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Chapter 5 Safer and Healthier Communities

Aim: To make the District a safe and healthy place in which to live.

Strategic Objectives:

• ensure that new development reduces opportunities for crime and disorder and contributes towards the creation of safer, and healthier communities;

• ensure that all new developments and transport facilities are capable of being accessible to all; and

• support the retention and provision of local services and community, cultural and recreation facilities.

5.1 Good, accessible local services, community and recreation facilities are important for quality of life and can help reduce the need to travel. Other services such as water, electricity supplies and drainage are essential to community health. This Chapter provides the policy framework for:

• Creating Accessible Environments

• Community Safety

• Local Services and Facilities

• Residential Institutional Uses

• Sport, Recreation and Open Space

• Coastal and Inland Water Recreation Facilities

• Contaminated Land and Pollution

• Health and Education Provision

• Telecommunications and Utilities

• Sewerage and Sewage Disposal

• Coastal Erosion and Flood Protection

Creating Accessible Environments

5.2 Obtaining access to jobs, services and facilities taken for granted by many can be very difficult, if not impossible, for people with disabilities or limited mobility. Policy COM1 below amplifies Policy QL108, which seeks to ensure that designing for accessibility is an integral part of the design process.

5.3 There are statutory requirements regarding access under the provisions of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act (1970), the Disability Discrimination Act (1995) and Section 76 of the Town and Country Planning Act (1990). Part M (Access for Disabled People) of the 1999 Building Regulations also covers accessibility. Further guidance was issued in July 2002 entitled “Sustainable Communities: Deliveringy Through Planning” and was further reinforced in the “Planning and Access For Disabled People Good Practice Guide” (2003)”.

5.4 The District Council recognises that good access benefits the whole community and will seek to ensure that new development is easily accessible to everyone. This is particularly important in Tendring where the 2001 census revealed that over 33,000 people locally had a limiting long -term Iillness, this represents almost 25% of the total population. This is significantly above the national figure of 18.2% who have some form of disability. There will be very few cases where it is not practical or reasonable to design new buildings, extensions and their associated facilities to at least the minimum accessible standards. Detailed guidance on designing accessible environments is contained in the Council’s SPG “Tendring District Council Access Guidance” and the Centre for Accessible Environments (CAE)Accessibility’s document “Designing for Accessibility”, — An Essential Guide for Public Buildings” which has also been adopted by the Council as SPG.

Community Safety

5.5 Community safety is at the heart of sustainable development and quality of life. Concentrating development within existing urban areas, maintaining the vitality and viability of town and local centres and encouraging mixed-use development will help to create well-used streets and public spaces that feel safe and deter crime. Stimulating social and economic regeneration will help to tackle some of the root causes of crime and disorder. Providing community and recreation facilities can help reduce anti-social behaviour by directing people’s leisure time towards more positive outcomes. Consideration of highway safety and pollution issues when determining planning applications will help to maintain the health and safety of occupiers of new development and the surrounding area.

5.6 The good design of environments can also make a major contribution to the prevention of crime and help to reduce anti-social behaviour and the fear of crime. Policy COM2 builds on Policy QL108 to provide further guidance on how new development will be expected to help reduce crime and disorder and improve community safety through environmental design measures.

5.7 The Council has responsibility under Section 17 of the Crime and Disorder Act (1998) to take account of the need to deter and prevent crime in carrying out all its responsibilities, including Local Plan preparation and Development Control. PPSG1 and Circular 5/94 (Planning out Crime) both highlights the important role that planning can play in crime prevention. Circular 5/94 emphasises that If used sensitively the planning system can be instrumental in providing attractive and well managed environments that help to reduce both the fear and the incidence of crime.the need for crime prevention must be balanced with the visual quality of development.

5.8 Policy COM2 identifies key principles that need to be considered in designing out the potential for crime and disorder:

• cCrime depends on concealment. Overlooked streets and public spaces deter criminals by increasing natural surveillance. Buildings should overlook open spaces and footpaths, not turn their backs on them. Open spaces should be overlooked by buildings and traffic routes. Buildings and landscaping should be designed and laid out to ensure that they do not provide hidden areas;

• aAnonymity provides opportunities for crime. This can be reduced by ensuring a clear definition of ownership and responsibility for all parts of a development and the creation of defensible space around buildings;

• dDistinction should be made between public and private spaces by a change in surfaces or use of boundary treatments; and

• gGood lighting design, which uses the correct lighting source for the intended environment can help reduce the fear of crime. However, care must be taken to ensure that the impact of light pollution is minimised, especially in historic, environmentally sensitive and rural areas.

5.9 Developer contributions may be sought to meet the community safety needs of new development as referred to in Policy QL12. Further guidance on designing out crime is contained in the Council’s adopted SPG “Crime Reduction “Through Environmental Design” and the leaflet “Protect Your Home” produced by the Tendring Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership (CDRP) under the UK police flagship initiative “Secured by Design”. initiative.

Local Services and Facilities

5.10 Reducing social isolation is an important objective of the Tendring Health Improvement and Modernisation Plan. Local facilities provide a valuable service for communities, particularly for people without their own means of transport. They provide local employment opportunities, are a focal point for community life and can help reduce the need for people to travel long distances for essential goods and services. In some cases they may also make an important contribution to the tourist economy. Examples of local facilities covered by these policies include community halls, general stores, post offices, doctors’ surgeries, public houses, libraries, places of worship and schools. The policies apply to facilities within communities across the whole District, in both rural and urban areas.

5.11 Village facility surveys carried out by the Council revealed that the number of village public houses had decreased from 41 in 1987/89 to 35 in 2000 and that over the same period, the number of post offices had declined from 22 to 19.

5.12 The District Council considers that it is important that this trend does not continue and that existing local facilities are retained, particularly in cases where their loss would either leave communities totally lacking in such provision or would lead to unsatisfactory deficiencies. In such circumstances, proposals that do not provide replacement facilities (either on site or within a reasonable walking distance) will be refused unless they are no longer needed by the local community and/or are not viable. In this case,“reasonable” walking distance is defined as up to 800m, approximately 10 minutes walking distance. The Council will require any application involving the loss of a key facility, including the loss of sports facilities, educational facilities, allotments and other community facilities to be supported by written evidence of lack of need. Examples of the type and scope of information that should be supplied are given in Appendix 3.

5.13 The provision of new community facilities e.g. village/community halls, leisure facilities etc, that are easily accessible to local people is important to the creation of sustainable communities. All proposals on land outside existing settlements should meet general development control policies to ensure that development is of a high quality and does not have an adverse impact on its surroundings. Also such proposals should be supported by written evidence of the local need for the facility including projected patterns-of-use and should normally be supported by the relevant Parish or Town Council.

Residential Institutional Uses

5.14 Residential institutional uses include care homes, nursing homes and other non-custodial institutions. Housing provision should be geared towards particular groups in the population who have special needs, including the elderly, people with disabilities and the homeless. The District Council support the provision of accommodation to meet special needs, but recognises that concentrating such accommodation in small areas can lead to various problems, including the cumulative effect such developments can have on the “image” and tourism function of the resorts concerned.

5.15 Tendring District contains the highest proportion of residential care homes and nursing homes of all the non-unitary District Councils in Essex. In March 2002, 28% of Essex residential institutions were located in Tendring District and of these, 45% were situated in Clacton.

5.16 Around the seafront and town centre areas of Clacton and Frinton there has been a substantial number of changes of use of properties from residential or holiday use to residential institutions. This concentration of such uses puts pressure on local medical and support services. It has also led to a loss of visitor accommodation and an erosion of local character through the conversion of front gardens to forecourt parking. The District Council has therefore identified areas in Clacton and Frinton where such development has occurred and where the development of new residential institutions and the conversion of existing properties to such uses will be resisted in order to avoid a further increase in the concentration.

5.17 Outside the Clacton and Frinton Institutional Uses Area boundaries, applications for residential institutional uses will be subject to the provisions of items (ii) and (iii) of Policy COM5. Sites should have permitted provided that the site has access to public transport and local facilities that are relevant to the needs of residents, such as shops and medical services. Proposals for residential institutional uses outside Settlement Development Boundaries will therefore not usually be permitted. A site unacceptable for housing development will generally be regarded as unacceptable for a new residential home. Sites will need to be accessible to staff and visitors by means other than the private car. The clustering of similar uses in close proximity to one another, particularly in areas where the character is one of single family dwellings with limited off street parking, would be inappropriate particularly because of the potential noise and disturbance it could create (including the impacts from service traffic) outside normal working hours.

5.17a There is an increasing range and diversity of proposed residential institutions in the District which the Plan needs to anticipate. In recent years there has been a significant trend, arising from the Government’s objectives relating to care in the community towards proposals for homes offering a secure environment for those with learning or behavioural difficulties. These types of institutions, if permitted, can have a detrimental impact on their immediate surroundings in terms of noise and disturbance. They raise public safety issues and additional parking demands. Accordingly, in addition to the environmental policies elsewhere in the Plan Policy COM5 provides further safeguards to control uses of this nature, including the potential withdrawal of use rights where, for example, an old people’s home or nursing home is approved which could be converted into uses in the same Use Class without a further planning application having to be submitted and approved.

5.18 The pressure for new residential and nursing homes has fallen significantly since it peaked in the 1980s, and accordingly Policy COM5 seeks to provide for alternative uses for former residential and care homes. Proposals for the change-of-use of properties operating as residential institutions will only be acceptable if there is evidence provided to show there is no unmet demand for the institution in the area.

Sport and Recreation

5.19 Recreation and sport facilities are an important community resource, providing enjoyment, employment opportunities and tourist attractions as well as important health benefits for participants. Improving health through physical activity is one of the targets of the Tendring Health Improvement and Modernisation Plan to reduce coronary heart disease in the District. The provision of recreation facilities also contributes to the District Crime and Disorder Strategy’s objectives to tackle the underlying causes of crime by redirecting inappropriate behaviour towards positive outcomes. In conjunction with partner agencies and local communities the Council will aim to:

• protect recreational facilities where there is a recognised or expressed need as identified in the Council’s Adopted Playing Pitch Strategy and Action Plan;

• enhance the provision and quality of recreational facilities as demonstrated within the Playing Pitch Strategy and Action Plan;

• strive to ensure that recreational facilities are accessible to all sections of the community;

• encourage the appropriate management of recreational facilities; and

• encourage the provision of sports facilities for the use of staff employed in business or industrial development.

5.20 Three distinct categories of open space are considered. First, there is pitch (football, rugby etc) and non-pitch (athletics, bowls etc) sports facilities; second, there are children’s play areas and, third, there is recreational open space. The three policies in this section provide a land-use planning strategy to secure:

(i) their protection;

(ii) their enhancement; and

(iii) provision of additional facilities.

5.21 To provide the background information and assessment for this section, the Council commissioned studies for each of the three categories of open space. Published in 2002, these provided essential information for the preparation of this part of the Plan. The Council also undertook a comprehensive audit of both the quantity and quality of the existing provision within the District. This is currently being updated as part of the background to further supplementary planning guidance.

Recreational Open Space

5.22 Recreational open space makes an important contribution to the character and amenity of the District. Although open space is defined in the Town and Country Planning Act (1990), that is now considered a very narrow definition. More specific guidance is provided by the Annex to PPG17 (Planning for Open Space, Sport and Recreation).

The following broad range of open spaces may be of public value:

(i) parks and gardens - including urban parks, country parks and formal gardens;

(ii) natural and semi-natural urban greenspaces - including woodlands, urban forestry, scrub, grasslands (e.g. downlands, commons and meadows), wetlands, open and running water, wastelands and derelict open land and rock areas (e.g. cliffs, quarries and pits);

(iii) green corridors - including river and canal banks, cycleways, and rights of way;

(iv) outdoor sports facilities (with natural or artificial surfaces and either publicly or privately owned) - including tennis courts, bowling greens, sports pitches, golf courses, athletics tracks, school and other institutional playing fields, and other outdoor sports areas;

(v) amenity greenspace (most commonly, but not exclusively in housing areas) - including informal recreation spaces, greenspaces in and around housing, domestic gardens and village greens;

(vi) provision for children and teenagers - including play areas, skateboard parks, outdoor basketball hoops, and other more informal areas (e.g. ‘hanging-out’ areas, teenage shelters);

(vii) allotments, community gardens, and city (urban) farms;

(viii) cemeteries and churchyards;

(ix) accessible countryside in urban fringe areas; and

(x) civic spaces, including civic and market squares, and other hard-surfaced areas designed for pedestrians.

5.23 Therefore, the broad term “recreational open space” includes all formal and informal recreational uses of land, from football pitches to children’s playgrounds within town parks.

5.24 To assess the extent of provision of recreational open space across the District the Council undertook a study of all recreational areas, including pitch and non-pitch sports areas; children’s play areas and recreational open space. This audit is under review as part of the background to supplementary policy guidance.

5.25 In Tendring District, there are approximately 228 hectares of publicly accessible recreational open space, most of which is pitch and non-pitch sports grounds. In addition, there are other areas of recreational open space, which are either privately-owned or owned by other public authorities (such as the health authority or educational establishments). The definition of recreational space does not include land that has an amenity value as open space but is not used for recreational purposes. Also, it does not include allotments, which are considered in Policy COM9. The seafront is by far the largest contributor to open space and includes the attractive greensward and cliff-top areas, as well as the beaches themselves. These are particularly worthy of protection because of the very important contribution they make to both the local economy and amenity of residents more generally.

5.26 There are national standards set by the National Playing Fields Association (2.4 hectares per 1,000 people) for the provision of pitch and non-pitch playing fields, and children’s play areas, as discussed below (see Existing Children’s Play Areas and Pitch and Non-Pitch Sports Facilities). However, there are no national standards to benchmark whether or not the level of provision of all recreational space, which includes parks and gardens for informal use as well as the pitch, non-pitch and children’s play area facilities within them, is satisfactory. Nonetheless, PPG17 does clearly state that it will be for local authorities to identify particular strategies as to the level of safeguarding for these open spaces and how it may secure any opportunities to seek relevant enhancement of the present facilities.

5.27 In the absence of a quantitative standard, the Council has considered whether the existing level of provision is satisfactory against more qualitative measurements. In this regard, the Council’s opinion has been informed by the responses gained from the MORI research into local opinions and aspirations published in Spring 2002. Just under half of the District’s residents feel that the level of sports provision locally is good, but 19% felt that it was poor. Within these averages, there were wide ranges across the main settlements and the rural area.

5.28 The responses very much indicate the need to retain the existing recreational open spaces and to seek improvements in their quality, particularly the sports facilities and children’s play areas within them, and those privately-owned facilities in other locations.

5.29 The areas of recreational open space to be safeguarded are identified on the Proposals Maps and Proposals Map Insets and Policy COM7 will provide the appropriate safeguards. No development for purposes other than outdoor sport and recreation will be allowed on these sites unless it can be demonstrated that a replacement area will be provided that is equally accessible, including to those who live near and use the existing open space, and that the provision of a new site would provide a greater contribution to local biodiversity than the site to be developed. Policy COM7a specifically covers protection of playing fields including school playing fields.

New Recreational Open Space within New Housing Development

5.30 Where new development is proposed, it can place a significant burden on existing open space provision in the area or result in development seriously deficient in open space provision. Government Circular 1/97 makes it clear that developers should not be expected to make up for existing deficiencies, although Government guidelines make it equally clear that new development from one dwelling and above generates its own demands and requirements for recreational open space and suggests that local planning authorities should develop local standards that may be applied to ensure new developments make provision for open space to meet needs. The Council will therefore seek to ensure that open space provision is included within development proposals or where appropriate contributions will be sought to provide on or off site open space provision. Policy COM6 provides the framework to secure this enhancement.

5.31 Layouts should incorporate appropriately sized and maintainable recreational open space as an integral and usable part of a development, rather than simply taking advantage of “left-over” land in an awkward corner of the site. Children’s play areas should generally be easily accessible from pedestrian routes, separated from areas of major vehicle movements, overlooked from dwellings or well-used pedestrian routes and be located and designed to minimise disturbance to nearby dwellings. Perimeter landscaping or structural landscaping which is required as part en parcel of the “good planning” of the development will not constitute as being a component of the recreational or public open space contribution of the site. Both landscaping and public open space are required in their own right.

5.31a The National Playing Fields Association recommended a national minimum standard of provision for recreational open space of 2.4 hectares per 1000 of the population. PPG17 advocates that minimum standards should be used to refine areas deficient in open space. It also recommends that where an up to date audit of existing facility provision has been undertaken it may be appropriate to set local minimum standards. Although some work has been carried out a thorough review of the quality and quantity is being undertaken as part of the background to the Supplementary Policy Implementation Document, which will amplify Policy COM6. Following this, detailed local standards may be produced for Tendring. In the meantime the minimum standard of recreation provision should be based on the NPFA national guidelines. The 2.4 hectare per 1000 population standard is broken down as follows:

• 1.6 hectares playing pitches/outdoor sport

• 0.8 hectares children’s play space

5.32 Table 4, below, summarises the local standards the Council will expect new development to provide. It is based on an assessment of local demand and an evaluation of the adequacy of current provision to meet the needs of local sports clubs (KKP, 2002). It provides the standard for playing pitch and non-pitch facilities, children’s play and other informal playing space as advocated by the National Playing Fields Association and PPG17.

Table 4: Tendring District Council Adopted Local Open Space Standards

5.33 A significant proportion of new housing in the District to come forward in the next 10 years will be provided on small sites to be occupied by less than 50 people or less than 25 dwellings during the Plan Period. Cumulatively this will generate a requirement for new and improved open space facilities.

5.34 Where a developer is unable to meet the required standard, in part or fully, through physically providing and laying-out suitable open space, the District Council will require commuted payments in lieu of physical provision. This will help to ensure that open space provision keeps pace with new housing development.

5.35 The Council considers that open space provision should be included as part of all residential developments involving sites greater than 1.5 hectares in size, and should comprise at least 10% of the gross site area. To ensure that the financial contribution is fairly and reasonably related in scale and kind to the proposed development, the Council will prepare detailed guidanceSPG, but in general, it will depend on:

(i) the playing space requirement for the development;

(ii) the extent to which these requirements have been met in other ways e.g. part may be able to be accommodated on-site;

(iii) the nature of the development; and

(iv) the existing provision in the area.

5.36 The Council undertakes that any financial contribution will be used to provide or improve the appropriate recreational facility within a reasonable timescale and will be directly attributable to the development and not intended to cover any additional or unrelated benefit. Guidance is to be prepared initially as a Supplementary Policy Interim Document (SPID), later to become a Supplementary Planning Document under the 2004 Planning Regulations. The SPID will set the context for the policy implementations, establish mechanisms for securing financial procedures and define a framework for spending the funds in accordance with legislative requirements. In order to ensure financial contributions are spent fairly a Priorities/Action Plan will be produced based on an up to date audit of existing recreation provision. This will form part of the background and consultation process of the preparation of the SPID. As a result the District Council will be in a strong position for enhancing the quality and quantity of recreation provision for the local communities. Improvements to provision will be directed to the priorities identified, which will cover facility provision at a local, catchment area and district level.

5.38 New recreational open space shall be provided in the following areas:

• 52 ha open space along the Pickers Ditch linear park walkway, Clacton-on-Sea;

• 7.2 ha open space land north of Brooklands and Grasslands, Jaywick;

• 16.5 ha open space Low Road, Dovercourt;

• 2 ha open space Capital House, Dovercourt;

• 3 ha open space north of Village Close and west of Turpins Lane, Kirby Cross;

• 2 ha open space west of existing Lawford Playing Field, off School Lane, Lawford;

• 1.5 ha open space north of existing Playing Field and south of Mary Warner Road, Ardleigh;

• 0.9 ha open space land rear of 18 — 32 Holly Way, Elmstead Market;

• 2.1 ha site next to Lawford Dale; and

• 2.3 ha site for Cann Hall Estate, Clacton-on-Sea.

5.39 If recreational public open space and play equipment are to be adopted by the District Council, the developer must provide for their future maintenance. The District Council will seek a planning obligation to make suitable financial provision for its subsequent maintenance. The District Council’s open space standards and the basis of commuted sum calculations is provided in more detail in SPG, which will be revised annually.

Existing Children’s Play Areas and Pitch and Non-Pitch Sports Facilities

5.40 In Tendring District, research undertaken in 2002 found there are serious deficiencies in children’s play areas, and both quality and quantity of outdoor pitch and non-pitch sports facilities. This research recommended a number of specific actions to address these issues. It is a priority for the Council to put in place a strategy and a mechanism to secure funding to enable the delivery of these improvements. This is being prepared and will be produced as the Priorities/Action Plan, which will be published as background to the SPID.

5.41 As well as enhance existing facilities, the Council will protect both well used as well as under-used outdoor pitch and non-pitch sports facilities which provide recreational open space through the application of Policy COM7. In addition, the Council will use financialcommuted contributions from new housing development (raised through Policy COM6) to fund a programme of localised enhancement work where this has a direct bearing on the new development in accordance with Circular 05/051/97. Contributions raised from new housing development will be spent as close to the new development as is possible and will be guided by the Priorities/Action Plan prepared as background to the SPID.

5.42 Commuted sums will be held centrally by the Council’s Leisure Services Department. The distribution of these accumulated funds into this central pool will require two further actions. The Council’s Leisure Services Department will prepare a District-wide strategy for the maintenance and enhancement of all the District’s recreational open space, including publicly and privately-owned land. This strategy will set priorities for the District as a whole as well as the Council’s own investment programme and the funds that can be realised through developer contributions. In particular, the studies commissioned by the Council to investigate provision of pitch and non-pitch sports facilities, and children’s play areas, identified shortfalls in provision in most areas, including the privately-controlled sports pitches. The priorities in this strategy will draw heavily on the conclusions of the auditstudies undertaken to analyse all aspects of recreational open space provision and the outcome of public consultation on the SPID. All stakeholders responsible for managing recreational facilities will be able to apply for money from the open space funds for key improvements to facilities where they are identified as priorities.

5.43 This investment strategy will be prepared in consultation with all the parties with an interest in the enhancement of the District’s outdoor sports facilities. It will also provide a programme for works to the non-sports related recreational open space, such as parks and gardens. In parallel to this, the Council is preparing guidance will prepare SPG to provide a framework for developer contributions from new housing development for the enhancements identified in the Leisure Services Open Space Strategy — Priorities/Action Plan.

5.44 The SPIDSPG will identify the mechanism for securing a contribution from developers to this important element of community infrastructure. It The SPG will detail the adequacy of existing available pitch and non-pitch facilities in terms of quantity and quality. In addition itThe SPG will also suggest how the additional demands for pitch and non-pitch facilities as well as children’s play areas generated by new housing development could be met within the parishes and towns, taking into account the expected scale and location of new housing development within the Plan Period.

5.45 In addition, the Council will also seek to secure other external sources of funding for both public open space enhancement work and new provision where appropriate, by using developer contributions to lever in funding from other agencies. Both the SPG and Leisure Services Open Space Strategy will be prepared at the earliest opportunity. This SPIDSPG will also set out the levels of open space and facilities that must be provided within new housing development. It will also set out the level of contribution developers must make to secure the long-term maintenance of the open space provided within the development. As an alternative for smaller housing development sites, the Council will set out the level of financial contribution a developer must make into a central fundpool for a provision of new and enhanced recreational open space, sports facilities and children’s play areas. The Open Space Strategy will identify where these pooled resources will be spent.

5.45a In accordance with Policy COM6 and the SPIDG, the Council will seek developer contributions from new housing development to fund a programme of maintenance and enhancement of these areas of open space to include, where appropriate, investment in existing and additional pitch and non- pitch facilities and children’s play areas within areas of recreational open space. The Council will prepare a strategy for the maintenance and enhancement of the District’s recreational open space, including pitch and non-pitch sports facilities and children’s play areas.

5.46 In accordance with Policy COM6 and the SPG, the Council will seek developer contributions from new housing development to fund a programme of maintenance and enhancement of these areas of open space to include, where appropriate, investment in existing and additional pitch and non- pitch facilities and children’s play areas within areas of recreational open space. The Council will prepare a strategy for the maintenance and enhancement of the District’s recreational open space, including pitch and non-pitch sports facilities and children’s play areas.

5.45b Playing fields are one of the most important resources for sport. They provide the space, which is required for the playing of team sports on outdoor pitches. Yet as open land, particularly in built-up areas becomes an increasingly scarce resource, they often seem to offer a tempting opportunity for other forms of development. In most cases development of existing playing fields is unacceptable. It is however, acknowledged that in exceptional circumstances development may provide the opportunity for land exchange, substituting one site for another to compensate for the loss of any open space or sports or recreational facility. Policy COM7a sets out the framework for assessing proposals for the development of playing fields. All too often school playing fields are declared by the school or education authority to be surplus to DFES requirements. Whilst the school itself may have playing fields in excess of its requirement, rarely have alternative recreational opportunities for the site been explored. For example, the site may be able to be made available for community use. This may require some improvements or alterations, including a new access separate from the school and changing rooms etc. Alternatively, opportunities for other relevant stakeholders (Parish Councils, Recreation Trusts ) to take on the playing field(s) independently, may be appropriate.

Provision and Improvement of Outdoor Recreational Facilities

5.47 Often additional provision can be achieved by improving existing facilities and extending the opportunities for use for example by improvements to surfaces, drainage or floodlighting. Where the Council receives applications to develop land for the provision of new and extended outdoor recreational facilities, these will generally be favourably received subject to certain provisions to protect amenity, highway safety and to enhance more sustainable means of access. Particular encouragement will be given to proposals which implement any priorities identified by the Council in the SPID and Priority/Action Plan.

5.47a If recreational public open space and play equipment are to be adopted by the District Council, the developer must provide for their future maintenance. The District Council will seek a planning obligation to make suitable financial provision for its subsequent maintenance. The District Council’s open space standards and the basis of commuted sum calculations is provided in more detail in the draft SPIDG, which will be revised annually.

Allotments

5.48 Working on allotments is a recreational activity enjoyed by a wide cross section of the community, and in particular often the more elderly members of the community. Allotments are a valuable resource not only for allotment holders, but also in terms of the wider community within towns and villages by way of contributing to visual amenity. Essex Structure Plan Policy BE3 identifies the need to protect open land uses within urban areas and guidance in PPG17 recognises the importance of open space and recreational facilities and the need for recreational facilities to be available for the elderly. The Council will support proposals for suitable extensions to existing allotments and new allotment sites providing that an existing demand is demonstrated.

5.49 Development will not be allowed on allotments identified on the relevant Proposals Map and Insets unless alternative equivalent provision is made within the locality, or unless it can be demonstrated that there is no longer any demand for the allotments. Also, PPG17 emphasises that in declaring open space“surplus to requirements” this should include considerations of all the functions that open space can perform.

Built Sports Facilities

5.50 Built sports facilities, including sports halls, swimming pools, pavilions and changing rooms make an important contribution to the leisure and recreational facilities in the District and contribute to the health and well-being of the community. They make an important contribution to broadening the range of leisure facilities available in the District both in urban and rural areas, and allow and encourage public participation in sport and recreation.

5.51 The District Council recognises in accordance with both national policy and guidance in PPG17 (Planning for Open Spaces, Sport and Recreation) and Replacement County Structure Plan Policy LTR1 the important role the provision of built sports facilities fulfils. It will therefore seek to retain, and where appropriate enhance, existing facilities for the benefit of the wider community in order to promote and maximise access to sports facilities.

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