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Thousands of playing fields could be lost to housing if the government strips Sport England of its role in national planning policy, campaigners have warned.
As part of the national planning and infrastructure bill the government has said it wants to “speed up the delivery of new homes and critical infrastructure” by removing the powers of some of the statutory consultees on planning decisions.
These include large organisations such as the Environment Agency and Natural England but the minister for housing and planning, Matthew Pennycook, recently announced that the government’s “initial intention is that this will include Sport England, the Theatres Trust and the Gardens Trust”.
Alex Welsh, the chief executive of the London Playing Fields Foundation, said that would be a huge loss. “When a local group are worried about losing the field at the end of the road – who do they call? They call us and we start by saying, do Sport England know?
“Every Monday we are looking at a spreadsheet of planning applications on playing fields. Over the past five years, out of 398 concluded planning applications, 90% have resulted in improved or safeguarded conditions because of Sport England. What we can’t quantify is how many people are put off from blatant building on fields because they are in that role. Who will be doing it when they are gone?”
Sport England says that from 2022-23 alone it protected more than 1,000 playing fields across the country.
Fay Goodman has been fighting for 10 years to save the fields just behind her home in Yardley, Birmingham. With the support of Sport England the community finally won its battle against one of the country’s largest developers last autumn.
In November, a planning inspector ruled that Persimmon Homes could not build 180 houses on Barrow Lanes Fields because of a failure of the developer to provide a like-for-like replacement of the fields for the community. The decision had gone to appeal after Birmingham city council rejected Persimmon’s plans.
Sport England objected to the proposal in its capacity as statutory consultee. Goodman said this was the help they needed when she was questioned by a barrister for Persimmon.
“Sport England were great and helped us show that it would be a disaster for our community.”
Goodman runs a charity for local children and said the offers of facilities outside the local area would not have met residents’ needs.
“This area has poverty, obesity, asthma. There is nowhere now for families to go, particularly those who need it the most. The developers were trying to say there are alternative spaces four or five miles away – families can’t afford to go four miles.”
Persimmon said it was “extremely disappointed by the outcome of the appeal” and told the Guardian: “We believe our proposed development could have delivered much-needed new homes to the area, as well as contributing significant sums towards local amenities.”
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Responding to the suggestion that playing fields could be lost if Sport England loses its role, a government spokesperson said: “We do not recognise these claims. We remain committed to protecting and extending our playing field capacity, which is why the planning system explicitly protects playing fields. This government is clear that we will reform the system to ensure it is sensible, balanced and does not create unintended delays, so we can build the homes people desperately need and deliver our plan for change.”
Not all Labour MPs back the removal of groups such as Sport England from planning protections. Tom Hayes, the MP for Bournemouth East, said there needed to be more, not less, protection for doorstep green spaces. He is working with Play England to call for play sufficiency legislation that would protect doorstep play as well as sport spaces.
Hayes said: “I genuinely want to see the 1.5m homes [pledged in Labour’s manifesto] built but I want to make sure the children who live in those homes can play close to home. We need to keep Sport England, otherwise we are building much-needed homes but without the critical infrastructure that is needed for them – that includes space for play and sport.”
Sport England says that far from being blockers, it responds to over 98% of applications within 21 days and that in 70% of statutory applications it does not object.
Sport England’s chief executive, Tim Hollingsworth, said: “History shows us that without effective action taken to protect playing fields, we will see vital facilities lost, particularly often in those areas that are already least well served. With a child obesity crisis and £7.4bn lost to the economy each year to inactivity, it’s essential we get the balance right.
“Once you lose a playing field or pitch, it’s gone for ever.”
