Local Football Facility Plan South Bucks

South Bucks is in the South Region.

The current population of the Authority (ONS 2017 Mid-Year Estimate) is 69,785. This is expected to rise to 77,719 by 2039.

South Bucks is ranked 50 out of 67 LAs in the region, and 302 out of 326 LAs nationally on the Indices of Multiple Deprivation (ONS).

Its ethnic composition is primarily white (84%). This is comparable to the national average (85.4%).

The proportion of South Bucks' population represented by the BAME community is 16%. This is just slightly above the national average (14.6%)

Local authority

Since 2013, through a Joint Strategic Partnership, Chiltern and South Bucks district councils have operated under the auspices of a shared services agreement based upon the objective to streamline service provision across the area while enabling each council to maintain its own identity. As a consequence, all strategic plans produced cover both authorities.

Their Joint Strategic Partnership Strategy: A Business Plan for Chiltern and South Bucks District Councils (2016-2020) sets out the stated aim to improve the quality of life for everyone across both area. This is to be achieved via.

1. Delivery of cost-effective, customer-focused services.
2. Working towards safer and healthier local communities.
3. Striving to conserve the environment whilst also promoting sustainable economic growth.

To improve the health of local communities, the Joint Strategic Partnership is committed to ensuring that all leisure provision provides for the future.

The joint Chiltern and South Bucks District Playing Pitch Strategy is currently being updated, with no official timescale as to its completion.

It should be noted that Aylesbury Vale, Chiltern, Wycombe, and South Bucks district councils will merge in April 2020 to become one unitary authority; Buckinghamshire Council. When this plan for South Bucks is refreshed, it will be merged/combined with the other authority LFFPs to create one overarching plan.

County football association

South Bucks is covered by the Berks and Bucks 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). There is no active CCO in South Bucks.

Local leisure operator

GLL is the key leisure operator in South Bucks. It currently runs two key sites; Evreham Sports Centre and The Beacon Sports Centre. There is a small sided recreational 3G FTP at Evreham Sports Centre.

Local consultation

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

• South Bucks District Council
• A number of local clubs- see appendix
• A range schools- see appendix

(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. South Bucks has a total of 155 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 South Bucks, seven clubs have more than 10 registered teams. These (based upon 2018-19 affiliations) are:

• Beaconsfield Town Youth - 15 teams
• Burnham Juniors - 27 teams
• Delaford Colts - 12 teams
• George Green Juniors - 14 teams
• Gerrards Cross & Fulmer - 25 teams
• St James - 16 teams
• Taplow Utd Youth - 11 teams

Leagues

Seven leagues cater for clubs and teams in South Bucks. They offer competitive opportunities for many different players, including women and girls, youth and adults. While there is no specific league opportunity for disability in South Bucks, suitable provision is made in Oxford. The largest local leagues (2018-19) include:

• South Bucks Mini Soccer Conference – 288 teams– home and away
• Wycombe & South Bucks Minor Football League – 233 teams– home and away
• Thames Valley Football Development League – 170 teams– home and away.

The County FA reports some cross boundary migration in South Bucks primarily due to teams migrating inwards to play from the Wycombe and Slough authorities..

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 South Bucks there is no 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. South Bucks has two FA Wildcats girls football centres and the priority is to grow this activity.

At seven, South Buck’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 Bucks Girls League in which matches are played on a home and away basis. It expects to grow provision in future years. The local adult female league is the Thames Valley Counties Women’s Football League. It too plays matches on a home and away basis also expects to grow its provision in future years.

For talented players, the most local FA Regional Talent Club (RTC) is Reading FC. 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 Reading FC Women 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 Burnham Grammar School.

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.

Three futsal teams in South Bucks currently play in the Wycombe Futsal League. It is a priority for the County FA to grow futsal further for youth 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 is currently one FA Just Play centre in South Bucks. Walking football sessions are delivered by a range of community organisation such as GLL. Walking football and Just Play are County FA priorities for further growth and development.

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 South Bucks is played particularly in the north and south of the local authority. Richings Park and Beaconsfield Leisure Centre are key, well-used, site locations.

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

1. Disability football
2. Adult male player retention
3. Youth female to adult pathway

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

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 South Bucks. 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 is reviewed applying a standard approach, supplemented by input from consultation with local partners and stakeholder organisations.

While investment priorities are 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.

South Bucks has one current full-sized (11 v 11) 3G FTP located at Burnham Grammar School. The surface of this pitch has recently been replaced and is of good quality. There is also one small-sided 3G FTP facility at Burnham Park Academy 7v7 FTP (0.5).

A 3G FTP is planned (without funding from the Football Foundation) at Burnham Football Club. The Club has submitted a planning application to upgrade its grass stadia pitch to 3G. It currently plays in Step 3 and runs 35 teams. Should planning permission be granted, the FTP will be installed in Summer 2020, in anticipation of the new season. Although this will increase supply in the town of Burnham, it may also have an impact on the sustainability of the existing facility at the Grammar School.

As the Chiltern and South Bucks PPS is being updated, it was agreed to calculate the shortfall of 3G FTPs using the latest FA training demand model (1:38). Based on the latest affiliation data (226 teams), there is a shortfall of six 3G FTPs. The advent of the new facility at Chiltern Hills Academy will reduce the shortfall to five full sized 3G FTPs.

On the basis that there are currently 152 teams in South Bucks there is an overall requirement for four full-sized 3G FTPs. Taking account of all three sites listed above (including the Burnham FC proposal), there is a present shortfall of 2.5 full sized 3G FTPs and an anticipated shortfall of 1.5.

Both existing 3G FTP sites listed above are available for community use and Burnham Grammar School is on the FA Register for 3G FTPs (meaning it is quality checked and can be used for football match play). It is strongly recommended that the small-sided venue is assessed and placed on the Register to enable more match play on 3G.

The geographic spread of existing facilities is uneven; with key areas of population lacking facilities including Farnham and Beaconsfield and it is recommended that this is addressed.

Local consultation supports the contention that there is a lack of facilities in key areas; presently have to access, as an alternative, facilities in the neighbouring authorities of Slough and Wycombe.

Three priority projects for potential investment are identified; two new full sized 3G FTPs, and one small sided project.

This LFFP lists an additional full size 3G FTP project over and above the current shortfall position of 1.5 FTPs. The justification, as identified by local consultation, is to ensure that all key local areas (such as Beaconsfield), each of which has strong levels of affiliated football, have adequate provision. The aim is to provide a balanced distribution of 3G FTPs to support current and future affiliated demand.

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 15 grass pitch sites in South Bucks with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three pitches but deemed to be of strategic importance). These contain 42 grass pitches. Of these, eight are considered to have good quality pitches and seven have either standard or poor quality pitches.

Of the 15 key pitch sites referenced above it was determined that seven should be prioritised. This will result in quality improvements to 25 pitches:

Seven priority projects for potential investment are identified. Pitch quality rating was evidenced by the PPS and ratified by local consultation. Prioritisation was based on a rationale of selecting sites with pitches that are in poor/standard condition that are, or offer potential to be well-utilised and reflect the local strategic priority to support affiliated football.

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 15 key grass pitch sites in South Bucks with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three but deemed to be of strategic importance), 11 have suitable changing rooms, three require improvement/replacement and one has no facility and requires a new pavilion.

Four priority projects for 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.

Local consultation confirms potential opportunity for MUGA investment: Beacon Sports Centre is located in a deprived area and a small recreational facility linked to the Centre would provide an option at which support could be offered to the local community.

Local consultation reveals that no parks or open green spaces presently 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:

• South Bucks Authority- Leisure & Community Manager
• South Bucks Authority- Active Communities Officer
• Beaconsfield Town- Club Secretary
• Taplow United - Club Secretary
• Taplow United Youth - Club Secretary
• George Green Juniors - Club Secretary
• Gerrard Cross & Fulmer - Club Secretary
• Beckinsfield High School - Club Secretary