There are Ten major decision points to consider when  scoping a local framework or SPD. They are reproduced here as  ten questions.

1. Which categories of sport and recreation are included?
2.  What standards and catchments are included?
3.  Do you have a programme of priority projects by catchment?
4.  Which land uses are to be included in the framework?
5.  Which land uses generate a need for open space in the categories listed?
6.  What development size thresholds are relevant?
7.  What is the assumed occupancy of new housing?
8.  What sizes of site can be assumed to have on site or off site provision?
9.  What elements are to be included in the costs of facilities?
10. What are the principles for maintenance of open space, including playing fields and play space?


1.Which categories of sport and recreation are included?
This will have largely been determined in step 1, but may include some or all of the following:

• Playing fields, pitch sports, tennis, bowls and athletics tracks
• Children’s and adult playing space
• Informal recreation space, including green corridors, walking and cycling routes
• Swimming pools
• Sports halls
• Community and village halls
• Artificial turf pitches

The range selected may depend on:

• The level of detail in the policies in local development framework

• The level of up to date information held by the authority on the topic; eg: an up to date playing pitches strategy with proposals linked to growth in the plan period
• Existence of local standards in an approved plan

2. What standards and catchments are included?
Advice in PPG 17 and the Companion Guide suggests that authorities should define local standards based on local audits of needs and opportunities. The audit should look at quantitative needs, the extent of catchments for facilities and their existing quality.
The framework should identify, in terms of hectares, or sq m per 1000 population, local standards. The catchments comprise the functional links between the resident population and facilities.

A map should be devised showing the relevant catchments.  For example, Fareham have split the borough into catchemnt areas as part of thier Open Space SPG - Click here for the Fareham map

The following types of catchment definitions have been used in SPD;

• For children’s/young persons play space; one or a number of wards (in urban areas) or parishes in a rural area;
• For playing fields; wider catchments, comprising the whole of urban area, or a small number of divisions reflecting the catchments of pitches;
• For built facilities; whole of urban area, or rural market town and surrounding parishes in catchment; and
• For joint use sports on schools; school catchment areas.

Where NPFA standard of 6 acres per 1000 is in the approved development plan, a number of authorities have utilised this for open space calculations until replaced by local standards following a PPG 17 audit and a revised policy in the LDF.

3. Do you have a programme of priority projects by catchment?
These should form one of the outputs/extensions of the audit of existing facilities. They should look ahead over the period of the SPD and list new facilities, and facility up-gradings required over the period. They should be subject to public consultation and be prioritised by catchment. In this way off site contributions can be applied to the improvement of facilities within the relevant catchment.

The Cambridge City SPG shows this process at work. Candidate lists of schemes were drawn up by technical staff. These were vetted and prioritised by Area Committees. A period of stakeholder consultation was undertaken before approval. In Windsor and Maidenhead, a broad public consultation was undertaken over proposals for improvements to open spaces.

4. Which land uses are to be included in the framework?
All SDDs relate to new housing. Increasingly, new SDDs relate also to some types of employment related development.

Eligible categories of residential development may include open market housing, flats, student hostels, and affordable housing.  Normally extensions to dwellings, or replacement dwellings of a similar size, do not come within the ambit of schemes.

Eligible categories for employment may include offices, shops, and uses such as retail warehouses.Click here to view employment related examples

5. Which land uses generate a need for open space in the categories listed?
Some uses may only be asked to contribute to a few of the sport and recreation categories in the framework. For example, nursing homes may not be asked to contribute to open space. Various forms of sheltered housing may contribute to open space at full rate or half rate, but not to children’s play space. Commercial uses may contribute to informal open space and built facilities used by workers.

Affordable housing should in principle contribute to all types of open space. Only where schemes would be made unviable by so doing should this principle not apply.

Holiday accommodation, such as holiday parks, caravan parks and dwellings restricted to holiday occupation should also be eligible for contributions.

Health facilities, including hospitals and healthy living centres may also be asked to provide accompanying open space. For example, see SGD for Cambridge.

6. What development size thresholds are relevant?
Housing - In principle the occupants of all new dwellings create a need for sport and recreation.

Cut off points of one dwelling have been accepted by Government Offices in SPGs without objection since the late 1990s. Some authorities have cut off points of four, five or ten dwellings. Mid Devon have successfully implemented a contributions policy based on a one dwelling threshold.  Click here to view Mid Devon's SPG.

Employment uses - Here, the threshold is a judgement by the authority of the significance of the use of open space and facilities by office and other workers, some of who may be daily in commuters.  Common threshold sizes are 500 or 1000sq m gross floor space for employment uses.  Clck here to view employment related examples.

7. What is the assumed occupancy of new housing?
Dwelling occupancy can be taken from the 2001 Census, or be developed from local surveys of the occupancy of new housing. Normally figures vary between 2.3 and 2.7 persons. A refinement could be to use occupancy by number of bedrooms or bed spaces in the dwelling.

Occupancy figures for employment are normally derived from local surveys, and can be in the order of 20 sq m per person for offices, 40 per person for B1 business, and 50 per person for B8 uses. A minimum number on site (say 20 persons) could also form a threshold.

8. What sizes of site can be assumed to have on site or off site provision?
Sport and recreation provision in association with new development may take a number of forms:

• On site provision with the land provided by the developer and facilities constructed to a detailed specification provided by the authority;
• A financial contribution allowing the local authority to arrange for construction of the facility on-site;
• A financial contribution to new provision, or the upgrading of existing facilities nearby; or
• A mixture of some or all of the above.

Many developments are too small to provide for a new facility in entirety. Therefore most local frameworks give an indication of where on and off site developments or contributions can be expected to be sought.

9. What elements are to be included in the costs of facilities
The authority should establish the relevant headings for cost by sport and recreation facility. These should from the basis for the costed programme listed in Part 1. Elements of cost may include:

• Building costs, including any lighting, car parking and landscaping;
• Abnormal site costs, including additional groundwork and site clearance;
• Land purchase costs
• Equipment costs;
• Architects and designers fees and planning application charges;
• VAT; and
• Local administration charge and/or legal costs of drawing up the s106 agreement

Further cost information can be obtained from;
Facility costs - Sport England’s regularly up-dated figures for a range of sports facilities Click here to get the latest costs.

Outdoor playing space costs - annually updated cost guides from the National Playing Fields Association. Click here for the NPFA web site.

Similar recently built facilities - Alternatively, costs may be derived from recent similar facility provisions within the local authority area or nearby

These figures can be expressed as cost per sq m of provision in the local framework for ease of calculation
Local frameworks should state that costs will be index linked according to the Retail Price Index or a similar construction index

10. What are the principles for maintenance of open space, including playing fields and play space?
The planning guidance allows authorities to seek contributions for the maintenance of open space, including playing fields, for a limited period where the new infrastructure is predominantly for the use of the development concerned.  Authorities have generally sought contributions for between 10 and 20 years of maintenance for open space schemes. They are normally expressed as £ per sq m.

The figures are derived from the local costs of effectively maintaining recent provision that has been made. Costs are ‘discounted’; that is allowance is made for future inflation over the 10 or 20 year period, within the capital sum sought.

Click here for the checklist of questions entitled ‘Scoping an SPD for Sport and Recreation’