Draft Bourn Airfield Supplementary Planning Document - June 2019

Sport England previously made comments on the submitted outline planning application, and many of the comments made in that response are relevant to this SPD. I therefore enclose a copy of that response for your information.

With regard to outdoor sport, there is proposed to be 15.68 hectares of provision, concentrated in two hubs for outdoor sport. These areas will need to served by ancillary facilities such as changing rooms and car parking, as otherwise users of the facility will park in adjoining residential areas.

With regard to indoor sport, there is no proposed community provision, but the additional population will add to the demand on Cambourne Leisure Centre which is already full at peak times. There is the potential for the sports hall at the proposed secondary school to meet some of this demand, or there is the potential for s106 funding to be secured to improving the provision at Cambourne.

The population of the proposed new development is estimated to be 9,800 (3500 x 2.8 persons per household) . This additional population will generate additional demand for sports facilities. If this demand is not adequately met then it may place additional pressure on existing sports facilities in the catchment area, thereby creating deficiencies in facility provision. In accordance with the NPPF, Sport England seeks to ensure that the development meets any new sports facility needs arising as a result of the development.

With regard to sports facility provision, you may be aware that Sport England's Sports Facilities Calculator (SFC) can help to provide an indication of the likely demand that will be generated by a development for certain facility types. The SFC indicates that a population of 9,800 (3500 x 2.8 persons) in this local authority area will generate a demand for the following facilities:

FACILITY DEMAND COST
Sports Halls 2.73 courts, or 0.68 sports hall £1.644m
Swimming Pools 103.27m2, or 0.49 swimming pool £1.788m
Artificial Pitches 0.27 pitch £264k (3G)/£238k (sand)

This demand does not equate to justifying new on-site provision, but it will create significant demand that will be displaced to other facilities within the catchment area. With regard to sports halls and artificial pitches, there could be scope for including facilities provided on the school site (or potentially the sports hub site for an artificial pitch), subject to community access being secured during out of school hours, via a community use agreement.

With regard to swimming demand, which equates to almost half a standard 25m pool, this is likely to be displaced to other facilities within the catchment area, such as Impington Leisure Centre, Parkside Pools, and One Leisure St Neots. Data from Sport England's Facilities Planning Model indicates that all these pools are operating at 100% capacity during the peak period, therefore there is no spare capacity to absorb significant additional demand. The supply of swimming pools in South Cambridgeshire equates to only 3m2 per 1000 residents, well below the national average of 12m2 per 1000 residents. 78% of satisfied demand from residents of South Cambs is exported to pools outside the district (primarily facilities in Cambridge). The significant demand for swimming from new development in South Cambridgeshire cannot be met through existing facilities, therefore Sport England raises concerns with regards to the lack of provision for swimming as part of this scheme, either through on site or a contribution towards off-site provision.

There is a long term proposal to provide a swimming pool as part of the Cambourne development, and the application at Bourn Airfield would be within the catchment area of any new pool at Cambourne. It is therefore considered that a financial contribution should be secured via a s106 planning obligation, towards the provision of a new pool at Cambourne, which would directly serve the demand generated by residents of the Bourn Airfield proposals. The use of the Sports Facilities Calculator can be used above to calculate the pro-rata cost of meeting this demand for swimming (approx. £1.788m).

Sport England would recommend the following revisions to the SPD:

1) We support the requirement for a s106 contribution towards indoor provision in Cambourne. Especially with regard to contributing towards the enhancement of the leisure centre, including the provision of the swimming pool and other expansion proposed.
2) We would also support limited public access to the indoor facilities at the proposed school, as this could help to take some of the pressure off the Cambourne facility.
3) With regard to informal recreation and physical activity, we would welcome the promotion of Sport England's 'Active Design' guidance within the SPD, which seeks to encourage master planning that promotes physical activity. Further information can be found here; https://www.sportengland.org/facilities-and-planning/active-design/
4) With regard to formal pitch provision, there could be a mixed approach to on-site provision and contributions to existing off-site provision, for example, rugby facilities in Cambourne
5) All new facilities must meet Sport England's technical guidance, which can be accessed here; https://www.sportengland.org/facilities-and-planning/design-and-cost-guidance/

I hope these comments can be taken into account when the document is revised. We would be happy to contribute further to the development of the SPD.