League

Growth of teams and rules requiring changing room and toilets

Sussex Sunday Youth FL

The FA recommend the different sizes in Goal posts for the various age groups but clubs need to provide their own for any 5 v 5 area and for u13s teams upwards they only have pitches with full size adult goals to play on.

Sussex Swans Australian Rules Football Club

Approval to put in posts and mark up oval and need for access to changing facilities.

The Alternatives Cricket Club

Improved council pitches in terms of quality and availability would help encourage players' involvement.

The Caxton Arms FC

Team are now required to have changing rooms at all home games. This means Waterhall will be unusable for all teams creating a greater demand for other pitches. This is unsustainable.

Try Tag Rugby Brighton & Hove

If we had access to more central venues all year round with better facilities, I think we would be able to grow at a faster rate than last year. It is very helpful to have access to a toilet for those who need it. Our venue over winter was only accessible by bike/car, so not having public transport was an issue for a lot of our members. We saw a drop off during winter. If we had floodlights on our central venues that would really help with safety and people being able to reach the venue.

West Hove Dynamos FC

Growth of teams, improved maintenance, pitch layout needs revising due to increased demand

Whitehawk Football Club

Growth of teams, especially women teams. Ideally grass pitch would be replaced with 3G to support number of teams for training and matches and grow community outreach. Showers and toilets in need of refurbishment.

Woodingdean Wanderers Football Club

We have outgrown the Site we are on and cannot improve the facilities or gain funding because we don't have a lease. We have no running water & no flushing toilets.

Zambuca Tigers Cricket Club

Better pitches make better cricket and safer. Proper kitchen, new changing rooms and showers and more secure.

National planning policy

The relevant policy promoting healthy and safe communities in the government’s National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) 2024 is at paragraphs 96 and 98.

Paragraph 96

Planning policies and decisions should aim to achieve healthy, inclusive and safe places which:

a) promote social interaction, including opportunities for meetings between people who might not otherwise come into contact with each other – for example through mixed-use developments, strong neighbourhood centres, street layouts that allow for easy pedestrian and cycle connections within and between neighbourhoods, and active street frontages;

b) are safe and accessible, so that crime and disorder, and the fear of crime, do not undermine the quality of life or community cohesion – for example through the use of well-designed, clear and legible pedestrian and cycle routes, and high quality public space, which encourage the active and continual use of public areas; andc) enable and support healthy lives, through both promoting health and preventing ill-health, especially where this would address identified local health and well-being needs and reduce health inequalities between the most and least deprived communities – for example through the provision of safe and accessible green infrastructure, sports facilities, local shops, access to healthier food, allotments and layouts that encourage walking and cycling.

Paragraph 98

To provide the social, recreational and cultural facilities and services the community needs, planning policies and decisions should:

a) plan positively for the provision and use of shared spaces, community facilities (such as local shops, meeting places, sports venues, open space, cultural buildings, public houses and places of worship) and other local services to enhance the sustainability of communities and residential environments;

b) take into account and support the delivery of local strategies to improve health, social and cultural well-being for all sections of the community;

c) guard against the unnecessary loss of valued facilities and services, particularly where this would reduce the community’s ability to meet its day-to-day needs;

d) ensure that established shops, facilities and services are able to develop and modernise, and are retained for the benefit of the community; and

e) ensure an integrated approach to considering the location of housing, economic uses and community facilities and services.

The relevant national planning policy protecting existing sports facilities and land is at paragraphs 103 and 103 of the NPPF 2024:

Paragraph 103

Access to a network of high quality open spaces and opportunities for sport and physical activity is important for the health and well-being of communities and can deliver wider benefits for nature and support efforts to address climate change. Planning policies should be based on robust and up-to-date assessments of the need for open space, sport and recreation facilities (including quantitative or qualitative deficits or surpluses) and opportunities for new provision. Information gained from the assessments should be used to determine what open space, sport and recreational provision is needed, which plans should then seek to accommodate’.

Paragraph 104

‘Existing open space, sports and recreational buildings and land, including playing fields and formal play spaces, should not be built on unless:

• An assessment has been undertaken which has clearly shown the open space, buildings or land to be surplus to requirements; or

• The loss resulting from the proposed development would be replaced by equivalent or better provision in terms of quantity and quality in a suitable location; or

• The development is for alternative sports and recreational provision, the needs for which clearly outweigh the loss of the current or former use.'

Regional and sub regional planning policy

The last Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS) for the South East of England - The South East Plan (published in May 2009) – had previously set out a vision and strategic framework for growth to 2026.

The overall spatial vision set out in The South East Plan 2009-2026 had a focus on health and climate change:

A socially and economically strong, healthy and just South East that respects the limits of the global environment. Achieving this will require the active involvement of all individuals to deliver a society where everyone, including the most deprived, benefits from and contributes to a better quality of life. At the same time the impact of current high levels of resource use will be reduced and the quality of the environment will be maintained and enhanced.

The Government has subsequently revoked the South East Plan.

Local planning policy

The current adopted statutory development plans for Brighton & Hove City Council Local Planning Authority Area are made up of:

• Brighton & Hove City Plan Part 1 – adopted on 24 March 2016. The plan provides the overall strategic and spatial vision for the future of Brighton & Hove through to 2030.
• Brighton & Hove City Plan Part 2 – adopted on 20 October 2022 which builds on the strategic policy framework set out in City Plan part One, allocates additional development sites and sets out a detailed policy framework to assist in determining planning application.
• East Sussex, South Downs and Brighton & Hove waste and minerals local plan
• Neighbourhood plans - These are prepared by neighbourhood forums/parish councils to set a locally specific development framework to guide development in their area. Currently there are two Neighbourhood Plans that have been ‘made’ and form part of the development plan for their areas. These are Hove Station and Rottingdean Parish, both formally made on 28 March 2024. In addition to this Shoreham Harbour have a Joint Area Action Plan adopted on 24 October 2019.

The existing Local Plan

Brighton & Hove City Plan Part One (2016) and Part Two (2022) provide the overall strategic and spatial vision for the future of Brighton & Hove through to 2030.

It provides a policy framework that plans for new development to deliver the following vision that has been developed alongside the City’s Sustainable Community Strategy, other city wide plans and strategies.

By 2030, Brighton & Hove will have a sustainable, resilient low carbon economy with sufficient jobs at all levels. Local residents will have the skills to enable them to progress through the labour market and earn incomes to help them live successfully within the city. New housing of different types, including affordable housing, will be provided in suitable locations to match a range of requirements and lifetime needs.

Towards achieving this vision, the City Plan includes key planning policies relating to proposals for new sport and recreation facilities and proposals involving the loss of facilities. The current key Local Plan policies of relevance are as follows:

CP7- Infrastructure and developer contributions

To meet the needs of Brighton & Hove and the wider sub-region the council will work with partners to ensure that the necessary social, environmental and physical infrastructure is appropriately provided in time to serve the development. This will be achieved through the following:

1.Preparing, regularly updating and facilitating the implementation of an Infrastructure Delivery Plan for the city that will set out the infrastructure to be provided in the city by infrastructure partners including the public sector and utilities, to meet future needs.

2.Investigation into the possible implementation of a locally adopted Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) to provide for infrastructure with contributions that will deliver strategic infrastructure to support wider area development. The cumulative impact of all development and differing needs for infrastructure provision will be reflected in the CIL tariff.

3.To make development acceptable and enable the granting of planning permission, inadequacies in infrastructure arising from proposed development will be required to be mitigated through s.106 Planning Obligations via a legal agreement and will be sought where they meet the statutory tests of being:

• necessary to make the development acceptable in planning terms;

• directly related to the development; and

• fairly and reasonably related in scale and kind to the development.

CP16 – Open space

The council will work collaboratively to safeguard, improve, expand and promote access to Brighton & Hove’s open spaces (public and private) and the diverse range of experiences offered by these spaces. Retaining and enhancing open space.

1. The council will require the retention of and seek better, more effective and appropriate use of all existing open space, as shown on the policies map, having regard to the Open Space, Sports and Recreation Study and the Open Space Update Study.

Planning permission resulting in the loss of open space, including the beach, will only be granted where:

• a) The loss results from a development allocation in a development plan and regard has been given to maintaining some open space (physically and visually);
• b) The site is not part of a playing field (current or historical) and the loss is necessary to bring about significant and demonstrable long term enhancements to the city’s public open space offer as a whole; or
• c) The proposed development is ancillary to the use of the open space and will result in only a small loss of open space, provides improvements to and better use of the remaining space and optimises public access; or;
• d) The site is:• physically incapable of meeting the city’s wider open space needs;
  • is not part of the beach or a playing field (current or historical); and,
  • in accordance with the Open Space Study Update 2011 (or subsequent approved revisions), is of a poor quality without potential for improvement (current and potential) and there is an identified surplus (current and future) in all types of open space within the locality (ward and sub area). In order to test the importance of the site to the local community the site must be actively marketed at a price that reflects its use, condition and local market prices for at least a year with no success before alternative proposals can be considered.

CP17 – Sports provision

To facilitate the council’s aspiration to increase participation in sports and physical activity, the council will safeguard, expand, enhance and promote access to Brighton & Hove’s sports services, facilities and spaces through the following:

1.Support for the delivery of the replacement and enhancement of sports provision currently provided at the King Alfred (see SA1).

2.Require the retention, seek the enhancement and more effective use of existing indoor and outdoor sports facilities and spaces in accordance with the Sports Facilities Plan and the Open Space, Sport and Recreation Study and subsequent approved revisions, audits and strategies recognising the importance of major sporting venues such as the American Express Community Stadium, County Cricket Ground, Withdean Sports Complex and Brighton Racecourse. Planning permission resulting in the loss of indoor and outdoor sports facilities and spaces will not be granted except where:

In respect of buildings:

• The building has been demonstrated to be redundant for a sports use and marketed for at least 18 months at a price that reflects its condition and market value , any loss in the surrounding space is minimised and necessary to provide improvements to and better use of the remaining space in accordance with the Open Space policy (CP16); or
• the facilities are to be replaced by improved facilities that help meet the sporting needs of the city and optimises access by sustainable transport modes.

In respect of outdoor sports facilities and spaces

• The land has been marketed as detailed above and the proposal complies with the Open Space policy (CP16).

Emerging local plan policy

A review of the City Plan focusing on the strategic policies in City Plan 1 has commenced. The new plan will be known as City Plan 2041. The first stage of public consultation took place from 4 November 2024 to 20 January 2025.

The council has recognised the need to update CP17 Sports Provision stating that‘The need to safeguard, expand, enhance and promote access to sports service still remains and reflects current council strategies and plans. The evidence base which underpins the standards for indoor and outdoor sports provision is out of date and a policy review will enable further consideration of more recent national standards and emerging council strategies.’

In developing new policies, the council should engage with Sport England to ensure the policies meet their Playing Fields Policy Guidance to ensuring playing pitches are protected from development.