Lack of demand for sports pitches in Barnsley due to costs says report

BMBC has produced a strategy which outlines how its outdoor sports facilities across the borough will be maintained and improved, which was discussed by cabinet members yesterday (October 19).

The strategy will inform future planning applications in a bid to protect playing pitches against development pressures.

One issue outlined in the report is that of a ‘lack of demand’ for school pitches, incurring costs and forcing schools to increase fees for groups who wish to use them.

The report states that a number of schools built between 2009 and 2013 under PFI contracts have an allocation of 400 community use hours per academic year for their sports pitches.

Any use above this incurs costs to the schools, which often do not have the funds to cover such fees, and are forced to increase the costs of hiring their facilities to the group which use them.

The increased expense generally makes the facilities too expensive for clubs, leading to a lack of demand and schools considering their facilities ‘unavailable for community use particularly at the weekend’, in order to save operating costs and not affect their 400 hours of community use.

The report recommends that community use options should be explored at large schools with numerous pitches, and that a ‘more coherent, structured relationship with schools is recommended’.

‘The ability to access good facilities within the local community is vital to any sports organisation, yet many clubs struggle to find good quality places to play and train,’ it adds.

‘Pricing policies at facilities can be a barrier to access at some education sites but physical access, poor quality and resistance from schools to open up provision is also an issue, especially at some private schools and academies’.

‘Although there are a growing number of academies over which the Council has little or no control, it is still important to understand the significance of such sites and attempt to work with the schools where there are opportunities for community use.

‘Where new schools are provided in major new residential developments, they should be designed to facilitate community access’.