Yet more green space under threat

I was dismayed to read that the planning inspector is now calling for 3,700 extra homes that are to be built on green field sites in the borough.
As a playing field campaigner, I find it incredible that we are to lose even more green space. In recent years we have seen threats to so many playing fields in the borough. In Acton Community alone there have been threats to fields such as ‘The Nine Acre field, ‘The Groves school site, Rhosnesni Lane Spider Park, Dean Road Playing field, Barkers Lane school playing field and on land at Acton Park, this is despite the fact that Acton Community has a proven deficit in playing provision of over 21 acres.
None of the threats to build on these fields have been for affordable housing, the housing built on Barkers lane school field are the like of which most ‘average’ waged inhabitants of Wrexham can only dream of.
May I remind the inspector that Wrexham LDP aims to protect and enhance areas of open space- outlining on paragraph 6.23 that “any loss of open space which would exacerbate existing deficits of public open space will not be permitted”

The Spider Park demo Sunday 6th February

We had a very successful demo which was held on the Spider Park playing fields, Rhosnesni Lane/Oak Drive Acton Wrexham.

Amongst the 100 local people who attended the demo were-

Community Councillor Mr Bill Baldwin he is also director of Borras Albion football club

Chair of Acton Community Council Mr Brian Kyffin (Acton Community Council have voted against the proposal )

General secretary of Marston's Sunday League Mr Frank Maddocks

Chairman of Borras Park Albion Mr Tom Pierce

Chair of Acton Tenants and Residents Association and demo organiser Mrs Sue Parbery

Mr Keith Hale representing various Football Clubs in the area

Welsh Speaker for a welsh broadcast on the BBC Mr Dafyd Jones

Save Open Spaces Wales


Various issues were raised including,

The need to change the current regulations that govern the sell off of playing fields,

The underhanded way in which Wrexham Council have dealt with this matter,

The fact the the changing rooms and car park which are public at present will be sold off to the private developer should this proposal go ahead.

The fact that the proposal to move the pitches will result in the footballers having to play on unsuitable boggy ground.

The fact that Acton Community Council have voted agaist the proposal.

The fact that Acton Community has a current deficit of playing fields amounting to over 21 acres

The fact that the Spider Park is the only public playing field for over 13,000 people living in Acton Community.

The fact the this proposal contradicts Planning Policy Wales.

The Event was covered by The Leader, The Daily Post and the BBC.
In view of the above issues we will continue to campaign against the proposed development.

What a dirty trick!!

After news got to our ears about the possible relocation of Borras Park Surgery to a site on the playing field known locally as ‘The Spider Park’ (this field borders Oak Drive/Rhosnesni Lane/Borras Road in Acton Wrexham.

We (The Acton Tenants and Residents Association) got in touch with the developer and invited him and his architect to our meeting, which was held on 3rd November. Wrexham Council sent a representative, Borras Park Surgery had a representative and we invited members of the public who live in the vicinity of the proposed development site together with local football team managers who use the pitches.

Many issues and concerns were raised at the meeting including the fact that the Spider Park is the only public playing field available to the 13,307 inhabitants of Acton Community and the fact that there is a deficit of playing fields amounting to over 21 acres.

We were shown plans which amounted to a loss of just over 11% of the field, the developer was kind enough to give us copies of the plans to show to others who were not able to attend the meeting.

What a shock it was to discover a couple of weeks later that Wrexham Council Officers has another set of plans for the eyes of chosen few at the Guildhall that consisted of a further large slice of the field worryingly next to the proposed development site. When I enquired about it's purpose, I was told that it was a ‘buffer zone’ in case the developer needed more land!

I rang the developer who stated that he had no idea about the ‘buffer zone’ and he went on to say that he did not want, need or could afford any more land.

One of our members quipped that Wrexham Council need a ‘buffer’ for when the development gets ‘railroaded through’

Are Wrexham Council land grabbing again? After many years of campaigning to save playing fields it seems to me it's a case of ‘meet the new boss, same as the old boss!

Shame on them!

How to save your playing field

As a playing field campaigner, I am often asked how to go about saving a particular playing field. Well, there is no easy answer I'm afraid, but I have put together a few hints and tips that may help you, these tips have helped me in the past and I hope that they help you too-


1. Form an Action Group and then contact 'Fields in Trust' contact details below.

2. Collect evidence that would support your opposition to the development, look for covenants on the land, public rights of way, environmental concerns, traffic congestion etc. Most importantly, look at your Councils Local Development Plan (LDP) see below. It is more useful to find hard evidence than to say that you use the field to walk the dog, play etc.

3. Send letters of objection to your Local Planning Department supplying any evidence that you have obtained, get as many people as possible to write an objection letter, the more objections the greater the chance will be that the proposed development will not go ahead. It is my experience that petitions don’t do any good at all; it is only individual letters that hold any sway. You will probably meet with apathy at some point, but keep on, create a ‘standard form letter’ containing evidence contrary to the proposed development and ask the apathetic to just fill in their names and address and date and sign, and then you post it for them. (Some people complain loudly but do nothing to stop it, in my experience)

4. Ask your local Councillor, M.P and A.M for help, if you find that he/she will not get involved, ask another local Councillor/MP/AM to help, or indeed a prospective local Councillor/AM/MP. Don’t forget that you voted for this person to act as your voice, not their own. And remember who it was that helped you, when the next elections come around.

5. All LDP’s have to contain a public open space survey/assessment and as most Local Authorities in the U.K. have adopted Fields in Trust’s ‘6 Acre Standard’ as a benchmark standard, it should be easy to find out if your area has a deficit in open space by looking at the survey. Your Local Councillor should be able to supply a copy of the public open space survey for your area. Failing this, you can get a copy from your local planning office. Sometimes, if you are lucky, your LA will have an online LDP. Your LA should have assessed each ward as follows-

The Six Acre Standard is = 2. 40ha per 1000 population, which is broken down as follows-

1.20ha for Pitch sports such as football, rugby etc (playing fields which contain marked out pitches)

0.40ha for Outdoor sports such as tennis courts, bowls, basketball etc

0.25ha for Designated play (Childrens play parks, Swings, slides etc)

0.55 ha for Informal play space ( green areas between houses, informal green spaces etc)

Total 2.4 ha (approx 6 Acres per 1000 population)

In looking at your Open Space Survey, you will be able to see if there is a deficit in any of the above types of play/recreational provision. If there were, then any further development would increase the deficit and on this basis alone, the new development should not be allowed to proceed. Pay particular attention to notes PPG17 and TAN16 of the LDP.



6. Hold a public meeting at a local village hall and invite members of the public who use the field to attend, you could also invite your local Councillor and M.P and A.M ( it is best to hold these events at the weekend so that as many people can attend as possible.

7. Contact the local Press and arrange a day where you can gather on the field in protest. Make banners and placards, invite local children, football clubs etc.Write to the letters page in the local press. Have a press spokesperson, somebody who is ‘on the ball’ and is easily obtainable.


8. Contact Fields in Trust- FIT Cymru, Welsh Institute of Sport, Sophia Gardens, Cardiff, CF11 9SW
Tel: 02920 334935
Email: cymru@fieldsintrust.org
www.fieldsintrust.org


9. Contact The Sports Council for Wales (SCfW)
SCfW is a Statutory Consul tee . Local Authorities in Wales cannot change the use of /or redevelop a playing field in Wales without consulting SCfW.
Sports Council for Wales
Sophia Gardens
Cardiff CF11 9SW
Tel: 0845 045 0904
Fax: (0845) 846 0014
E-mail:scw@scw.org.uk

When you have done all of the above, keep your fingers crossed, some you win, but unfortunately, especially when the big developers are involved, some you lose. Good Luck to you!

A victory for The Spider Park

Following on from my earlier piece 'When is a playing field not a playing field' I am delighted that after months of arguing the case with Wrexham Planning Officers that the whole of Rhosnesni playing field (the spider park) is a playing field, Wrexham planning have conceded and have now given the field its correct definition of 'playing field'

This is an important step due to two attempts to build on part of it in the last five years, now that Rhosnesni playing field is officially a playing field, it will be very difficult for any future developer to build on it because it will make the current deficit of playing fields that exist in Acton even greater...a small victory perhaps in planning terms, but a huge one for the people of Acton community.

Let's hope its correct this time!

After the huge mistake made by Wrexhanm Planning in the interpretation of Fields in Trusts new benchmark standards of play provision, we are promised that a new open space survey will be undertaken using the correct figures...let's hope they get it right this time!

Support Fields in Trust Cymru

I am dismayed to hear that due to the credit crunch, the only Welsh branch of Fields in Trust situated in Cardiff is under threat of closure.

Fields in Trust Cymru have done so much work for Wales over the past decade and they have helped me in so many ways during the many playing field campaigns that I have been involved with, we need to keep the Welsh Branch open.

I am now campaigning to get the Welsh Assembly to fund Fit Cymru as the Scottish parliament does for Fit Scotland.

I have contacted local Assembly Ministers to enlist their support and I hope that they will support such a worthy cause...watch this space, I will update the situation as it unfolds.

Playing field saved!

I attended a public meeting concerning an attempt to build a Medical Centre on Penygelli playing field in Coedpoeth.

Local people were not pleased about the prospect of their local playing field being redeveloped and they made sure that the Community Council listened to their concerns. Several other sites had been considered but the locals were told by members of the Community Council that the other sites were not suitable and that the preferred site was Penygelli playing field.

I had been invited to the meeting and I pointed out that this field should not have even been considered as a suitable site due to the fact that it was protected with Owain Glyndwr status.( Someone certainly had not done their homework)

The matter was put to the vote and the local people voted against it....people power won the day!

When is a playing field not a playing field?

The answer is...when it is owned by Wrexham Council.

Whilst I was looking through the erroneous 2005 Public Open Space Survey of Acton Community I noted an inconsistency. I was puzzled as to why Rhosnesni playing field ( known locally as 'the spider park') had suddenly become a playing field comprised of just two playing pitches?

After contacting Wrexham Planning Department, I was told that only the two pitches had been included as youth/adult playing fields, the rest of the site had been classified as informal open space.

This is yet another error to add to the growing list made by Wrexham Planning. The correct definition of a playing field is " The whole of an area which encompasses at least one marked out pitch" I have contacted the planning department with the request that the whole of Rhosnesni playing field be given its correct classification as a 'playing field'

In truth, it made me wonder if there is a link between this inconsistency (compared with the other fields in the survey) and the fact that Wrexham Council want to redevelop part of the field, and of course, Acton community just happens to have a surplus of informal open space with having Acton Park within the community... hmmm?

I await the response with interest...

Help save The Groves Site

A new campaign group has been set up in order to try to save the former Groves school site from redevelopment.
 

During the course of my investigations regarding the Groves site, it came to my attention that the Open Space Assessment conducted by Wrexham Council in 2005 was totally inaccurate and grossly misleading. When I conducted my own assessment of Acton Community I found that the area had a massive shortfall of approximately 40 acres of youth/adult playing fields. In view of this, I wrote the following to Wrexham Council-

For the Attention of The Executive Board

Dear Members,

As a member of the public and an active playing field campaigner, it has come to my attention that there are several discrepancies in the Open Space Assessment of my community (Acton). Large areas of playing fields which are not available for public use have been included in the assessment; I have highlighted the areas in the yes/no column below.

I would request that Acton Community be reassessed as a matter of urgency in order to have a true an accurate assessment of public open space.

The Youth/Adult playing field assessment of Acton Community is as follows-

Hectares Available to public

1. Bowling Green, Acton Park/Cunliffe Arms 0. 1392 YES

2. Groves High School 2. 2108 NO

3. Borras Park Junior School 1. 5259 NO

4. Rhosnesni High School 6. 2089 NO

5. Dean Road 3. 5272 YES

6. Rhosnesni Lane//Chester Rd (9Acre Field) 3..73 NO

7. Barkers Lane Primary School 0. 8805 NO

8. Bowling green, Gate Hangs High pub 0. 1106 YES

9. Tennis Court, Acton Park 0.1091 YES

10. Football Pitches Rhosnesni lane playing field 0. 62 YES

Total 19. 06

The Groves School. This playing field is not available for public use.

Borras Park Junior School. Having spoken to the Headmaster of the school on 10/10/08, I am informed that the playing fields are not available for public use at any time.

Rhosnesni High School. Having spoken to a member of Rhosnesni High School’s Sport and Leisure Department on 10/10/08, I am informed that the playing fields are not available for public use, with the exception of a small piece of Astro Turf, which is only available for public hire on Saturdays.

Chester Rd, Rhosnesni Lane, 9Acre Field. This field is not available for public use.

Barkers Lane Primary School These “community sporting facilities’ are not available to the general public, they are available only to ‘associations’ as stated in Wrexham Council’s reply to Wrexham A.M. Lesley Griffiths who had made enquiries on my behalf. (Copy of letter available upon request)

In view of the above and having personally recalculated the Youth/Adult playing field provision that is currently available for public use in Acton Community, I would urge you to consider the following-

WBCC Assessment-

STANDARD Ha ACTUAL Ha DEFICIT Hectares

21.06 19. 06 - 2 (approx 5 acres)

My Assessment-

STANDARD Ha ACTUAL Ha DEFICIT Hectares

21.06 4.506 - 16.5539 (approx 41 acres)

As you will agree, there is an enormous difference between Wrexham Council’s assessment and my own and I am certain that you will appreciate my concern.

Mr Rhodri Edwards of Fields in Trust has provided the following information as to which areas are excluded in assessing playing field provision. In the definition of play areas to be excluded as part of the Six Acre Standard the following applies-

Section 1.6.9 ”Such facilities in the Educational Sector and those in the ownership of the Defence Estates are specifically excluded unless they are available for public use by written agreement. The informal or unauthorised use of such facilities falls outside of the definition.”

Section 1.6.10 “Outdoor sports facilities, which are not as a matter of policy and practice available for public use, including Her Majesty’s Services, Educational Facilities and professional sports stadia.”

I sincerely hope that you will agree that we need to have an accurate assessment of our playing field provision especially in view of the fact that The Groves School playing field is currently under threat of redevelopment.

I thank you for your kind attention and I look forward to receiving your reply.

Yours faithfully,

Mrs Lynne Hayes

Labour's 187 broken promises on playing field sales

This article in today's Daily Mail exposes Labour's lies about playing fields.

Labour said this in its 1997 election manifesto:

"We will bring the Government's policy of forcing schools to sell off playing fields to an end."

John Prescott said: "It is crucial that we protect our open spaces and playing fields" (24 July 2004)

Gordon Brown said: "For the first time for many years, the number of playing fields is going up again and we have tried to make it very, very difficult to sell off school playing fields." (25 October 2006)

That's unless you're a Labour councillor in Wrexham, where it's still OK to sell school playing fields.

The 'spin' on playing field disposal figures

I remember a couple of years back, when I gasped in astonishment at the TV announcement which stated that in England, only 17 playing fields had been sold off in that particular year, as a member of the National Playing Fields Association, I knew that, in England, there had been over 1000 applications to build on playing fields. However, only the figures of the larger fields that needed approval were published, small pieces of public and school playing fields were not included in the figures.

In England, only fields larger than 0.4 hectares need approval, the smaller fields don’t have the same protection and are not even considered to be playing fields. British playing fields are being nibbled away bit by bit with spin being used to hide the real figures.

This interesting article by Jo Revill and Anushka Asthana published recently in The Guardian explains the situation in England.

http://education.guardian.co.uk/schoolsports/story/0,,2269376,00.html

click on the link to read the whole story. Here is part of the article-

“Despite government promises made over the past decade that playing fields would be carefully protected, at least 187 fields have disappeared. Hundreds of other pieces of school land have also been sold after being classed as too small to be playing fields.

The Department for Children, Schools and Families admitted that Ed Balls, the current education secretary, and his predecessor, Alan Johnson, agreed to 19 sales last year. A further 53 playing fields across England, owned by both schools and local communities, are thought to be under threat.

Since 1998, the government has approved of at least 187 plans to dispose of playing fields - categorised as land that can be used for grass sports pitches. A much greater loss of land has occurred, with 1,331 parcels of land smaller than 0.4 hectares being sold off since 2001, and without needing ministerial approval.”