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Playing fields
Playing fields provide a vital recreational resource for schools and local communities and a number of strong measures have been put forward because too many have been lost in the past and grassroots sport has suffered as a result.
The Government has dramatically reduced the overall number of sales of both school and community playing fields.
Some of the policy measures used to protect playing fields are as follows:
- State schools are required to seek the consent of the Secretary of State (SoS) for Education and Skills (DfES) for the sale or development of playing fields they own. Applications are considered by the DfES School Playing Fields Advisory Panel, which includes representatives of the National Playing Fields Association (NPFA), National Association of Headteachers and the Central Council for Physical Recreation
- Sport England is statutory consultee on all planning applications affecting playing fields, land used as playing fields, or land allocated for use as playing fields in a current development plan. Sport England's policy is founded upon presumption against loss, except in exceptional circumstances.
Government policy is protecting playing fields - 90% of planning applications referred to Sport England were either not detrimental to sport, or did not proceed.
The vast majority of disposals do not harm local sports provision, since they are in the main disused, replaced elsewhere in the area, or their sale enhances sports facilities through the building of a pavilion, sports hall or the like.
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