During 2003, KKP delivered assessments of playing pitch provision for St Helens MBC and Birmingham City Council. In both cases the work comprised:

• Development of a database of all pitches for football, rugby union, rugby league, cricket and hockey in the Borough.
• Site visits to all sites to assess the quality of pitches and ancillary facilities.
• Questionnaire surveys of clubs in pitch sports.
• Detailed face-to-face consultation with key clubs and stakeholders in pitch sports.

The final outputs were detailed strategies that identified key priorities - designed to improve the quality of pitches and ancillary facilities; extending provision by, for example, developing community use of school pitches - and site by site action plans.

The reports provide a robust evidence base to secure resources for improvements.

The action plans have been used in negotiations with developers to secure extensive contributions to improve facilities. In the first year alone, St Helens MBC secured £1 million from the New Opportunities Fund and Section 106 contributions to address the priorities highlighted in the action plan.

In moving forward playing pitch provision through the strategy, at least 6 capital projects valued at £4m have been developed since 2002 with over two thirds of this amount coming from external grant aid.

For an independent view on this case study, please contact Dave Boocock at St Helens MBC (davidboocock@sthelens.gov.uk) or Richard Davis at Birmingham City Council (richard_davies@birmingham.gov.uk)