Letchworth Sports Hub Planning Report

This report provides a detailed plan for the development of a new sports hub in Letchworth Garden City. It examines the existing sports facilities, analyzes the town's population demographics and sporting needs, and identifies key issues and challenges. The report considers the impact on the green belt, accessibility, car parking, and the sustainability of the new facility. It also explores the involvement of private clubs and schools in the project. Recommendations are made for the long-term financial sustainability and operational strategy of the sports hub, emphasizing the importance of collaboration with stakeholders and alignment with relevant government policies. The report concludes by highlighting the potential economic and social benefits of the project, including job creation and improved community health and well-being.

Letchworth garden city sports hub supplementary planning

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Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................2
Existing sports Context site..........................................................................................................................3
Facilities in Letchworth................................................................................................................................4
Issues & options..........................................................................................................................................6
Facilities provided....................................................................................................................................6
 Population...................................................................................................................................6
 Sports facilities calculator............................................................................................................7
 Facilities planning model.............................................................................................................8
Involvement of private clubs...................................................................................................................8
 Fear hell sports centers................................................................................................................8
 Letchworth settlement................................................................................................................9
 North Hertfordshire Leisure Centre.............................................................................................9
 St. Christopher School.................................................................................................................9
 St. Francis College......................................................................................................................10
 The high field school..................................................................................................................10
Green belt zone & other concern..........................................................................................................10
Accessibility & car parking.....................................................................................................................11
 Medium & long term objectives................................................................................................12
Sustainability of new facility..................................................................................................................12
 Central government policy guidance.........................................................................................12
 East of England plan...................................................................................................................12
 North Hertfordshire District local plan.......................................................................................13
Recommendations.....................................................................................................................................13
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................14
References.................................................................................................................................................16
Appendix...................................................................................................................................................18

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Introduction
In this present paper, we will discuss the planning report in order to develop the sports club in
the town of Letchworth garden city. There is a strong provision of local sporting facilities in the
town which is located in the Letchworth Garden city. It includes various costs of maintenance
such as open air pool maintenance, poor condition of private clubs facilities, long-term future of
North Herts Leisure center and others. The site for the sports club has been identified at Baldock
road in Letchworth, and the stakeholders will be shortly identified in order to support the
development of sports club in the town. The paper also describes the context site, existing sports
club facilities, issues such as facilities provided, the involvement of private clubs, green belt &
other concern, accessibility and car parking, and sustainability of the new facility. On the basis of
analyzing the current situation, the recommendations and conclusion have been made. The
Letchworth Garden city is one of the new towns which were started in the year 1903 in
Hertfordshire, UK and it is considered as an example for the urban planning with the economic
sustainability and community management. The population of Letchworth town is approximately
33,600, and the name of the town has come from the three villages which are surrounded the city
(Rutherford et al., 2014). The aim of the report is to provide the insight to the foundation in order
to overcome the challenges which came in the development of sports club. The aim of
developing sports club in the town is to provide the sports facilities, and it also contributes
towards the development of the town. The foundation has committed towards the long term
ambition for the sports village which provides the supports of economic development and heath
of the people in the town. The project includes long-term commitment of funds through various
fund agencies, sponsors, and stakeholders who are interested in contributing towards the

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development of sports club in the town. Currently the sports club provides various facilities such
as 75 station fitness gym and studios, sports hub parking provision, grass junior and senior
football pitches, relevant changes provision and others. The new facilities in the sports club
enable to support the long-term future of North Herts Leisure center.
Existing sports Context site
 The location of the sports club has been selected which is at the Baldock road site, and it
is located at the eastern edge of the Letchworth Garden city. The location is surrounded
by the employment area to the north, the School fields, and there is the Quinnway
residential area at the south western area, and its edges are covered by the greenbelt zone.
 According to the North Hertfordshire local plan (2011-2031) the total area of 34.5 acres
of the Baldock road site is mainly for the development of Letchworth Sports club which
includes the sports ground and the North Herts leisure center comes under the district
boundary towards the North Herts leisure center and the remaining area comes under the
greenbelt zone which includes Letchworth Garden city Rugby club (Lewis et al., 2015).
 The principles and policies for the development of particular site are developed by the
North Herefordshire District council (Council et al., 2015).
 All the development sites are explained in the report, and the development foundation in
Letchworth city has determined the capabilities for the development of sports club, and
later the stakeholders are identified in order to provide the funding for the development of
sports club. The sports club will collaborate with the local club, but there are various
challenges which come in the development of sports club such as facilities provided,
impact of sports club development in the greenbelt zone and its acceptance according to

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the policy terms, proposed solution for the various issues for example car parking,
accessibility, and safety methods in order to provide the sustainable development.
Facilities in Letchworth
 The facilities in the North Hertfordshire Leisure Centre on the Baldock road are operated
by the Stevenage Leisure ltd. The conventional facility mix is provided by the leisure
center such as sports hall, leisure pool, four squash court, gym and studios which are used
by the various local community and clubs. In the medium term, the leisure center is
required to be replaced. There are various types of pitches which consist of the leisure
center, namely, six more playing field, recreation ground of Baldock road, and
Letchworth garden city RUFC (Bayulken et al., 2015).
 Leisure center: The total space of the leisure center is approximately 4500 sqm. It
includes the mix of sports facilities.
 Football club: It includes five junior and three full-size pitches. The standard set
includes the maximum provision of eighty-three spaces which includes the reduction of
25% spaces.
 Rugby club: It includes two junior and five full-size pitchers. The standard for the full-
size pitch is thirty spaces, and fifteen for junior pitch and the maximum provision is one
hundred twenty-four spaces.
 Cricket: The plan for the cricket club is one of the earliest plans in the town which is
developed within two years, and the club has moved to the former ICL sports filed in
Whitethorn lean in the year 1996 which moved into the junior section thereafter. The

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growth of the club leads to develop the second ground in the year 2006, and it is the
restored former Fairfield hospital cricket ground in the Arlesey (Falk et al., 2017).
 Hockey
There are adults and women teams which are run by the Letchworth hockey club, and the
women's 1st has entered into the women's national premier league. There are various bowl
clubs which are opened in the town. Namely, Norton bowls club, whitethorn bowl club,
will bowl club, and Howard garden. The home of Letchworth croquet club and tennis
club has its home in the Muddy lane, namely, Letchworth sports and tennis club.
 Rugby
The oldest rugby club was developed in the year 1926, and it is one of the oldest clubs in
the country. The rugby club provides the facility of rugby to the people in the area of
Letchworth.
 Swimming
The first outdoor pool in the town was developed in the year 1908, and it was replaced by
other pool, namely, Lido on Norton Common in the year 1935. The Letchworth Amateur
swimming club was developed in the year 1932, and it was used as the public indoor pool
as well as the lido, and it was opened in the year 1980 as the part of North Herts Leisure
Center. The home of Letchworth, roller hockey club, is leisure center which was the
winner of national division champion in the year 2008-09 (Simon et al., 2016). The
swimming is the outdoor pool activity which enables to provide the health benefits to the
people in the society.
 There are total twelve sites, namely, Baldock road, grange recreation ground, grange
central, hill brow, Howard park and gardens, Jackman's creamery floodlit MUGA,

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Jackman's central, Linnet close, Norton commons, Oak tree close, temple gardens and
Wilbury Recreation ground. There are various facilities which are provided in the sites,
namely, basketball court, football, youth shelter, wheeled sports facility, play area,
Bowling Green, BMX gravel track, exercise zone, archer's way, and others. The existing
facilities need to be improved in order to develop the long-term future of the North Herts
Leisure center. The improvement in the existing facilities enables to contribute towards
the economic development of the town.
Issues & options
Facilities provided
 Population
The total population of the Letchworth Garden city is dividing into five wards. The largest
population is located in the South East ward, and the smallest density of population is in the
Letchworth Wilbury region. The total population comprises of 17.5% in Letchworth east, 22.8%
in Letchworth southeast, 15.7% in Letchworth Wilbury, 21.4% in Letchworth grange sand
22.6% in the Letchworth southwest. A large number of population is aging, and the very little
population lies under the age group of 16-44 years. There is the growing elderly population
which is placing the demand of crematorium and cemetery provision. The average population of
age group (20-45 years) in approximately 30% in England whereas there is less population of 20-
45 years. The population under the age group of 16-64 years is approximately 3.35% (Corte et al.,
2013).

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The above graphical representation of population distribution shows that the majority of a
population is in the age group of 30-44 years. There are more females as a comparison to men in
the total population. The majority of the population lies under the age group of 18-64 years.
 Sports facilities calculator
The sports facilities calculator is developed by the sports England for the convenience of local
planning authorities in order to determine the demand for additional sports facilities according to
the increase in the population. The demand is generated by the regeneration area, new growth,
and development.
The sports facilities calculator is used to determine the whole demand by the North
Herefordshire district council in order to figure out the facilities subsequently used by the

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population. It does not include spatial dimension due to which it cannot be used for strategic gap
analysis. The sports facilities calculator does not reflect the attractiveness of facilities, facility
location as compare to the demand, cross-boundary movement of demand, capacity and
availability of facilities, travel networks and topography and attractiveness of facilities.
 Facilities planning model
The facilities planning model is mainly used by the sports England in order to determine the
demand and supply of sports hall accommodation. The sports England strategic assessment data
is used by the sports England in order to determine the requirement of sports hall provision in
North Hertfordshire. The model is very sensitive, and it includes various factors such as quality,
opening hours, management and others in order to determine the relationship between the
demand and supply. The financial planning model includes sports halls of three courts and small
sports halls. All the facilities are taken into account by the model which fits into the model.
Involvement of private clubs
 Fearhill sports centers
It is the duel site which is used by the Fearhill School as well, The Fearhill school is run by the
Herefordshire country council, and the indoor facilities are managed on the weekends and
evenings by the SLL. The outdoor facilities are not contracted with SLL. The revenue which is
generated from the community is paid to SLL. The school has also paid for the facilities of
breakages and refurbishment to the SLL (Roberts et al., 2016). The sports hall also vanishes, and
new lightings are installed in the year 2012. The nets of crickets are also available at the sports
center.

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 Letchworth settlement
The independent adult education center is the Letchworth settlement which is used by the special
interest groups such as history, poetry, dance, guitar, wine appreciation society, embroidery, and
others. The hall is used for the special events which enable to provide the special activities in the
town.
 North Hertfordshire Leisure Centre
The local facility of the authority is being operated by the SLL since the year 2005. Further, the
floors of the sports hall need a replacement. Also, lightening is also required to be replaced as it
is not present in the courts of the badminton. Moreover, the operator ensures that the 50 percent
of the space is available for the use of casualty. The groups of bowls are operated form the center
of the local community (Culpin, E. G. 2015). These sessions include the courses and the sessions
for gymnastics and trampolining. Furthermore, the sessions for roller hockey are not provided
due to the space of sports hall.
 St. Christopher School
It is the school for the children with age group 3 to 18 years. Furthermore, it is being observed
that the school is showing great commitment to the use of community, but there is not an
agreement for the usage of formal community in the particular place. The school wants the
community because it provides adequate sports facilities to the children in order to explore their
potential and the capabilities. Furthermore, it is essential that the school come up with the
agreement which will help the sports hub to be developed at a faster rate will attain sustainability
and will further help the children to create a better future in sports.

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 St. Francis College
It is the day-boarding college/school for the girls of age group 3 to 18 years which is being
operated by a Trust. Further, the hall is made available, and it is being used by the community at
present. The bookings are operated by the site manager. It is essential for the college to show the
commitment towards the development of sports hub which will help the community to maximize
the profitability by offering high-quality sports services.
 The high field school
It is the school of the local authority. Further, the school requires restructuring under the
development program of the school. But, the existing hall of the sports will be retained.
Furthermore, the community will be available in order to use for the evenings of week days only.
Moreover, the services will be accessed by a caretaker, and the nets of the cricket will be made
available (James, T. 2013). The basketball club if Hitchin and Herts will be adequately used.
Also, the halls of the activity will be demolished and will be restructured again, and the hall of
the sports will remain the same. This school has also not given the agreement for the formal
usage of the community.
Green belt zone & other concern
It is essential to seek the permission for the zone of greenbelt in order to use the land effectively
and further develop the sports hub to accomplish the long term and the medium term goals and
objectives. Furthermore, the permission will help in modernizing the facilities for providing
outdoor facilities of sports, and the green belt's openness will be maintained (Amati, M. (Ed.).
(2016). It is stated that the sports hub will include the development of the buildings after the
demolition and it will will require various elements like lighting in the courts of tennis, adequate

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space for the roller hockey, etc. in order to attain the sustainability by offering high-quality
sports facilities to the children through the formal agreement with the nearby schools and the
colleges. Further, it will be essential for the sports hub in order to ensure that the zone of the
green belt is not being impacted adversely by the speed of the traffic, crossings, safety enclosure,
etc. for the informal use of the leisure by determining the experience of quality to a great extent.
Furthermore, the sports hub will safeguard and will further ensure to improve the network of
parks, heritage and natural characteristics to offer multi-functional integrated open-space with
the distinct opportunities of leisure which will be beneficial for the garden of Letchworth.
Moreover, the permission of the zone of green belt will help the preventing the towns from the
mergers, the unrestricted sprawl of the newly developed areas will be monitored and controlled,
the generation of urbanization will be encouraged, and the country-side will be protected from
the encroachment. Therefore, it is essential for the sports hub to seek the permission of the zone
of green belt in order to attain the competitive advantage and the sustainability by offering
adequate sports facilities to the children.
Accessibility & car parking
It is being suggested that the facility must be relied on the parking space of a single car along
with the 15 sq. external space of the floor. The standards are being applied to the center of
Leisure which shows the maximized provision of approximately 300 spaces. As the site lies
within the lowest zone, it is suggested that the reduction of around 25 percent should be applied
for the overall maximized provision. Furthermore, reducing the space of 300 by 25 percent will
further lead to the provision of approximately 220 spaces for the parking of cars. Currently, 168
spaces for the car parking are available in the center of Leisure which is underneath the
maximized provision. Moreover, Letchworth will maximize the space for cycling and walking by