The South West Office of Knight Kavanagh & Page (KKP) is currently working with Cornwall Council to prepare a report on sport, physical activity and community sport facility needs for Cornwall.
Cornwall is entering an exciting new era, due in part, to it becoming a unitary authority. This process is linked to, and informed by, the new Sport England strategy and the new national strategy for physical activity. "Be Active, Be Healthy" - both of which are designed to drive a ‘lifestyle revolution', motivating everyone to eat well, move more, take part in sport and physical activity and live longer.
The Government is urging policy makers, local government and grassroots organisations to work together with the objectives of ensuring that individuals are healthier, businesses more productive, and environments are improved. To support this new era in the development of community sport, Cornwall is carrying out this co-ordinated review.
Swimming pools, sports halls, athletics, bowls , tennis and other physical activity facilities in Cornwall will be covered by an audit to assist the new unitary authority to plan for future development of sports provision in the county. It will cover a range of issues, including the number, quality, community use availability and present location of different facilities, as well as opening hours and charges.
(image) "The national model sets out how many sports facilities you should expect to provide per head of the population" said Simon Blamey, Cultural Services Manager (Leisure). "This audit, which will be carried out by Council staff guided by our consultants, will help us assess the quality of existing provision and to identify gaps - both in types of facilities and un-serviced locations. We can then use this evidence to plan future community sports facility development."
"While there is no guarantee that we will be able to provide new facilities, the information we gain during this audit will support us in developing applications to funding bodies."
A number of separate pieces of work have previously been undertaken in the County but these have tended to have a narrow focus; either on a single sport or a particular geographic location. This current picture of overall facility needs is, thus, fragmented.
The recent move to unitary status creates a need and provides an opportunity to develop a co-ordinated picture. It will enable the Authority to plan for sport through PPG17. Alongside the review, KKP will set out a longer term vision for development of community sports facilities and identify the need for any larger scale initiatives which, while rooted in the community, have a wider strategic relevance.
KKP is ideally placed, having delivered facility assessments and strategies for clients across the UK over the last five years. These are being used to inform BSF planning and decisions on facility improvement, replacement and rationalisation. Clients commission KKP to deliver practical but challenging assessments to meet LDF requirements and provide the robust evidence base needed to produce supplementary planning documents.
The project will be led by Jonathan Woods, Principal Consultant for KKP. He said,
"More local authorities would benefit from taking a leaf out of Cornwall's book, especially the other eight newly formed unitary councils." he said. "We have an acknowledged reputation for the thoroughness and depth with which we deliver; this gives clients justified confidence and lays solid foundations for future facility development."
Jonathan Woods, Principal Consultant (jonathan.woods@kkp.co.uk)
For more information, visit Cornwall Council's website
