Local Football Facility Plan Huntingdonshire

Huntingdonshire is in the East region.

The current population of the Authority (ONS 2017 Mid-Year Estimate) is 176,979. This is expected to rise to 194,506 by 2039.

Huntingdonshire is ranked 37th out of 47 LAs in the region, and 262 out of 326 LAs nationally on the Indices of Multiple Deprivation (ONS).

Huntingdonshire's ethnic composition is primarily white (94.8%). This is substantially higher than the national average (85.4%).

The proportion of Huntingdonshire’s population represented by the BAME community is 5.2%. This is significantly below the national average (14.6%)

Local authority

Huntingdonshire Council’s Sports Facilities Strategy 2016-21 makes reference to the potential for new sports facilities and associated additional demand due to significant housing growth in Huntingdon and Alconbury Weald.

The over-arching strategy vision is to “support people to improve their health and wellbeing by providing accessible leisure, green spaces, countryside and culture opportunities” (Huntingdonshire District Council’s emerging Corporate Plan 2016/18)

The local authority has no PPS in place.

County football association

Huntingdonshire district is covered by the Huntingdonshire 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). There is no active CCO in Huntingdonshire.

Local leisure operator

Leisure facilities in Huntingdonshire are operated by an in-house provider under the 'One Leisure' brand. It currently runs six sports centres where facilities include two 3G FTPs, with a third due to be added at One Leisure Ramsey.

Local consultation

This has taken place with a broad and diverse set of community groups in Huntingdonshire. 14 individuals (representing 13 local organisations) were spoken to. The agencies consulted include:

• Urban & Civic
• Hunts Youth League
• Cambridge Meridian Academies Trust
• Cambridgeshire County Council

(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. Huntingdonshire has a total of 400 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 Huntingdonshire , 12 clubs have more than 10 registered teams. These (based upon 2018-19 affiliation data) are:

• Buckden Juniors - 10 teams
• Godmanchester Rovers Youth - 19 teams
• Huntingdon Town Rowdies Youth - 10 teams
• Little Paxton Colts - 11 teams
• Needingworth Colts - 11 teams
• Priory Parkside Colts - 13 teams
• Ramsey Colts FD - 10 teams
• Sawtry Colts - 11 teams
• St. Neots Town - 17 teams
• St. Ives Rangers Colts - 41 teams
• St. Neots Town Youth - 13 teams
• Warboys Colts - 10 teams

Leagues

One league operates in Huntingdonshire. It offers competitive opportunities for many different players, including mini soccer and youth. While there are no specific league opportunities for women and girls and disability within Huntingdonshire, suitable provision is made in neighbouring Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire. Huntingdonshire local league (2018-19) is the Hunts Youth League – 507 teams– home and away

The County FA reports some cross boundary migration to/from Huntingdonshire due to teams playing in the Cambridgeshire County League, Peterborough & District Football League, S-Tech County Girls’ and Womens Football League in Cambridgeshire and the ParAbility Counts League (Adult Disability) in Cambridgeshire.

Disability football

There are 9.4million 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 Huntingdonshire there are four football teams / sessions specifically for people with a disability. It is a priority of the County FA to grow and sustain 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. Huntingdonshire has 12 FA Wildcats girls football centres and the priority is to grow and sustain this activity.

At 23, Huntingdonshire’s number of female teams is comparable to local areas of a similar size. 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 S-Tech County Girls’ Football League in Cambridgeshire in which matches are played on a home and away basis. It is expected to grow and sustain its provision in future years. The local adult female league is the S-Tech County Womens Football League. It too plays matches on a home and away and is expected to grow and sustain its provision in future years.

For talented players, the most local FA Regional Talent Club (RTC) is MK Dons which is located in Milton Keynes. There is also the Northants FA Advanced Coaching Centre (ACC) located in Northampton and a Cambs FA run centre held at Witchford. Higher level talent pathway opportunities are also provided regionally and nationally by the FA, culminating in the England Women’s national squads.

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

• One Leisure Football League - St. Neots
• Soccer League UK - St. Ives

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 6 futsal teams in affiliated that play in the Hunts FA Futsal League and or the Hunts FA Futsal Development League at key site locations including Hinchingbrooke School, Huntingdon. It is a priority for the County FA to grow and sustain futsal for male, female, youth and adult 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 nine FA Just Play centres in Huntingdonshire. Walking football sessions are delivered by a range of community organisation such as Huntingdonshire District Council Sport and Active Recreation . Walking football and Just Play are areas that the County FA has prioritised for further growth and development and to sustain current centres. Other local recreational football programmes include pro-club community scheme activity with Cambridge United, Peterborough United and Norwich City football clubs.

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 Huntingdonshire is played throughout the Authority. Alconbury Sports and Social Club, Brampton Recreation Ground, Buckden Recreation Ground, Little Paxton Queen Elizabeth Playing Fields, One Leisure St Ives and Priory Park are key heavily used site locations.

The key strengths of local football in Huntingdonshire include large number of affiliated mini soccer, youth football teams, and Walking Football centre provision. It is recommended that this is sustained and encouraged to grow further. However, gaps in adult football and disability youth participation do exist. There are aspects of football provision that are lower than local authorities of a similar size, these include female teams. It is therefore recommended that the future football development priorities for Huntingdonshire are:

1. U18, adult teams and adult leagues
2. Disability youth teams
3. Flexible male and female adult football opportunities
4. Youth and adult female teams
5. Futsal youth and adult teams and leagues

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

Additionally, each priority project that progresses 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 Huntingdonshire. 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 FTP 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.

Existing full-sized (11 v 11) 3G FTPs in Huntingdonshire are located at:

• One Leisure St Ives Outdoor
• St Neots Town Football Club
• One Leisure St Neots
• Hinchingbrooke School
• Leading Drove (Yaxley)

There are also small-sided 3G FTPs located at:

• One Leisure Huntingdon
• Alconbury Sports And Social Club
• Middletons Road Recreational Ground

All are available for community use and are on the FA Register (meaning they are quality checked and can be used for football match play).

The geographic spread of existing facilities is relatively even, with a gap in provision around the Huntingdon and Sawtry areas when factoring in future housing growth. Local consultation reveals common issues with limited availability and it is recommended that these are addressed .

There is no current PPS and, therefore, demand for full sized 3G FTPs has been calculated using the FA training ratio model 1:38. On the basis that there are 400 teams in Huntingdonshire, there is a requirement for 10 full sized 3G FTPs. There are currently five and there is, thus, a shortfall of five.

Huntingdonshire DC has recently received an offer of funding via the Football Foundation for a full sized 3G FTP at One Leisure Ramsey. If/when installed this will reduce the shortfall to four full-sized 3G FTPs.

This plan proposes a total of five further possible full sized 3G FTP projects and one small sided project (7 v 7 3G FTP conversion). The added degree of flexibility is considered to be a sensible approach to meeting the shortfall given the heavy reliance on CIL /S106 contributions from associated housing development - to finance schemes at Alconbury, Huntingdon and St Ives.

Six priority projects for potential investment are identified selected primarily on the basis of plugging current provision gaps and meeting the identified shortfall:

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, many 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 21 grass pitch sites in Huntingdonshire with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three pitches but deemed to be of strategic importance). These contain 84 grass pitches.

Local consultation highlights common issues with poor quality and a need for improved maintenance regimes and it is recommended that these are addressed. A total of 11 out of 20 clubs surveyed also indicated a willingness to undertake more responsibility for grounds maintenance of grass pitch facilities.

Of the 21 key pitch sites referenced above it was determined that six of these should be prioritised for improvements. This will result in quality improvements to 31 pitches:

Six priority projects for potential investment are identified. Pitch quality rating was evidenced by the FA regional pitch advisor and consultation with HDC grounds maintenance . Prioritisation was based on a rationale of selecting sites in the poorest condition and with a strategic focus to improve local authority / club pitches.

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 21 key grass pitch sites in Huntingdonshire with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three pitches but deemed to be of strategic importance) 16 have suitable changing rooms and five require improvement. In addition, the new 3G FTP at Alconbury Weald may need changing provision to facilitate community access.

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 MUGAs can be effective in areas of relatively high population density which offer limited access to 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 reveals that whilst no indoor facilities currently require improvement to develop small sided football it is recognised that the development of futsal is a County FA priority that is experiencing growth across the district and in neighbouring Cambridgeshire.

One potential opportunity for a MUGA has been identified at the Alconbury Weald development which will provide significant numbers of new housing, associated green / open space and corresponding high local demand for informal football.

In addition, Huntingdonshire District Council has identified that , in line with the local plan for the area a number of significant housing developments are likely to realise additional potential opportunity for fully funded small sided football facilities. A further example of this will be in the settlement of Wyton , where an 850 house development has made provision for a 40 x 30 MUGA , surface TBC.

Consultation with Cambridge County Council's Armed Forces Development officer also indicated a potentially high level of demand for engagement in informal football amongst the District's relatively high population of ex-armed service personnel. It is therefore recommended that the County FA engages with the County Council to determine whether any future facility development opportunities can be incorporated into the LFFP.

No locations are presently identified to support small sided informal 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:

• Pitch Advisor - Huntingdonshire FA
• Sports Development Manager - Huntingdonshire District Council
• Grounds Maintenance Manager - Huntingsonshire District Council
• Development director - Urban & Civic
• Secretary - Huntingdonshire Youth League
• Chairman - Fenstanton Youth FC
• Chairman - Godmanchester Town FC
• Treasurer - Needingworth Colts FC
• Representative - Somersham Town Youth FC
• Treasurer - St Ives Rangers Colts FC
• Chairman - St Neots Town Youth FC
• Parish Clerk - Yaxley Parish Council
• Armed Forces Covenant Development Officer - Cambridgeshire County Council
• Estates Director - Cambridge Meridian Academies Trust