3.GUIDANCE; Fields in Trust

Fields in Trust’s benchmark guidelines are a crucial tool for developers, planners, urban designers and landscape architects in the design of outdoor sport, play and informal open space. (Fields in Trust, 2023) First published in the 1930’s the Guidance is based on a broad recommendation that 6 acres (2.4 hectares) of accessible green space per 1,000 head of population enables residents of all ages to participate in sport and play; 75% of local authorities adopt this or an equivalent standard (2014 Fields in Trust / David Lock Associates Survey). For the proposed site that is 12600 population x the recommended green space. Recommending 28.8 ha of green space. The current proposal far exceeds this committing 50% of the total footprint to green infrastructure following Garden Communities guidance.

The most recent guidance ‘Guidance for Outdoor Sport and Play’ is a one-stop shop for the practitioner – local planning authorities, developers, planners and urban designers, landscape architects and parish and town councils – in the planning and design of outdoor sport, play and informal open space.( Fields in trust, 2020). This has been coined “beyond the six-acre guidance”. The Planning and Design for Outdoor Sport and Play (PDOSP) was published in 2008. However, there is need for review, given the substantial changes in the political, planning and social landscapes since 2008 including:

• reforms to national planning policy and guidance and the introduction of Neighbourhood Planning and CIL (Community Infrastructure Levy); and

• a growing trend towards a preference for individual participatory sport.

The guidance echoes the aspirations of the NPPF particularly concerning sustainability and reiterates the guidance in PPG 17: Planning for Open Space, Sport and Recreation (ODPM), revised 2012. The guidance outlined in the “Guidance for Sports and Play” essential guidance for the effective and sustainable design of the green spaces of the new settlement and will support the design in phase 2 of the development process. Below are some of the guidance that will shape the direction of the design.

The benchmark guidelines give clear guidance on the nature, distance from dwelling, amount per capita and the quality of formal recreation areas required for a development. They are divided into 4 sections; quantity, accessibility, quality, spatial requirements and a reference to buffer zones.

Along with formal green spaces such as LAPs (Local Area for Play), LEAPs ( Local Equipped Area for Play)and NEAPs(Neighbourhood Equipped Area for Play) there is inclusion of informal green space which includes, woodland, scrub, grassland, wetlands, open and running water, and open access land. The guidance is clear in its quality benchmarks that these informal spaces should also be safe; Designed so as to be free of the fear of harm or crime. The guidance has a strong focus on sustainability. Policy 6 states.

· Fields in Trust supports sustainability benefits arising from outdoor spaces including energy use and generation, carbon reduction, conservation of natural resources such as air, water, soil and biodiversity, sustainable consumption and production.

Open spaces can provide dual use for Sustainable urban Drainage Systems (SuDS), delivering recreational benefits by using attenuation and storage areas for play and/or sports areas. (Fields in Trust, 2020)

A vision for the development of the Green Infrastructure of the settlement. Illustrating a wide variety of uses and activities accommodated in easy reach of dwellings, suitably buffered and developed in consultation and mindful of the needs of the population while conserving nature and increasing biodiversity.

Accessible Natural Greenspace Standards Model.(ANGSt)

These standards were published in 1995 by English Nature. English Nature promoted the conservation of wildlife, geology and wild places. It was merged with the Countryside Agency and Rural Development Service to form Natural England in 2006. English Nature believed that local authorities should consider the provision of natural areas as part of a balanced policy to ensure that local communities have access to an appropriate mix of greenspaces providing for a range of recreational needs. English Nature recommends that provision should be made of at least 2ha of accessible natural greenspace per 1000 population according to a system of tiers into which sites of different sizes fit:

· no person should live more than 300m from their nearest area of natural greenspace;

· there should be at least one accessible 20ha site within 2km from home; there should be one accessible 100ha site within 5km;

· there should be one accessible 500ha site within 10km.

(English Nature,1995)

The fundamental premise of having accessible natural green space is that it provides unique and important benefits for physical and mental health, wellbeing, community cohesion, sustainable transport, and biodiversity. These important outcomes guide both the planning and design of the development.