Agenda item

This report details sports participation in Hammersmith & Fulham parks, open spaces and leisure facilities.  It addresses the impact on uptake and participation in the light of recent pricing reviews and how the Council can build on the legacy of the 2012 Olympic Games.

The Committee received a report which set out details of sports participation in the borough’s parks, open spaces and leisure facilities in the light of recent pricing reviews.

Members noted details of sports booking policies and procedures, local sports facilities and current usage and pricing levels. The general trends pointed towards an increase in participation for most sports and at most venues. This was due to competitive and regularly benchmarked pricing, improvements in the grounds maintenance contract which improved playing surfaces and allowed more usage, enhanced floodlight provision and the impact of the Olympic Games.

There had also been a significant increase in the amount of school usage with many local schools dependant upon public parks and open spaces. Members observed that demand at Ravenscourt Park in particular was reaching challenging levels and enquired about measures to protect general public access. It was noted that all schools had been surveyed in connection with their sporting requirements in order to identity areas of conflict across each term. This had highlighted extremely high demand for all weather pitches in the afternoons and few gaps for other users. Two new netball courts had been marked out on the existing Ravenscourt Park tennis courts to relieve demand, with potential to provide additional facilities at Wormholt Park and Hammersmith Park.

Efforts were also being made to relocate school activities to currently underused locations such as Lillie Road Recreation Ground, although it was recognised that the cost and time of transportation would be obstacles. It was noted that the Linford Christie Outdoor Sports Centre also had capacity to accommodate higher levels of usage although some schools were put off by the conditions of the facility and travel costs. In response to questions from Members it was reported that differential pricing in the form of peak and off peak charges were already used to manage demand but there was scope to see if more could be done to encourage use during quiet periods. Attempts had been made to encourage schools with playing fields to share their facilities with some limited success.

The Committee expressed some concern at the possibility of incremental development on parks and open spaces in response to school demands for changing rooms and other associated facilities. Councillor Greg Smith, Cabinet Member for Residents Services, emphasised that there was no intention to lose utilised open space for these purposes. It was expected that existing structures or dead space would be used.

Officers reported that a greater emphasis was now being placed on addressing schools which currently refused to book and pay for their usage of the parks and open spaces. Sports Officers and the Parks Constabulary were now recording and reporting unbooked usage.

The Committee requested that a more detailed report be brought forward on the schools use of parks, containing data on the position at each individual park and the charges applied.

Members noted the barriers to sports participation which included work commitments, financial constraints, the lack of family based activities and limited awareness of the opportunities and facilities. A number of potential improvements had been identified with a view to improving the service and customer experience including the introduction of an online booking system and additional floodlighting to improve participation in the darker winter months.

Finally, the Committee received details of the Olympic legacy projects intended to encourage greater sporting participation and regular physical activity amongst priority groups and in those wards with the highest level of lifestyle related illnesses and the lowest levels of participation. These included redevelopment of the hard court facility at Ravenscourt Park, the delivery of a Sportivate programme targeted at 14-25 year olds who did little sport and work with charities to attract funding for new sport opportunities for residents with disabilities.

RESOLVED that -

a report be submitted to a future meeting setting out details of the usage of parks and open spaces by schools.