OPEN INFORMATION ITEM

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Lynne Marsh
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1 Wolverhampton City Council OPEN INFORMATION ITEM Committee/Panel PLANNING COMMITTEE Date: 2nd November 2010 Originating Service Group(s) Contact Officer(s) REGENERATION AND NEIGHBOURHOODS Ian Culley/Carolle House Telephone Number(s) (01902) / Title/Subject Matter OPEN SPACE PROVISION IN WOLVERHAMPTON RECOMMENDATION That Committee note the contents of this Report

2 OPEN SPACE PROVISION IN WOLVERHAMPTON 1. PURPOSE 1.1 The Report provides a breakdown of the distribution of recreational open space within the City. The Report is prepared in response to minute 134 from the Planning Committee meeting of 2 nd March 2010 requesting a brief report providing a more detailed breakdown of open space provision by Ward within the City. 2. BACKGROUND INFORMATION 2.1 The Wolverhampton Open Space, Sport and Recreation Study of all publicly accessible recreational open space was carried out in the City in 2007 and its findings were endorsed by Cabinet for the purposes of further work in October The Study provides an audit of all recreational open space by type of use within the City, recommends local standards for recreational open space provision up to 2021 and makes recommendations to improve the quality, quantity and accessibility of recreational open space for the future. 2.2 This Study, which was prepared in accordance with the Government s recommendations and guidelines within Policy Planning Guidance (PPG) 17 provides the evidence base for the Local Development Framework on which to inform decisions on the future development of recreational open space provision within the City. 2.3 A Draft Supplementary Planning Document on Open Space Sport and Recreation was prepared following on from this Open Space Audit and Needs Assessment Study, and Cabinet approved the draft document for public consultation in November This consultation has been carried out and comments are currently being considered and progressed by Officers. However, Members asked for a brief report providing a more detailed breakdown of open space provision by Ward within the City to be submitted to a future meeting for information purposes for which this report forms the basis. 3. OPEN SPACE IN WOLVERHAMPTON 3.1 A detailed breakdown of the 1,111.6 Ha of open space within the City is provided in Appendix 1 of this report by the five analysis areas in Table 1 and by Ward in Table 2. This shows that our main citywide network of Parks accommodate 19.5% of the total open space, 15.6% is laid out as amenity areas, just under 30% accommodated for use as outdoor sports pitches (including private clubs and schools) and natural areas form a further 30.5% of the total open space with the remainder 4.4% being for use as children s play areas, teenage facilities and for allotment purposes The geographical distribution of open space is indicated in Appendix 2, Plan 1 by Analysis Areas and Plan 2 by Ward. These plans should also be referred to when reading and comparing data especially at Ward level, where due to their size and precise location, interpretation of provision in adjoining Wards is also necessary. For example, Table 2 in Appendix 1 shows that Park Ward has the greatest provision of Parks within the City, notably West Park and Bantock Park. These Parks are not centrally located within this Ward but located near the boundaries and therefore share catchment areas within St Peters, Graiseley and Merry Hill wards but in the Tables

3 these three wards provide a false indication of extremely low or no provision of Parks within their area. Similarly the Park Ward also shows the highest amount of outdoor sports facilities with ha, but this figure includes ha (82%) of school playing fields including Compton Park. It was for this reason that the government recommended that open space audits and needs assessments for local areas are best carried out with reference to up to five analysis area divisions, so that overall trends and issues within larger areas are clearer to analyse. 3.3 In addition to these open spaces in the City, there are also a few large open spaces which are also accessible to Wolverhampton residents located just over the City boundary occupying some 34.7 ha of land. From a planning perspective the future use of these open spaces would be subject to decisions made by their respective adjoining local authority in consultation with ourselves. These out of city open spaces particularly affect the wards of Merry Hill with 7 ha of additional amenity areas and 1.5 ha of outdoor sports pitches, Oxley with a further 15 ha of natural area and 6 ha of outdoor sports facilities, Penn with 0.5 ha of outdoor sports facilities and Wednesfield with 4.5 ha of additional amenity areas. 3.4 A copy of the full Open Space, Sport and Recreation Study is available to view under the evidence base of the Local Development Framework on The trends emanating from these provision figures from the audit and needs assessment will help the Council decide: How best to achieve the environmental transformation necessary to attract more highly skilled and affluent households to Wolverhampton and realise the aspirations of the Black Country Study How best to increase sports participation rates, improve health and reduce deprivation across the City Where to prioritise investment in existing Council facilities on new developments to best serve both existing and new residents, particularly in the large scale regeneration areas identified in the Council s Core Strategy and in the preparation of the Area Action Plans. How to best work with partners, particularly schools and colleges to maximise public access to existing facilities 4. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS 4.1 There are no direct financial implications to this Report 5. LEGAL IMPLICATIONS 5.1 There are no direct legal implications to this report 6. ENVIRONMENTAL AND SUSTAINABILITY IMPLICATIONS 6.1 The Core Strategy will set the planning framework for the whole of the City. It will seek to ensure that sufficient open space and associated facilities as well as homes, employment, community, social and education facilities are planned and provided for in time to meet the needs of all communities and everyone in those communities.

4 7. BACKGROUND PAPERS Wolverhampton Open Space, Sport and Recreation Study Cabinet Report 17 October 2008.

5 OPEN SPACE PROVISION IN WOLVERHAMTPON APPENDIX 1 OPEN SPACE PROVISION TABLES

6 Table 1 Recreational Open Space Provision by Analysis Area (Hectares) Analysis Area Parks Amenity Areas Natural Areas Outdoors Sports Facilities Children s Play Areas Teenage Facilities Allotments Bilston Area Central & South Area North Area Tettenhall Area Wednesfield Area Total Table 2 Recreational Open Space Provision by Wards (Hectares) Ward Parks Amenity Areas Natural Areas Outdoors Sports Facilities Children s Play Areas Teenage Facilities Allotments Bilston East Bilston North Blakenhall Bushbury North Bushbury South & Low Hill East Park Ettingshall Fallings Park Graiseley Heath Town Merry Hill Oxley Park Penn Springvale St Peters Tettenhall Regis Tettenhall Wightwick Wednesfield North Wednesfield South Total Total

7 OPEN SPACE PROVISION IN WOLVERHAMTPON APPENDIX 2 DISTRIBUTION OF OPEN SPACE PLANS

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