GUIDANCE NOTES ON FACILITY DEVELOPMENT CAN BE FOUND ABOVE
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The UKA Facility Strategy - soon to be updated in early 2007, can be downloaded above. It will influence our work in the region and of course is useful for clubs, schools and local authorities who may be seeking to upgrade or develop new facilities.
Facilities: A Core Priority
Maintaining existing and developing new facilities in our region is a high priority. Indeed, it is priority 5 in our regional strategic plan "Building Partnerships:Improving Performance"
The England Athletics East team will take a proactive and reactive approach to facility development by prioritising the following areas of work
1. Building a best practice evidence base of facilities in the reigon, detailing and sharing models that have developed - how they were developed, who they involved, how they were funded, key success factors, key challenges and the like
2. Working to influence the facility strategic planning process both at a regional and national level, working particularly to lever resources into athletics in key strategic growth areas and in areas where access to facilities are limited.
3. Working 1:1 with individual clubs, schools and local authorities to develop facility business plans and funding packages, providing support, advice and guidance
4. Providing regular and informative information via training and workshop events for facility contractors, managers and clubs that will boost knowledge and promote shared learning.
How Will This Work Be Tackled?
England Athletics East will lead this work regionally through a specific Facility Project Group which, through a regional facilities plan, will engage representatives from each of the counties to embed learning and share ideas.
This work will be led through the regional council portfolio holder for Facilities Ralph Burrows in partnership with Neil Deans, the England Athletics East PDC leading Club Performance, Facilities and Funding.
It is suggested that county athletics development groups play a proactive role locally to replicate some of this work.
What Makes A Good Facility Project?
1. Sensible and realistic proposals are essential when developing such an approach. It is important to understand the local picture as this will influence the scope of a project - what is already provided locally? Can you justify such a proposal in line with the projected participation use of such a facility? - the concept of "if you build it they will come" is often unfounded. Does the area have the potential demand for such a facility? What type of scale of facility suits the local environment? Are the funding proposals realistic (are fundraising expectations realistic?)
2. A clear, constructed strategic planning process through a project development group is fundamental, especially if you are reliant on external grant aid support. This approach should engage both customers (athletes, coaches, officials and volunteers) in its development. The project needs to be owned by the customer and shaped by them. We would recommend that all projects designed for young people, engage young people at this stage. The development plan should concentrate on building a sustainable legacy. Many people believe that the project ends once the facility opens, but realisticallythe work starts here. Sustaining and increasing both the community participation and performance levels in athletics through such facilities are key so a concentrated effort in providing skilled coaches, officials, volunteers and the like with the support to progress is essential. The development plan should consider this together with a focused drive upon forging links with key local groups, schools and communities.
The Core Themed Areas Of A Development Plan Could Include A Focus On.......
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Suppporting the development of high quality & safe coaching, officiating and teaching
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Developing Club/School Links
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Community engagement with new potential participants (could be adults)
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Competition development
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Communication & Publicity
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Equality & Diversity
Since 1995 Sport England have invested near to £2 billion into community sports facilities nationwide and participation levels in sport and physical activity have gone up just .2%. Through simply erecting quality facilities, this is not enough to increase activity. An investment into building the capacity of clubs is fundamental.
Project projections should also be given time to be prove successful - some of these proposals take time to implement. Perseverance and focus is fundamental
Principles Of Development Planning
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Where Are You Now?
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Where Do You Want To Be?
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How Are You Going To Get There?
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How Will It Be Funded?
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Who Will Lead This Work?
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Who Will Support This Work?
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When Will It Happen
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How & What Will You Measure As Success?
3. A multi activity approach is often a good way forward. Working alongside other sports clubs locally, particularly in isolated rural areas, can enhance the opprotunity to bring extra investment into the facility bid. There are other associated benefits from working with other sports (shared coaching resources, officiating, fundraising, social interaction, shared athletes etc...)
Many grant aid bodies recommend that a multi activity approach demonstrates wider community benefity. Agencies such as Sport England (see below) have less money than they used to as less people are playing the lottery, so it is important to think about maximising partnership working.
4. Engaging other external partners such as schools, health agencies, business and community associations can bring an extra dimension to such a planning process. Many grant aid bodies will look to the broader benefits of such project applications. Athletics can play a key role in contributing to other agency agendas such as health, crime prevention, inclusion and education. The potential to lever further resources into facility projects could be enhanced through demonstrating an open and community friendly policy to facility use outside peak times. Many grant aid bodies will want to see how the facility will be adapted for wider community use.
Key Agencies To Engage When Developing The Facility Project
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PCT - Health
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Local Authority & LSP (Local Strategic Partnership)
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Community Associations
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Local Sports Development Officers
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School Sports Partnerships
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Police
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Business
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Other Sports Clubs etc...
5. Providing clear evidence of partnership funding will encourage many grant aid bodies. Almost all grant aid bodies look to applicants to provide some contribution towards facility bids (in some cases over 50% although this varies according to demography and geographics of an area) This can prove challenging to many (hence the need for a real collective input to this work) but it also provides a great chance to bring people together through social fund raising and the like. Please view the below recommendations on sources of funding - these may help you.
Think broader than simply sports funding for such projects - there is significant funding available to service point 4.
6. Engaging local planners, facility technical advisors and sports development professionals is fundamental to ensure the facility is both safe (meeting guidelines for car parking, changing, technical design specification / dimensions and the like) and that it will meet competition standards - see contacts below for England Athletics East along with specific technical publications for perusal.
7. Learn from best and worst practice - what has been done elsewhere that could be followed? The best ideas often arent new ones so effort should be made to do some research on similar projects to your own - how were they funded?, what layout did the facility take?, What challenges did they face?, Who funded the project?
8. In rural areas, many new sports facilities have developed through adopting innovative approaches. Small scale community facilities on either school (embracing the extended schools agenda) or privately owned land are very common these days. Farming and Timber trading has slumped on recent years so often landowners are prepared to diversify for commercial gain in areas where often land is hard to come by. Funding for such approaches can be secured through rural sector agencies (see below links) Such creative approaches through partnership working should be encouraged. Indeed, on school sites, often headteachers and governors are keen to engage community groups through such partnerships for mutual gain (financial, skilled manpower to provide services to students through coaching and the like, together with added security to school facilities whilst clubs are on site)
9. Providing evidence of long term financial stability is essential to assure grant aid bodies that a contingency for future maintenance and the development of facilities beyond their initial lifespan (in some cases only several years - resurfaced track, throws cage, high jump beds etc...) has been considered. Although pump prime funding is essential in many cases, grant aid is short term and long term sustainability is dependant upon club membership, fundraising and the like.
England Athletics East Facility Contacts
Development & Funding
Neil Deans - Regional Office
ndeans@englandathletics.org
01638 561296
Facilities Technical Advisor & Certification
Ralph Burrows - Council Member
ralph_pat@hotmail.com
Making The Most Of What You Have
Access to facilities, particularly in rural areas, is a real issue for many people. However, there are ways in which this can be overcome through being innovative and making the best use of the available resources. The attachment at the top of the page details how many schools have developed 200m tracks using their playground or areas of car parking and fields where no synthetic surface exists. It may prove useful.
Facility Planning & Design Guidance
Knowing Your Local Facilities - find out what is on your doorstep when initially pulling together a facility proposal. Active Places uses GIS to plot existing facilities in your community
www.activeplaces.com
PPG 17 - Planning Guidance For New Sport & Recreation Facilities
http://www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1144067
Planning Policy Guidance 17 (PPG17) sets out the policies needed to be taken into account by regional planning bodies in the preparation of Regional Planning Guidance (or any successor) and by local planning authorities in the preparation of development plans (or their successors); they may also be material to decisions on individual planning applications. This replaces the PPG Note 17 published in 1991.
SAPCA - Sport & Play Construction Association
www.sapca.org.uk
The Sports and Play Construction Association, SAPCA is the UK trade association for the sports facility construction industry. SAPCA represents specialist constructors, manufacturers and suppliers of sports surfaces and related products and plays an important role in the promotion of high standards for sports facilities.
With an annual investment in these facilities of over £100 million, the UK sports construction market is one of the largest in the world. The majority of these projects are built by members of SAPCA
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