Planning and securing contributions for your sports and recreational facilities

Sport England is a government agency and National Lottery Distributor responsible for developing the country’s community sports system. Advice on how best to ensure that the planning system can promote sport and recreation can be found through our web site, Planning for Sport.

Planning for Sport and Active Recreation explains how policies regulating the use and development of land can make the most of the potential contribution from sport and recreation. It sets out guiding principles for informing the spatial planning process.  

Sport England believes that the planning system can deliver a better deal for sport through new development. Our Planning Contributions Kitbag provides authoritative advice for local planning authorities on how to effectively secure the delivery of sport. The Kitbag is divided into three sections:

1. Planning contributions: what are they defines the policy context of planning obligations for sports.

2. Developing local frameworks includes practical advice on how to prepare local policies and guidance for sport and recreation contributions.
 
3. Good practice and local authority examples gives examples of current practice.

The Kitbag provides tools to assist LPAs in creating standard charges which include:

• Sports facility calculator    
• Towards a level playing field
• Facility costings
• Design and technical guidelines
• One off negotiation checklist
• Community Use Agreement Templates