Local Football Facility Plan Barnet

Barnet is in the Greater London Region.

The current population of the Authority (ONS 2017 Mid-Year Estimate) is 387,803. This is expected to rise to 459,122 by 2039.

Barnet is ranked 24 out of 33 LAs in the region, and 156 out of 326 LAs nationally on the Indices of Multiple Deprivation (ONS).

Barnet's ethnic composition is just under two thirds white (64.1%). This is significantly lower than the national average (85.4%).

The proportion of Barnet’s population represented by the BAME community is 35.9%. This is above the national average (14.6%).

Local authority

Barnet Council's Corporate Plan (2019 - 2024) sets out the three key outcomes it aims to achieve within the Plan timeframe. These are:

• To develop a pleasant, well maintained Borough that the Council will protect and invest in.
• For residents to live happy, healthy, independent lives with the most vulnerable protected.
• To create safe and strong communities where people get along well.

To encourage residents to lead active and healthy lifestyles and maintain their mental wellbeing, the Authority will invest in community facilities to support a growing population. This includes enhancing indoor and outdoor sporting facilities; and the transformation of parks and open spaces.

Barnet's Fit & Active Framework 2016 - 2021 sets out a local framework for the development of sport and physical activity over the next five years, underpinned by a vision to ‘create a more active and healthy borough’. It aims to provide a co-ordinated approach to identify how increasing participation in sport and physical activity should fully embrace a diversity of services to provide an integrated solution to a multi-faceted challenge, ensuring insight is used and resources are targeted effectively.

The Authority Playing Pitch Strategy was adopted in 2016. It applied the training demand model of 1:42 and, in part based upon this, in confirming the presence of the six full sized 3G FTPs indicates that, in 2016, there was a shortfall of two pitches; based on 2016 affiliation data. The PPS suggests that the shortfalls should be addressed through the creation of hub sites focusing on West Hendon Playing Fields, Copthall Playing Fields and King George V Playing Fields. In relation to grass pitches, at the time of the audit there was assessed to be spare capacity on adult pitches, although there were shortfalls of junior and mini pitches. Barnet Council has commissioned a PPS refresh; however, the findings were not available in line with the LFFP timescale. It is recommended that the LFFP be updated once the refresh document is available.

Following the priorities outlined in the PPS, individual masterplans have been produced for the three sites identified above. Further details are presented in the respective project lists.

County football association

Barnet is covered by both both Middlesex and the Amateur Football Alliance County FAs. It provides governance for, and development support to, all aspects of local football including coaches, referees, volunteers, clubs and leagues; supporting football for all. The County FA has a designated facilities investment lead officer who works to ensure the right facilities are located in the right locations.

Football Foundation

The Regional Engagement Manager and Regional Technical Project Manager at the Football Foundation work collaboratively with the County FA to provide pre-application support to priority projects for potential investment.

Sport England

Has a network of planning managers who have a statutory role in the planning system to protect playing fields and provide consultation responses to planning applications relating to sporting facilities . They also play a key role in strategic planning for sports facilities, providing advice and support to local authorities to assess need for facilities in their local area.

Professional community club organisations (CCOs)

These offer a variety of programmes and services to support local communities (sporting and non-sporting). Barnet FC delivers a variety of different projects including PL Kicks and PL Primary Stars from their site at the Hive. Although the site is located in Harrow, it does attract a number of people from the western side of Barnet, particularly from the Edgware area.

Local leisure operator

GLL (Grenwich Leisure Limited) is the key leisure operator in Barnet. It currently runs five key sites including Copthall Leisure Centre, Barnet Burnt Oak Leisure Centre and Hendon Leisure Centre. There is a 9v9 3G FTP at Barnet Burnt Oak, which the operator states is very popular. .

Local consultation

This has taken place with a broad and diverse set of community groups in Barnet. 14 individuals (representing 12 local organisations) were spoken to. The agencies consulted include:

• Barnet Council
• Unitas Youth Zone
• Clubs

(See Appendix B for full list of consultees)

Clubs

There are over 91,000 community football teams in England, spread over an expansive network of clubs and leagues. Barnet has a total of 398 teams, which is higher than local areas of a similar size.

The FA is investing to support clubs both on and off the pitch which includes an aim to have a qualified FA coach with every youth team by 2020/21. In addition, it will support 1,000 clubs to create full player pathways from youth to adult teams and develop 150 community football hubs with male and female pathways, disability and recreational playing opportunities.

Over the last 10-years there has been a significant national increase in the number of large multi-team football clubs. In Barnet, nine clubs have more than 10 registered teams. These (based upon 2018-19 affiliation data) are:

• Whetstone Wanderers FC - 39 teams
• London Athletic FC - 25 teams
• Hinton & Finchley Revolution FC - 24 teams
• ProFA FC - 24 teams
• Highgate & Muswell Hill (Youth) FC - 22 teams
• Wingate & Finchley (Youth) FC - 15 teams
• Princes Park Youth FC - 13 teams
• Hampstead (Youth) FC - 12 teams
• HGS Soccer School (Youth) FC- 12 teams

Leagues

Thirteen leagues serve clubs and teams in Barnet. They offer competitive opportunities for many different players, including women and girls, youth and adults. While there is no specific league opportunities for people with disabilities within Barnet, there is however suitable provision provided in the authority of Hillingdon. The largest of the local leagues (2018-19) include:

• Harrow Youth League – home and away
• Watford Friendly League – home and away
• Harrow Soccer Combination League – home and away

The County FA reports relatively low levels of cross boundary migration to/from Barnet. What there is is reportedly primarily due to teams migrating outwards to play in Hertfordshire

Disability football

There are 9.4 million people in England with a long-standing limiting disability, illness or condition which equates to 18% of the population – almost one in five. Football playing opportunities should be flexible, inclusive and accessible for everyone, whatever their level of ability. This could entail inclusion in mainstream activity or teams / sessions specifically for people with a disability.

In Barnet there are two football teams / sessions specifically for people with a disability. It is a priority of the County FA to grow this provision. For talented players the FA runs regional centres and England national squads.

Women and girls

The FA has big ambitions for the female game and aims to double levels of participation by 2020. To achieve this requires a combined effort across four pathways: education, recreation, competition and talent.

Education environments have a huge impact on the first experience of football for young girls. This pathway can offer many opportunities for females of all ages to develop and grow a lifelong interest in football.

FA Wildcats girls football centres provide the first step on the recreational pathway, the programme provides girls aged 5-11 with regular opportunities to play football in a fun and engaging environment. Barnet has one FA Wildcats girls football centres and the priority is to grow this activity.

At 16, Barnet’s number of female teams is higher than similar local areas. The County FA’s priority is to support existing clubs to grow and encourage more clubs to develop playing opportunities for females. The local girls’ league is the Capitals Girls League in which matches are played on both a home and away and central venue basis. The local adult female league is the Greater London Women's Football League in which matches are played on a home and away basis. Both leagues are expected to grow provision in future years.

For talented players, the most local FA Regional Talent Club (RTC) is Arsenal which is located in London Colney, Hertfordshire. Higher level talent pathway opportunities are also provided regionally and nationally by the FA, culminating in the England Women’s national squads. The most local Women’s Super League team is London Bees which provides player pathway opportunities for gifted and talented female players and a spectator interest for fans.

Small sided football

Many different types of small-sided football are played in England, from teams and leagues to recreational and informal. It is an established and important part of the modern game.

Small-sided teams and leagues are organised and competitive activities; typically with players registered to clubs and affiliated to leagues and their County FAs. Examples include Futsal and local small-sided leagues running at venues such as sports halls, 3G FTPs or small-sided 3G centres. Key local providers include:

• Powerleague Barnet
• Powerleague Finchley
• Powerleague Mill Hill
• GLL Burnt Oak

Futsal is an exciting, fast-paced, small sided team game that is widely played across the world. Typically it is played on an indoor surface with hockey-sized goals and a size 4 football with reduced ball bounce. It is the FA’s aim to ensure that futsal is available across the country.

Currently two futsal teams from Barnet that play in the BUCS League. It is a priority for the County FA to grow futsal for all players.

Recreational football

Recreational football is played where facilities are typically booked and there might be someone to help organise. Examples include FA Just Play sessions, walking football and casual pitch hire for small-sided match play.

There are currently two FA Just Play centres in Barnet. Walking football sessions are delivered by a range of community organisation such as Burnt Oak Leisure Centre and Power league. Walking football and Just Play are Middlesex and London county FA priorities for further growth and development.

Informal football is played in local parks and green spaces – it is free, open access and often played spontaneously (normal clothing is worn). Common examples include a kick-about at a local park or on a multi-use games area (MUGA).

The key strengths of local football in Barnet include youth, female and adult provision and it is recommended that this is sustained and also encouraged to grow further. However, gaps in provision do exist, these include disability football and the recreational game. It is therefore recommended that the future football development priorities for Barnet are as follows:

1. SSE Wildcats programmes.
2. Disability football teams and opportunities
3. Futsal teams and opportunities

The facilities required to assist this are now set out in the Assets and opportunities section.

In addition, priority project that progress to a funding application via the Football Foundation will produce a detailed ‘site development plan’ specifying all football development activity, usage and key partner engagement.

This section reviews existing football facility assets in Barnet. It identifies current issues and presents opportunities for improvements, including a list of priority projects for potential investment.

Local assets and opportunities have been reviewed in line with four investment priorities:

• 3G FTPs
• Improved grass pitches
• Changing room pavilions / clubhouses
• Small sided facilities

To ensure a consistent and high quality approach, each local area has been reviewed applying a standard approach, supplemented by input from consultation with local partners and stakeholder organisations.

While each investment priority is reviewed individually, it is understood that they can be inter-reliant; account is, thus, taken of these potential connections.

3G FTPs are a high quality and indispensable part of modern football facilities; their impact cannot be underestimated. In recent years the industry has seen major innovations and improvements to artificial surfaces (and sports lighting). This has created playing surfaces that replicate a good standard natural turf pitch whilst significantly increasing levels of use (x20). All FTPs must have sports lighting to achieve this.

The high quality, consistent playing surface is the ideal environment to play the game and for young people to learn. With regular maintenance programmes, FTPs can be heavily used all year round with no decline in quality. They almost completely negate annoying fixture cancellations during winter months, helping football to be a key part of a regular physical activity habit.

High capacity levels offer a great opportunity to embrace all formats and engage all participants. A full-sized 3G caters for an average of 1,200 participants per week and is suitable for various location types. That means being fully inclusive to all sections of the community, with a particular focus on under-represented groups such as women and girls, people with a disability, BAME communities and people from lower socio-economic groups.

The way 3G FTPs are used is rapidly changing; current line-marking systems allow for match play across all formats of football (5v5, 7v7, 9v9 and 11v11). This enables significant levels of match-play to be transferred from grass to 3G.

The full-sized (11 v 11) 3G FTPs in Barnet are located at:

• Compton Leisure Centre
• Christ College
• Millbrook Primary School
• Woodhouse College
• Hadley Wood Trust
• East Barnet Academy
• Rowley Lane Sports Ground.

The eight small-sided 3G FTP centres (at which provision is listed as full sized 3G FTP equivalents) are:

• East Barnet School (0.5)
• Princess Park (0.25)
• Graham Park, (0.25)
• Orion Primary School, (0.5)
• Power League Mill Hill (2)
• Power League Barnet (2)
• Burnt Oak (0.5)
• Archer Academy (0.5)

The following site is already being developed without funding via the Football Foundation:

• St James Catholic School - this will be a full sized 3G FTP. It has recently received planning permission and is being funded directly by the School; as part of the planning condition, it will be available for community use and it is anticipated that the pitch will be available from early 2020.

The Barnet PPS was adopted in 2016; however, the PPS calculation for 3G FTPs used the old training demand model calculation (1:42), and not the latest calculation (1:38). Therefore the shortfall presented in the document is out of date. In addition, it did not include small sided provision within the total supply calculation.

Notwithstanding the above, the PPS did recommend that any future investment into 3G should be focused at hub sites, noting Copthall and West Hendon Playing Fields as suitable locations.

Using the 1:38 ration and current (2018/2019) affiliation data, there is deemed to be a need for 11 full-sized pitch equivalent 3G FTPs, although in Barnet demand for recreational football is higher than that for affiliated clubs and teams. Consequently, using the recreational calculation, there is estimated to be demand for 19 full sized 3G FTP equivalents, meaning a current shortfall (based on current supply of 14.5 ) of 4.5 full sized 3G FTPs (including taking account of the upcoming St James' Catholic School development).

All full-sized 3G FTPs are available for community use and two (Woodhouse College and East Barnet Academy) are on the FA Register (meaning they are quality checked and can be used for football match play). It is strongly recommended that the five remaining full sized 3G FTPs are assessed and placed on the Register to enable more match play on 3G.

The geographic spread of existing facilities reflects the population distribution within the Authority. Although the map presents a gap in provision in the Edgware area, there is a double hub (the Hive) on the border between Harrow and Barnet which accommodates demand from the north western area of the Authority.

Local consultation reveals common issues with the lack of access to certain sites, particularly at weekends, as some of full sized 3G pitches are located at school sites. It is recommended this is addressed.

Three priority projects for potential investment are identified, proposing the creation of four full sized and one small sized 3G FTP. Two of the three were selected based upon a rationale of creating sporting hubs within the Authority as identified in the PPS and confirmed via LFFP consultation.

Playing fields are one of the most important resources for sport in England. All football players should have the opportunity to play on good quality grass pitches. However, FA data shows that 63% of pitches in England are poor / low quality and one in six games is cancelled. As such, poor pitch quality is consistently cited as the number one issue for players.

The priority is, therefore, to sustainably improve grass pitch quality across all main pitch owners (local authorities, education establishments and clubs). However, the level of maintenance required to obtain good quality standards is regularly affected by restricted budgets and limited knowledge/ training. Compaction and grass coverage are two key causes of poor quality pitches. Both are commonly treated via a maintenance driven solution (and do not necessarily require costly drainage schemes).

Playing fields are also a valuable resources for informal play and open-access sites are encouraged but, for many, problems such as dog fouling and vandalism mean that they need to be protected with mitigation measures such as fencing.

The key challenge is to create a sustainable approach to provide good quality football pitches for the long term. Most local authorities (78%) intend to increase pitch hire fees in the future. However, the majority of players (63%) believe facilities are already expensive and some (16%) believe prices are prohibitive. A sustainable solution should, therefore, carefully balance pitch quality and affordability.

While the education sector (37%) and local authorities (32%) are still the principal asset owners of grass pitches, clubs / leagues own or maintain an increasing share (currently 25%). Assets and opportunities have been considered across each sector.

Although large (3+ pitch) strategic sites are important and make up much of the project list within the LFFPs, this does not mean that other club, league and community/voluntary sites are not important or eligible for funding. These sites are key to the Football Foundation's Grass Pitch Programme to deliver 20,000 good quality pitches.

For more information click here.

PitchPower

The PitchPower app is the gateway to any grass pitch improvement funding. It is the tool that will allow clubs and organisations to complete pitch inspections and access funds.

If you haven't signed up and completed a PitchPower pitch inspection, you will need to do this before you can apply for the Grass Pitch Maintenance Fund.

Learn more by clicking here.

There are currently 26 grass pitch sites in Barnet with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three pitches but deemed to be of strategic importance). These contain 48 grass pitches. Local consultation confirms that, of these sites, 15 are considered to have good quality pitches and those at the other 11 are assessed to be either standard or poor quality.

Therefore, of the 26 key pitch sites referenced above it was determined that 11 should be prioritised for investment. This will result in quality improvements to 65 pitches.

Eleven priority projects for potential investment are identified. Pitch quality rating was evidenced by PPS and ratified by local partners. Prioritisation was based on a rationale of selecting sites with pitches listed as either standard or poor in the PPS. It must be noted that once the PPS refresh is published, this list may need to be revised.

These can provide a number of different benefits. While the primary function is normally the provision of changing rooms to accommodate match-play and training (for players and officials), there can be equal value in facilities such as community and education rooms, catering facilities and spectator toilets.

Each project will take a progressive approach to pavilions and clubhouses (beyond the provision of changing rooms) and be open to new opportunities to engage the whole community. That means, creating environments that are welcoming to players, spectators, volunteers, officials and all sections of the community.

Such assets should support other investment priorities (e.g. 3G FTPs and grass pitches) and be located at sites that will have the greatest impact on local communities. To ensure this, focus is given to sites with three or more full-size pitch equivalents. However, as pitch quality is the number one priority for players this is prioritised before investment in changing room pavilions /clubhouses.

Clearly, facilities need to be well managed and maintained to keep them in a good state of repair. Consideration will be given to reviewing the best operator solution for key sites and the installation of revenue generating features such as catering facilities and community rooms. To achieve this, business plan support will be given to each priority project as it progresses to an application to the Football Foundation.

Of the 26 key grass pitch sites in Barnet with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three but deemed to be of strategic importance), 21 have suitable changing rooms, three require improvement/replacement and three require new provision. The three new provisions are linked to the respective site masterplans.

Six priority projects for potential investment are identified:

Good facilities are important to all small sided football players, but it is important to understand the different formats of the small-sided game and the various facility types they relate to.

Research suggests that small-sided players in teams and leagues, and in recreational sessions, prefer a 3G surface type because it replicates a good standard natural turf pitch. These facilities have already been covered in the 3G FTP section of this LFFP.

Indoor environments currently accommodate 20% of football participation and are also popular with players in teams and leagues and recreational sessions . Indoor sports halls are most popular, along with some community halls and indoor 3G centres. Environments need to be engaging, have clear line-marking and the correct size goalposts.

Informal players require facilities that are open and free to access as this enables play opportunities that are often spontaneous. In these circumstances multi-use games areas (MUGAs) can be effective in areas of high urban population and limited green space. Such facilities can be modern, bright, creative and engaging. While this plan will identify suitable locations for such facilities, the design and specifics of the facility type can be agreed at a later stage with Football Foundation staff when projects are ready to progress to pre-application stage.

Parks and open green spaces are also important to informal play and require goalposts and zones that are free from litter and dog fouling.

Local consultation indicates that, at present, no indoor facilities require improvement to develop small sided football.

The Council is currently regenerating all of its key parks and open spaces, which will look at improving MUGAs and recreational football provision across the Borough. Therefore, there is no requirement from the Foundation to support recreational football in the Authority. In addition, a new Onside Youth Project has been developed with a rooftop pitch, to support recreational football in the Edgeware area.

Local consultation indicates that, at present, no parks and open green spaces require improvement to develop small sided football.

A range of local agencies and larger (usually 10 plus team) local football clubs were invited to participate in the LFFP consultation. Those that contributed are listed below:

Barnet Council: Sports and Wellbeing Manager

Barnet Council: Planning

GLL: Area Manager

Collindale Community Trust: Community Manager

Unitas Youth Zone: Site manager

Whetstone Wanders: Club Secretary

Wingate and Finchley Youth: Club Secretary

Barnet School Games Manager:

Highgate and Muswell Juniors FC: Club Secretary

Soxs Academy: Club Secretary

Wingate and Finchley Youth: Club Secretary

Winchmore Hill FC: Club Secretary

Young Barnet Foundation: Area Manager

Camden Community Sports and Football Association