Planning Successes Herald Major Investment In Sport & Health

The turn of the year saw a number of further planning successes for SPC....

West Kirby Grammar School achieved permission for a new 4-court sports hall, which will herald the delivery of a £2m state of the art facility meeting all technical guidelines and delivering a much needed indoor sports facility for the school, clubs and NGBs on the Wirral. SPC made the case for the development, setting out a planning policy compliant approach under Sport England exception policy E5.

Proposals for residential development of Gatley Golf Course were successful after Appeal in January 2025. SPC undertook the Sports Needs Assessment for Golf (SNA). The SNA  made the case under NPPF 104 and the Appeal Inspector concluded, ‘that the loss of the golf course would not significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits when assessed against the NPPF.’ The decision will see significant investment into sport, golf and open space provision across the area.

Bruntwood were supported by SPC with a retrospective planning application to replace 2 tennis courts with 3 Padel Courts on their Alderley Park site. The SNA prepared by SPC made the case that the loss of the tennis courts was justified, and that the benefits provided by the padel courts far outweighed the loss of the tennis courts. The SNA was supported by the Council and Sport England and Padel is now flourishing on-site, providing significant impact and benefits for sport and physical activity.

Finally the planning committee at Vale of the White Horse Council recently granted planning permission for a local development on a former bowls club site. The SNA prepared by SPC, in-line with NPPF para 104 and local planning policy, successfully made the case that the bowls club was surplus to requirements.

The Council commented:

‘A Bowls Needs Assessment has been provided which evaluates the adequacy of existing facilities for bowls across the Vale of White Horse and within the catchment area of the site. This concluded that the bowling green in East Hendred is surplus to requirements in terms of leisure provision locally with there being sufficient capacity available within other clubs to meet current and future demand.’

2 Successful Years

With the summer now a distant memory SPC can reflect on the completion of a successful 2-years of delivering for clients across the sector.

Various highlights have seen Playing Pitch Strategies (PPS) delivered for South Tyneside Council and the newly formed Westmorland and Furness Council, whose PPS is nearly over the line. The PPS will help to support healthy and active lifestyles and the strategic development of sport and recreation across the newly formed local authority.

Further strategic work has seen the delivery of strategic sport and leisure needs assessments, defining sports and healthy living infrastructure requirements on major strategic housing sites; including projects for the Handforth Garden Village in Cheshire, Brookfield Garden Village in Broxbourne, RAF Halton in Aylesbury Vale, North Aschurch Garden Village in Tewksbury and a major strategic site in Sussex on behalf of Homes England.  

On the development side further success was achieved in the shape of Mellands Playing Fields, where SPC helped to define a mitigation strategy, which secured significant investment into local sport, health and recreation provision for Greater Manchester Youth Federation and the young people of Gorton.  

Further Planning Appeal Success

Sports Planning Consultants (SPC) support a successful Appeal by Rugby Borough Council and Save Coventry Speedway (SCS) to protect Brandon Stadium from development.

The Planning Inspectorate found in favour of the arguments put forward by SPC and the Appeal team and concluded that the stadium with its established use is not ‘surplus to requirements’, and the ‘benefits’ of the alternative provision do not outweigh the loss of the stadium. The proposals were found to be in conflict with various sections of National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), the Rugby Local Plan, and the Brandon & Bretford Neighbourhood Plan.

The full Appeal decision provides a number of policy interpretations on NPPF paragraph 103 (formally 99) of the NPPF, particularly around what constitutes a para c) exception and the relationship between needs and viability.

SCS commented that, ‘our dream has always been to get speedway and stock car racing back to their rightful place at Brandon, and following this decision that dream is still very much alive.’