Policy CLT9 - Leisure Facilities

Policy is not considered to meet justified or national policy consistency criteria for following reasons:
Lack of robust evidence base to underpin policy. The Rochford Retail and Leisure Study is not considered to accord with guidance in PPG17 with respect to leisure/sports facilities as lack of detailed quantitative audits/assessments of all facilities in district as advocated in PPG17 guidance and assessment dependent on general household survey results rather than local consultation and use of strategic sports/leisure planning tools. Without such evidence base, difficult to justify protection of existing facilities, provision of new facilities and developer contributions.

While the content of this policy is partially supported, there is a concern that no guidance is provided on the criteria for assessing proposals involving new leisure facilities or development affecting existing facilities. Therefore not considered to accord with the soundness criteria relating to effectiveness as difficult to use in development control. Also guidance in PPG17 sets out the considerations for assessing new leisure facilities and proposals affecting existing facilities.

Policy CLT9 The second paragraph should be made more specific, in particular seeking the provision of a swimming pool at the Rayleigh Leisure Centre by means of developer contributions.

National Playing Field status should be sought where possible for playing pitches and recreation grounds

Core Strategy Submission


Thank you for your email of 21 September consulting The Theatres Trust on the Core Strategy Submission.



The Theatres Trust is the national advisory public body for theatres and a statutory consultee on planning applications affecting land on which there is a theatre. This applies to all theatre buildings, old and new, in current use, in other uses, or disused. Established by The Theatres Trust Act 1976 'to promote the better protection of theatres', our main objective is to safeguard theatre use, or the potential for such use but we also provide expert advice on design, conservation, property and planning matters to theatre operators, local authorities and official bodies.



Due to the specific nature of the Trust's remit we are concerned with the protection and promotion of theatres and therefore anticipate policies relating to cultural facilities.



Tests of Soundness

We do not find this document to be sound as it does not reflect your Cultural Strategy which is listed as a District Strategy on page 23, nor do we believe it will be effective.



Reasons

The Core Strategy does not address the issues raised in the Cultural Strategy:



Cultural Strategy page 5 - We have already mentioned that culture effects us all on a daily basis, so it is essential that we do not leave future developments to chance. By creating this strategy and continuing the evaluation and development of the action plans, we can ensure that all gaps in provision, opportunities, demands and aspirations, priorities and partners, are identified and acted upon.



Cultural Strategy page 12 - Lack of cultural facilities in the district was also highlighted, including no specific museum or live music and performance focused space, as well as a frustration regarding the lack of cohesive communication about all opportunities in the district.



Policy CLT9 Leisure Facilities only deals with sport and recreation, according to the accompanying text. Policy CLT6 Community Facilities does not include a description of what facilities are included in the policy and there is not Glossary for the document. It is therefore unclear where the issue of the lack of cultural facilities is attended to in the document. The most likely location for cultural facilities would be Rayleigh Town Centre but its Policy RTC4 only states that an Area Action Plan will provide a range of evening uses. The deferring of development implementations to subsequent planning documents places the reliance on these other documents to make the important decisions. The Core Strategy will set the scene for more detailed guidance but should be able to stand on its own.



The document lacks a clear spatial focus and there are few specifics as to the scale of development, the range and mix of uses, how they relate to each other and the infrastructure necessary to achieve this.



The policies seem to be a set of generalities lacking any real analysis of the area and the key challenges facing the District. The wording of policies needs to be robust and clear because of the way they determine whether or not, and how development can take place.