Local Football Facility Plan Canterbury

Canterbury is in the South East Region.

The current population of the Authority (ONS 2019 Mid-Year Estimate) is 164,100 . This is expected to rise to 192,669 by 2039.

Canterbury is ranked 25 out of 67 LAs in the region, and 186 out of 317 LAs nationally on the Indices of Multiple Deprivation (ONS).

Its ethnic composition is primarily white (93%). This is higher than the national average (85.4%).

The proportion of Canterbury’s population represented by the BAME community is 7%. This is significantly below the national average (14.6%)

Local authority

The Canterbury City Council Local Plan was adopted in 2017. It sets out the vision and framework for development in the District until 2031. With a predicted growing population the Local Plan seeks to ensure that important infrastructure is in place to support future need such as new homes, employment, healthcare, transport and leisure; while protecting its important and valued green spaces and heritage assets.

The Authority's Playing Pitch Strategy is currently in development (draft PPS strategy developed March 2020). The key findings and stated overarching priorities identify no current shortfall and a future shortfall of one full size 3G FTP (calculated using the FA's training demand model 1:38). Further to this, the PPS notes that changing facilities are generally viewed as being adequate by clubs.

County football association

Canterbury is covered by the Kent County FA. 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). The Charlton FC Community Trust runs a variety of health, education, engagement, football and sporting activities in the local area.

Local leisure operator

Active Life Ltd is the leisure operator in Canterbury. The stock includes sports halls at Kingsmead Leisure Centre, Bay Sports Arena and Whitstable Sports Centre. These facilities are regularly used for small sided recreational football.

Local consultation

This has taken place with a broad and diverse set of community groups in Canterbury. Knight Kavanagh & Page was working on delivery of Canterbury's PPS during the same time frame as the LFFP so PPS consultation was also widely utilised to inform the LFFP. Because of this, 47 individuals (representing 37 local organisations) were spoken to. The agencies consulted include:

• Canterbury City Council
• Active Life Limited
• The Whitstable School

(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. Canterbury has a total of 294 teams, which is comparable to 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 ten years there has been a significant national increase in the number of large multi-team football clubs. In Canterbury, seven clubs have more than ten registered teams. These (based upon 2019-20 affiliation data) are:

• Canterbury Youth FC - 11 teams
• Chartham Sports Club - 20 teams
• Herne Bay Harriers FC - 16 teams
• Herne Bay Youth FC - 19 teams
• Rising Stars Youth FC - 19 teams
• Tankerton FC - 25 teams
• Whitstable Town Junior FC - 20 teams

Leagues

Four main leagues cater for clubs and teams in Canterbury. They offer competitive opportunities for many different players, primarily adults. While there is no specific league opportunity for disability and women and girls within Canterbury, suitable provision is made in and/or shared with neighbouring areas. The four (2018-19) are:

• Canterbury and District Football League – 20 teams – home and away
• Herne Bay and Whitstable Sunday League – 31 teams – home and away
• East Kent Youth League – 317 teams – home and away
• Faversham & District Youth Football League– 109 teams – home and away

The County FA reports significant cross boundary migration to/from Canterbury due to teams playing in other leagues/competitions including:

• BUCS (mens competition)
• BUCS (womens competition)
• Herne Bay and Whitstable Sunday League
• Isthmian Football League
• Kent County Football League
• Kent Girls/Ladies Football League
• Kent Youth League
• SCL Youth Development League
• South East Counties Womens League
• Thanet And District Football League
• University of Kent Intramural League

Disability football

There are 9.4million people in England with a long-standing limiting disability, illness or condition. This 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 can entail inclusion in mainstream activity or teams / sessions specifically for people with a disability.

In Canterbury there is one football team/session 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. Canterbury has two FA Wildcats girls football centres and the priority is to grow this activity.

At 16, Canterbury’s number of female teams is lower than local areas of a similar size. The County FA’s priority is to support existing clubs to grow and encourage more of them to develop playing opportunities for females. The local girls’ league is the Kent Girls/Ladies Football League and matches are played on a home and away basis. It is expected to grow its provision in future years. The local adult female leagues are the Kent Girls/Ladies Football League and South East Counties Womens League in both of which matches are played on a home and away basis. They are both expected to grow provision in future years.

For talented players, the most local FA Regional Talent Club (RTC) is Gillingham FC located in Medway. 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 Brighton & Hove Albion Women FC 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.

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.

There are currently seven affiliated futsal teams in Canterbury playing in the Canterbury Christ Church Intramural League and BUCS Futsal – men's leagues at key site locations including Canterbury Christ Church University and University of Kent. It is a priority for the County FA to grow futsal for male and female 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 five FA Just Play centres in Canterbury. Walking football sessions are delivered by a range of community organisations such as Canterbury City FC. Walking football and Just Play are County FA priorities to be sustained.

Informal football

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).

Currently, informal football in Canterbury is played particularly in the central part of the local authority. Canterbury Christ Church University and University of Kent are key heavily used site locations. Kent FA runs ‘Pride 5s’ at Kent County Cricket Club.

The key strengths of local football in Canterbury include large youth club provision and it is recommended that this is sustained and also encouraged to grow further. However, there are aspects of football provision that are less well represented than they are in local authorities of a comparable size; these include adult male 11v11. It is therefore recommended that the future football development priorities for Canterbury are to:

1. Support the transition of youth players and teams into adult male leagues.
2. Build on and sustain adult futsal provision.
3. Ensure that local club and university structures are in place to expand in line with the housing growth.
4. Develop comprehensive support to volunteers to allow clubs to retain, grow and provide opportunity to all.
5. Increase women and girls club provision and recreational opportunity via informal ladies sessions and FA Wildcats programme.

This section reviews existing football facility assets in Canterbury. 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, local areas are 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 five full-sized (11v11) 3G FTPs in Canterbury are located at:

• Herne Bay Sports Hub
• Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys
• The Whitstable School
• University of Kent (two 11v11)

In addition, there is one small-sided 3G FTP at St Lawrence Ground.

Based on the current number of teams and FA guidance of 1 (11v11) 3G FTPs per 38 teams (1:38), the demand would be 7-8 3G FTPs. This would leave a shortfall of 2-3 (11v11) 3G FTPs.

All five existing full-sized 3G FTPs are available for community use. Those at Herne Bay Sports Hub and Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys are on the FA Register for 3G FTPs (meaning they are quality checked and can be used for football match play). It is recommended that other existing 3G FTP developments are tested and placed on the Register to ensure quality and enable more match play on 3G. It is also worth noting that the carpets at Whitstable School (poor quality) and the two University of Kent FTPs (standard quality) are approaching the end of lifespan and need to be resurfaced.

St Edmunds School is considering developing its own 3G FTP as a private school but the amount of community use and timescales at this time is unknown. Simon Langton Girl's Grammar School is also developing its own 3G FTP, at this time it is likely that funding will be sought from the Football Foundation. In addition to this, Canterbury City FC, Canterbury RFC (World Rugby compliant 3G) and Whitstable Town FC have highlighted aspirations to develop new 3G provision.

The emerging Canterbury PPS (draft) indicates that there maybe a shortfall of 3G FTP provision in the future. Herne bay is likely to be one of the areas of demand and it has been decided to explore site options that may have potential to meet this future need. Local consultation confirms common concerns in respect of facility hire costs, poor quality surfaces and accessibility.

If Simon Langton Girl's Grammar School and Herne Bay High School were developed then this will bring the provision available up to 7 (11v11) 3G FTPs.

It should be noted that Canterbury RFC is working with Canterbury City FC to establish a new venue for both clubs. The Rugby Club is considering a proposal which include a clubhouse facility; a grass stadium pitch, a full size, floodlit, WR compliant 3G pitch, additional grass senior pitches and a series of mini grids. Future updates to this strategy will need to take this into account.

Three priority projects for potential investment are identified;

• Two new full-sized 3G FTP
• One full sized 3G FTP refurbishment

Options proposed were selected based upon site availability, the need to service affiliated football and potential to deliver.

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 17 grass pitch sites in Canterbury with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three pitches but deemed to be of strategic importance). These contain 50 grass pitches. Of these, three are considered to have good quality pitches, 11 have pitches which are mainly of standard quality and two have predominantly poor pitches.

One, Tankerton FC is a new site which has potential to be developed further within the next 1-2 years. Tankerton FC is currently in the process of developing a new ground opposite its current facility at Seaview Caravan Park.

Of the 17 key pitch sites referenced above it was determined that nine should be prioritised. This will result in quality improvements to 22 pitches and the creation of six new pitches:

Nine priority projects for potential investment (including the Tankerton FC site) have been identified. Pitch quality rating was evidenced by PPS and ratified by local partners. In general, prioritisation was based on a rationale of selecting sites with pitches that in poor condition and that are, or have the potential to be, best utilised.

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 17 key grass pitch sites in Canterbury with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three pitches but of strategic importance) 16 have suitable changing rooms and one requires a new build pavilion.

Two 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 no indoor facilities presently require improvement to develop small-sided football.

One potential opportunity to develop a MUGA is identified. This will serve an areas of relatively high population density in which there is corresponding high local demand for informal football.

Following local consultation, and assisted by the Sport England green spaces mapping tool two locations are identified at which provision to support small sided informal football should be developed.

The Canterbury PPS was undertaken by Knight Kavanagh & Page (KKP) at the same time as the LFFP, consultation from the PPS helped to inform the LFFP. Those that contributed are listed below:

• Business Manager - Simon Langton Grammar School for Girls
• Club representative - Barham Youth FC
• Club representative - Burgess Hodgson FC (survey)
• Club representative - Canterbury City FC
• Club representative - Canterbury Eagles FC
• Club representative - Canterbury Youth FC
• Club representative - Chartham Sports Club
• Club representative - City Lions FC (survey)
• Club representative - Crusaders FC (survey)
• Club representative - Druids FC
• Club representative - Hampton FC (survey)
• Club representative - Herne Bay FC (survey)
• Club representative - Herne Bay Wanderers FC (survey)
• Club representative - Herne United FC (survey)
• Club representative - Heron United FC (survey)
• Club representative - Monument FC (survey)
• Club representative - Rising Stars Youth FC
• Club representative - Rising Sun FC (survey)
• Club representative - Sturry FC
• Club representative - Tankerton FC
• Club representative - Whitstable Town FC
• Deputy Head Teacher - Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys
• Deputy Team Leader (Planing Policy) - Canterbury City Council
• Director of Estates - Christ Church University
• Director of Sport - Kent College (Canterbury)
• Director of Sport - University of Kent
• Engagement Manager - Football Foundation
• Estates Manager - St Edmunds School
• Finance Officer - Spires Academy
• Football Development Manager - Kent FA
• Fundraising & Partnerships Manager - Kent Sport
• Head of Community - CAFC Community Trust
• Head of PE - Herne Bay High School
• Head of PE - The Whitsable School
• Manager - Canterbury Academy Campus
• Manager - Canterbury College (The Sport & Fitness Centre)
• Lead PE Teacher - Barton Court Grammar School
• Lettings Manager - St Edmunds School
• Planning Manager (Planning Policy & Heritage) - Canterbury City Council
• Planning Officer - Canterbury City Council
• Principal - Herne Bay High School
• Principal - St Anselms R.C. School
• Representative - Kings School
• Site Manager - Barton Court Grammar School
• Site Manager - The Whitstable School
• Sports Development Manager - Active Life Ltd