Local Football Facility Plan South Hams

South Hams is in the South West Region.

The current population of the Authority (ONS 2017 Mid-Year Estimate) is 85,340. This is expected to rise to 90,704 by 2039.

South Hams is ranked 23 out of 37 LAs in the Region, and 210 out of 326 LAs nationally on the Indices of Multiple Deprivation (ONS).

South Ham's ethnic composition is primarily white (98.37%). This is higher than the national average (85.4%).

The proportion of South Ham’s population represented by the BAME community is 1.63%. This is significantly below the national average (14.6%).

Local authority

The Plymouth and South West Devon Joint Local Plan was adopted in March 2019. It sets a shared direction of travel for the long term future of the area, within the context of wider integrated strategic plans, up to the period 2034.

The local authority Playing Pitch Strategy was adopted in 2016 and has not been refreshed. However, a key joint action plan has been updated and managed to help inform the priority projects within the LFFP.

County football association

South Hams is covered by the Devon 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). Argyle Community Trust and Torquay United Community Sports Trust run a variety of health, education, engagement, football and sporting activities within the local area.

Local leisure operator

Fusion Lifestyle is the key leisure operator in South Hams. It currently runs a number of sites including

• Kingsbridge Ouayside Leisure Centre
• Dartmouth Leisure Centre
• Ivybridge Leisure Centre
• Totnes Leisure Centre

Local consultation

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

• Totnes and Dartington SC
• Stoke Gabriel FC
• Ivybridge Town
• Torquay United Community Trust

(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 Hams has a total of 136 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 10-years there has been a significant national increase in the number of large multi-team football clubs. In South Hams, four clubs have more than 10 registered teams. These (based upon 2018-19 affiliation data) are:

• Ivybridge Town - 13 teams
• Stoke Gabriel - 11 teams
• Manstow - 11 teams
• KM United - 10 teams

Leagues

10 leagues cater for clubs and teams in South Hams. They offer competitive opportunities for many different players, including women and girls, disability, youth and adults. The largest of these local leagues (2018-19) include:

• The Devon Junior & Minor League – 415 teams – home and away
• The Pioneer Youth League – 167 teams – home and away
• The Plymouth & West Devon League – 76 teams – home and away
• South Devon Football League – 73 teams – home and away

The County FA reports that there is low level cross boundary migration to/from South Hams. What there is is primarily due to teams migrating inwards as part of play in the Plymouth & West Devon League.

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 Hams there are two football teams / sessions specifically for people with a disability. It is a County FA priority 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 Hams has two FA Wildcats girls football centres and the priority is to sustain this activity.

At six, South Ham’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 Devon County Girls League in which matches are played on a home and away basis. It is expected to grow its provision in future years. The local adult female league is the Devon Women’s League in which matches are also played on a home and away basis - it too is expected to grow its provision in future years.

There is no FA Regional Talent Club (RTC) in Devon, however, the Devon FA Girls Advanced Coaching Centre is located in the Authority. 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 Bristol City 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. A key local providers is Soccer Sixes at the King Edward VI Community Centre.

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 is currently no futsal team in South Hams. It is a priority for the County FA to grow opportunity to play futsal for 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 is currently no FA Just Play Centres nor are there any walking football sessions in South Hams. Walking football and Just Play are County FA priorities for growth and development. Other local recreational football programmes and pro-club community scheme activities are delivered by a range of organisations including Argyle Community Trust and Torquay United Community Sports Trust.

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 Hams is played particularly in the areas of Dartington,Totnes, Modbury and Kingsbridge. Modbury Recreation Ground, Borough Park and Norton Playing Fields are key well-used site locations.

The key strengths of local football in South Hams include youth and adult 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 developed than that in local authorities of a similar size. It is therefore recommended that the future football development priorities for South Hams are

1. 11v11 adult
2. Age appropriate formats of competition in youth
3. Weight-loss/health clubs, walking football & other casual participation
4. Female
5. Disability

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

Priority projects 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 South Hams. 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.

There are three full-sized (11v11) 3G FTPs in South Hams located at:

• Ivybridge Community College
• Ivybridge Rugby Football Club
• Britannia Royal Naval College.

There is also one small-sided 3G FTP located at Ivybridge Community College (39x32m).

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 136 teams in South Hams, there is a requirement for three full sized 3G FTPs. The facility at Ivybridge Community College is available for community use whilst community access to the pitch at Ivybridge Rugby Football Club is very limited and the one at Britannia Royal Naval College offers no community use. There is, thus, a shortfall of two full sized 3G FTPs.

In addition to the shortfall, the full-sized 3G FTP at Ivybridge Community College needs to be replaced. The School is part of a multi-academy trust which has existing Football Foundation grant awards on two of its schools (Plymstock School and Callington Community Sports Centre). Conformation in respect of whether these sites are meeting the terms and conditions of the grants awarded need to be gained before any further investment into the Ivybridge site can be made.

All three full sized 3G FTPs are on the FA Register for 3G FTPs (meaning they are quality checked and can, in theory, be used for football match play).

The Ivybridge 3G FTP services one of the Authority's more densely populated settlements. One potential project is proposed as part of the Sherford development but the complex geography of the South Hams means that other provision gaps still exist. The LFFP steering group agreed that until a refresh of the PPS has been undertaken, not all the potential options to address the remaining shortfall in South Hams should be specifically identified.

Local consultation reveals common issues and concerns about the limited availability of 3G FTP provision and it is important to commission the PPS and identify locations at which this can be addressed.

Three projects for potential investment are identified.

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 eight grass pitch sites in South Hams with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three pitches but deemed to be of strategic importance). These contain 16 grass pitches. Of these, one is considered to offer good quality pitches and seven are deemed to be of standard / poor quality.

Local consultation confirms the issues local clubs face with poor quality grass pitches and it is recommended that this is addressed.

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

Seven priority projects for potential investment are identified based on a rationale of selecting sites in poor condition that are, or offer the potential to be, well utilised for 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 eight key grass pitch sites in South Hams with three or more full-size pitch equivalents (or with fewer than three but deemed to be of strategic importance), four have suitable changing rooms and three require improvement/replacement. One site, The Berry, has no ancillary facilities, however it has been decided not to include it within the priority project list at this time due to the Project's limited football outcomes.

In addition, should a 3G FTP be developed as part of the development of Woolwell / Roborough, new changing provision may be required to support this facility depending on location.

Four 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.

Three potential opportunities for MUGAs are identified. Given the rural nature of the borough, the sites proposed are in areas where they offer the best opportunity to cater for a substantial local population and where there is corresponding high local demand for informal football.

Following local consultation, and assisted by the Sport England Green Spaces Mapping Tool, one location is identified to support small sided informal football. This is a popular local park with suitable space / areas to increase 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:

• Totnes and Dartington SC - Chairman
• Stoke Gabriel FC - Secretary and Chairman
• Ivybridge Town (including youth)
• Manstow Youth (and Veterans)
• Ugborough – Secretary
• East Allington FC – Secretary
• Harbertonford FC – Secretary
• Salcombe Town – Secretary
• Beesands FC – Coach
• Dartmouth AFC – Treasurer
• Modbury Rovers Junior Football Club – Secretary
• Torquay United Community Trust - Community Manager
• Plymouth Argyle Community Trust - Head of Community