Policy information sourced from the Hillingdon Local Plan: Part 1

EM5: Sport and Leisure

The Council will:

  • Safeguard, enhance and extend the network of sport and leisure spaces that meet local community needs and facilitate active lifestyles by providing active sport and leisure spaces within walking distance of home.
  • Ensure that the overall borough-wide target, identified in the Open Space Strategy, of active sport and leisure facilities with unrestricted access is maintained. There will be a presumption against any net loss of active sport and leisure facilities in the borough.
  • Ensure that future development includes features that designs activity into areas, providing opportunities for improved cycle ways, formal and/or informal local sports facilities, to encourage participation in a more active lifestyle.
  • Adopt a flexible approach to the provision of facilities that recognises changing demographics in the population and trends in sports participation.
  • Ensure that sufficient children’s play space is provided to support proposals for new residential development, in accordance with national and local guidance.
  • Promote Hillingdon’s sport and leisure facilities to achieve more integrated public accessibility and active lifestyles.
  • Identify where appropriate new opportunities for sport and leisure and measures to deliver them. Major development may be required to make contributions in order to minimise the impacts and pressures on the existing resource.

Implementation of Policy EM5 - how we will achieve this

The Council will implement Policy EM5 by:

  • Identifying areas deficient of sport, recreation and leisure space, where new developments will be expected to make contributions towards new or improved facilities, or to secure public access to private facilities within the locality of the development.
  • Protecting playing fields and recreational spaces and promoting opportunities for participation in outdoor sport and leisure.
  • Protecting and improving habitats and ecosystems throughout the borough and to areas beyond, by maintaining existing trees and native vegetation (adaptable to climate change) and open spaces and providing new areas of tree and woodland cover (including the linking of existing fragmented areas) for the benefit of wildlife in accordance with the local Biodiversity Action Plan.
  • Managing development to resist the loss of sport and leisure facilities.

Monitoring of Policy EM5 - how we will measure success

  • Increase in the area of land open for sport and leisure.
  • Increase in the area of new sport and leisure space, in areas identified in the Open Space Strategy as deficient.
  • Review quality and accessibility of sport and leisure facilities borough-wide.
  • Review the quality of sport and leisure information in the Open Space Assessment submitted with planning applications.
  • Number of applications refused on play, sport or leisure grounds.
  • Active People KPI 1 (NI8) - At least 3 days a week x 30 minutes moderate participation (all adults).
  • Active People KPI 2 - At least 1 hour a week volunteering to support sport (all adults).
  • NI6 Participation in regular volunteering.
  • NI57 Participation in School PE & Sport and the take up and range of opportunities developed that contribute to the 5 hour offer.

For more information please see the Local Plan: Part 1