Policy information sourced from the Havering Local Plan

18 Open space, sports and recreation

The Council seeks to ensure that all residents of Havering have access to high quality open space, sports and recreation facilities. To achieve this, the Council will:

  • Continue to protect the borough’s designated open spaces and existing sports and recreation facilities from development unless it can be demonstrated that:
    • Replacement provision of equivalent or better quantity and quality will be made in a suitable location; or
    • The development is for alternative sports and recreational provision and the need for this clearly outweighs the loss.
  • Support proposals that improve the quality of and access to, existing open space, sports and recreation facilities;
  • Promote the multi-functional and community use of existing and proposed spaces including schools, private sports facilities, playing pitches and supporting facilities through Community Use Agreements;
  • Support proposals for new multi-functional open space, sports and recreation facilities that address areas of deficiency;
  • Support proposals to bring lapsed or disused playing fields back into use;
  • Require developments to provide children’s play and informal recreation space on-site in line with the London Plan;
  • Support development proposals that include communal growing space as part of the amenity provision on site;
  • Seek to ensure that adequate management and maintenance arrangements are in place from the outset; and
  • Support improvements to the borough’s sports and recreation facilities in line with the recommendations in the Indoor Sport and Leisure Facilities and Outdoor Playing Pitch Strategies 2016 including:
    • The replacement of Hornchurch Leisure Centre; The new centre is currently being constructed and is scheduled to open in September 2020.
    • Provision of a new leisure centre in the south of the borough;
    • Enhanced facilities and a wider range of uses of Bretons Outdoor Recreation Centre;
    • New provision within the Rainham and Beam Park Strategic Development Area; and
    • The provision of new 3G Artificial Grass Pitches (AGPs) and improvements to existing ones within the borough.

Where sufficient provision cannot be made on-site the Council will seek developer contributions to remedy deficiencies in quantity, quality, safety, usability and access to open space, sports and recreation facilities across the Borough.

For more information please see the Havering Local Plan