Sport England believes that the planning system can deliver a better deal for sport through new development.

Agreements between local authorities and developers to provide new or improved sport and recreation facilities in conjunction with new development are increasingly common.

These web pages give local authorities practical help and information to assist in securing improved sport and recreation facilities in their areas through a Planning Contributions Kitbag.

The Kitbag is a one stop on-line resource for local authorities, giving helpful summaries of recent good practice, practical tools for the measurement of sporting needs, and real life examples of what can be achieved.  The practical tools, and techniques in the kitbag should help authorities get the best deal for sport and recreation from new development.

While many of the examples in the Kitbag refer to securing sports facilities through housing, similar principles are increasingly being applied to employment, retail and commercial schemes, and examples are now included in the Kitbag on these aspects.

What’s in the Kitbag?  
The Kitbag is divided into three sections

Planning contributions: what are they?
This section defines the scope of planning obligations, and how they link with the Government’s policies for sport and recreation and sustainable communities. Sport England’s objectives for planning contributions are also outlined.

Developing local frameworks
This section includes practical advice on how to prepare ‘supplementary planning documents’ and local frameworks for sport and recreation contributions. 

Good practice and local authority examples
This section illustrates examples of current practice, including Sport England’s planning obligation pilot projects and a range of examples of planning agreement frameworks and site level examples from across the country.

The Planning Contributions Kitbag will be regularly up-dated by Sport England to reflect evolving national policy and local practice.

If you would like to contact us about the kitbag, click here