In 2008, Bridgend County Borough Council (BCBC) appointed Knight, Kavanagh & Page (KKP) to undertake its Natural Greenspaces Study and to provide a thorough assessment of current provision and recommendations for improvement.

Alongside this KKP also conducted a playing pitch assessment to help the Council plan effectively for current and future local needs.

Natural Greenspaces

This aspect of the study was delivered to meet the requirements of The CCW Providing Accessible Natural Greenspace in Towns and Cities Toolkit. This was introduced in 2006 to help local authorities identify current levels of provision and assist them to produce local standards and targets.

The Toolkit outlines implementation of an accessible natural greenspace standard (ANGSt) model to help identify current levels of provision of accessible natural greenspace and where necessary assist in producing local standards and targets. This was a key part of the work; mapping all accessible natural greenspace and the associated catchment zones against settlement areas, to identify areas of population that are currently deficient against the "3 tier" standards outlined in the model:

• Tier 1 - "no person should live more than 300m from their nearest area of accessible natural greenspace."
• Tier 2 - "there should be at least one accessible 20ha site within 2km from home"
• Tier 3 - "there should be at least one accessible 100ha site within 5km from home"

A number of settlement areas in Bridgend do not meet the Tier 1 standard, primarily those with high population densities such as Bridgend, and Porthcawl. In comparison, the majority of the County Borough complies with the suggested Tier 2 and Tier 3 standards.

Susan Jones, Principal Planning Officer at the Bridgend Council commended KKP on the way in which it interpreted and explained the CCW tool-kit and methodology. She said,

"The report is coherent, easy to understand and makes clear recommendations to overcome the identified tier 1 deficits in provision."

Playing Pitch Assessment

This involved assessment of 150 sites across the County Borough (football, cricket, rugby - both codes - and hockey) to provide clear guidance on supply and demand for grass playing pitches and the types and levels of analysis required in order for Bridgend to plan effectively to meet local needs. In the absence of national guidance for Wales, the playing pitch assessment and analysis was based on Sport England's (SE) playing pitch strategy methodology: Towards A Level Playing Field (2003).

KKP is now developing a prioritised ‘Playing Pitch Action Plan' to identify what the Council needs to do to achieve its objectives. This takes account of the equivalent needs for football and rugby union in the area and will inform the upcoming stadium development for the new Celtic Crusaders Superleague franchise.

KKP has been delivering playing pitch assessments and strategies for more than 10 years. We have delivered more than 30 in all parts of the UK, addressing key questions related to quality, under/over-supply and cross boundary opportunity as well as identifying ways to maximise opportunities from school modernisations programmes.