Local Football Facility Plan Wealden

Wealden is located in the South East region. The current population of the Authority (ONS 2016 Mid-Year Estimate) is 157,575. This is expected to rise to 188,750 by 2039.

Wealden is the largest and most rural district in the County of East Sussex, covering some 835 square kilometres. 55% of the district population reside in the urban areas of Hailsham, Crowborough, Uckfield, Heathfield, Polegate and Willingdon, with the remainder dustributed across the districts small rural settlements.

The emerging Wealden Local Plan includes the South Wealden Growth Area (SWGA) where 58% of predicted residential growth (8,206 dwellings) will take place. The SWGA includes the parishes of Hellingly, Hailsham, Polegate and Westham.

Wealden’s ethnic composition is primarily white (97.5%). This is substantially higher than the national average (85.4%).

The proportion of Wealden’s population represented by the BAME community is 2.5%. This is well below the national average (14.6%).

An overview of health and wellbeing in Wealden highlights issues with relative low workplace wages, a high proportion of elderly residents and areas of rural and urban deprivation, as well as rural isolation.

Although the area is well served by Council commissioned leisure centres, there is little choice in the area for paid leisure pursuits that would normally be represented in larger towns. There is need to improve the opportunities available to those who do not have the income to access such leisure facilities, or the ability to obtain access through public transport.

Local authority

Wealden Distict Council’s Corporate Plan 2015 – 2019 sets out the direction and priorities for the next four years. Wealden Council’s priorities cover three themes:

• Communities
• Environment
• Local economy

The Corporate Plan supports wellbeing and the notion of resilience through its vision which is to continue to work with partners to support engaged resilient, active communities. Specific aims within the ‘communities’ section include to:

• Help build strong, more self-reliant communities
• Work with partners to help Wealden residents become healthier

The Authority Playing Pitch Strategy was adopted in 2018. The key findings and stated overarching priorities are to address pitch configurations to better meet the demands of youth and mini football, improve pitch quality to increase carrying capacity, look at options for additional grass provision to accommodate both current and future predicted demand (in particular within Crowborough, Uckfield, Wadhurst and the South Wealden Growth Area) and to increase provision of 3G FTPs to meet both training demand and match play requirements.

County football association

Wealden is covered by the Sussex County FA which provides governance 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 club community organisations (CCOs)

These offer a variety of programmes and services to support local communities (sporting and non-sporting). There is currently no CCO active in Wealden.

Local leisure operator

Freedom Leisure is the key leisure operator in Wealden. It runs four key sites providing facilities including sports centres and 3G FTPs. The majority of grass pitch provision in Wealden is managed by town and parish councils.

Local consultation

This has taken place with a broad and diverse set of community groups in Wealden. 16 individuals (representing 15 local organisations) were spoken to. Agencies consulted include:

• Beacon Academy
• Bedes School
• Hailsham Town Council
• Hailsham Active
• Polegate Town Council
• Uckfield Town Council

Clubs

There are over 91,000 community football teams in England, spread over an expansive network of clubs and leagues. Wealden has a total of 201 teams, which is comparable to local areas of a similar size and composition.

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 Wealden, eight clubs have more than ten registered teams. These (based upon 2018-19 affiliation data) are:

• AFC Uckfield Colts -10 teams
• Broad oak & Horam Junior - 16teams
• Crowborough Athletic - 25 teams
• Forest Row Junior - 11 teams
• Hailsham United - 15 teams
• Jarvis Brook Juniors - 15 teams
• Rotherfield Junior - 11 teams
• Wadhurst United Juniors - 10 teams

Five leagues operate in Wealden. They offer competitive opportunities for many different players, including women and girls, youth and adults. There are no specific league opportunities for disability football within Wealden, with the nearest suitable provision being located in Adur.

Wealden largest local leagues (2018-19) include:

• Crowborough & District Junior Football League – 441 teams – home and away
• Horsham & District Youth Football League – 265 teams – home and away

The County FA reports some cross boundary migration to / from Wealden primarily due to the fact that leagues cover more than one local authority area.

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 Wealden 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 girl’s 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. Wealden has two FA Wildcats girls’ football centres and the priority is to grow this activity.

At five, Wealden’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 clubs to develop playing opportunities for females. The local girls’ league is the Sussex County Women & Girls Football 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 also the Sussex County Women & Girls Football League.

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

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 & 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:

• Power Play – Uckfield Leisure Centre
• Soccer Sixes – Uckfield Leisure 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 Futsal is available across the country.

There are currently no futsal teams in Wealden. It is a priority for the County FA to grow Futsal 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 are currently no FA Just Play centres in Wealden. Walking football sessions are delivered by Freedom Leisure. Walking football and Just Play have been prioritised by the County FA for further growth and development. Other local recreational football programmes include Man vs Fat which is delivered by a range of organisations.

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).

Within Wealden there are reportedly lower than average levels of informal football.

The key strengths of local football in Wealden includes youth provision and it is recommended that this is sustained and also encouraged to grow further. However, there are aspects of football provision that lower than local authorities of a similar size, these include disability and female.

It is therefore recommended that the future football development priorities for Wealden are:

1. Introduce Flexi Football including Walking Football
2. Grow Female Football
3. Grow Disability Football
4. Introduce Youth Futsal
5. Introduce FA Mars Just Play

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

In addition, 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 Wealden. 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 inline with four investment priorities:

1. 3G FTPs
2. Improved grass pitches
3. Changing room pavilions / clubhouses
4. 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.

FA data states that there is currently one full-sized (11v11) 3G FTP in Wealden. This means that there is a shortfall of four full sized FTPs relative to assessed demand.

The 3G FTP in Wealden is located at Uckfield Leisure Centre. It is available for community use and is on the FA Register for 3G FTPs (meaning it is quality checked and can be used for football match play). It is strongly recommend that any 3G FTPs developed going forward are also assessed and placed on the Register to enable more match play on 3G.

On the basis of the current provision, the geographic spread of existing facilities is inevitably limited. The one existing 3G FTP is located in the west of the local authority area. This means that there are facilities/provision gaps in the north, south and central areas despite there being settlements with substantial levels of population, as well as localised areas of deprivation. It is recommended that these gaps are addressed.

The issues faced in relation to low availability and the long travel distances to play on 3G are clear and it is recommended that they are addressed.

Five priority projects (four full-sized and one small-sided) for potential investment have been identified. An undersupply of four pitches was calculated using the FA 3G FTP demand and supply model. Two potential locations have been identified in the Hailsham area (presented as an either or option). Further exploration (potentially including feasibility studies), will be required to determine the best location for a 3G FTP in Hailsham.

Each site was selected by local partners based on a rationale of good access, a relatively high local population and geographic spread as well as taking into account locally significant deprivation and the distribution of people from lower social economic groups.

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 standard 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.

Often 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.

PitchFinder indicates that there are currently ten grass pitch sites in Wealden with three or more full-size pitch equivalents; these contain 56 grass pitches. In addition, three sites; Wolfe Recreation Ground, West Park and Sparrows Green Recreation Ground have two full-size grass pitch equivalents and are considered to be strategically important. There is also a potential new site in the South Wealden Growth Area, which has been included as a key grass pitch site in the following infographic.

13 of the 14 key sites (the ones which currently exist) are considered to have standard quality pitches.

Local consultation highlights issues with regard to quality and limited availability due to high demand. It is recommended that these are addressed.

Pitch quality was evidenced by PPS and qualified by local partners. Due to significant number of grass pitch sites in Wealden local partners did not select all sites; ten priority projects for potential investment are identified (containing 36 full-size pitch equivalents). Prioritisation was informed by local partners based upon a rationale of selecting sites with the most pitches, that were currently or potentially best-utilised and were of strategic importance.

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 14 sites which have three or more full-size pitch equivalents, or are considered to be strategically important, 12 have suitable changing room pavilions / clubhouses, two have facilities that need improvement / replacement. South Wealden Growth Area is yet to be developed, and as such will require a new changing pavilion.

Three priority projects for potential investment have been 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 reveals there are no indoor facilities that require improvement to develop small-sided football. This is partly attributed to small sided formats of football such as Futsal being exported to neighboring authorities, where leagues and sessions are already established.

No potential opportunities for MUGAs have been identified in Wealden. Moving forward, the rationale for the identification for any sites in future will be based upon sites being in areas with a significant population, limited green space, locally high levels of deprivation and where they can cater for people from lower social economic groups. Sport England recreational football mapping suggests that in Wealden there are no ‘hotspot’ areas in terms of recreational football.

Following local consultation, no locations are identified to support small-sided informal football. Here, the rationale is based on highly popular local parks and open green spaces with suitable space/areas to increase informal football.

• CEO - Active Sussex
• Secretary - AFC Uckfield Colts
• Headteacher - Beacon Academy
• Director of Sport - Bedes School
• Club Secretary - Crowborough Athletic FC
• Chartered Standard Co-Ordinator - Forest Row Junior Football Club
• Freedom Leisure
• Hailsham Active
• Clerk - Hailsham Town Council
• Chair of Strategic Projects Committee - Hailsham Town Council
• Club Secretary - Hailsham Town FC
• Chairman - Jarvis Brook Juniors FC
• Clerk - Polegate Town Council
• Chairman - Uckfield Grasshoppers JFC
• Clerk - Uckfield Town Council
• Community & Regeneration Officer (Health and Wellbeing) - Wealden District Council
• Planning Policy Team - Wealden District Council