Playing fields
Land in the open air provided for physical education or recreation
- Design stage
- Co-design
- Github
- Join the discussion
- Synonyms
- No synonyms added
- Legislation
- No legislation added
- Expected number of records
- Unknown
- Frequency of updates
- Every 6 months
- Useful links
- No useful links added
- Technical specification
- No specification added
Background information
Each planning consideration we work on passes through the stages of our design process, where we research and answer specific questions to help us collect more information.
Backlog
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Who asked for 'Playing fields' data?
Identified by the Geospatial Commission as a national dataset to make data easier to find for the sector.
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What is the driver for the request?
Other
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Which 2024 focus area does the request support?
- Modern planning software
- Faster local plans
Screen
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What is the 'Playing fields' consideration?
Pitches for sports including football, rugby union, rugby league, hockey, lacrosse, cricket, American football etc
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Is there legislation that defines 'Playing fields'?
Yes
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What is the legislation that defines 'Playing fields'?
"“Playing field” means the whole of a site which encompasses at least one playing pitch;" - The Town and Country Planning (General Development Procedure) (Amendment) Order 1996, Paragraph 3b(i)
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What is the specific part of the legislation that describes how a 'Playing fields' gets designated?
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What is the specific part of the legislation that requires the publication of 'Playing fields'?
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Who, in law, is responsible for the planning consideration or makes decisions about 'Playing fields'?
'Local planning authorities are required to consult with us [Sport England] on planning applications that affect playing field land, and our policy is to object to applications unless they meet one of five specific exceptions, which include:
- The proposals will improve the use of a playing field for sport
- Replacement playing field land is to be provided
- There has been a robust assessment that demonstrates there is an excess of playing field land.'
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Which organisations do we think should publish the data?
- Local authorities
- Ordnance Survey
- Sport England
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Is the Playing fields a trigger?
Yes
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What needs to be done because Playing fields has acted as the trigger?
Playing field provision would require an LPA to produce a Playing Pitch Strategy.
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Is the Playing fields something to consult during plan making?
Yes
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Provide information about when Playing fields is used during plan making
The provision of playing fields would be considered during the IDP, Playing Pitch Strategy and Local Plan process, to ensure sufficient provision is provided to the local community.
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Is there any Playing fields data already available?
Yes
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What Playing fields data is currently available?
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Item 1
- name
- OS Open Greenspace
- fields
- id;function;distinctiveName1;distinctiveName2;distinctiveName3;distinctiveName4;geometry
- licence
- OpenData - Open Government Licence
- coverage
- National
- publisher
- Ordnance Survey
- attribution
- n/a
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Do we think the data should come from a single source?
Yes, the data already exists nationally and openly. As per some research summarised in this blog, we will use the national data in the interim, but long term would like to collect this data from LPAs.
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Will a data standard be required?
No
Research
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Do we understand the lifecycle of a Playing fields?
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Do we understand how the data is created/produced?
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Where will or should the data be used?
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What other planning considerations does it interact with?
- Local plans - Playing fields are referenced a number of times in local plans, so we think that this consideration feeds into the process of creating a local plan.
- Infrastructure Development Plan - to ensure sufficient provision is provided.
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Who are the statutory consultees for Playing fields?
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Other than the statutory consultees who are the primary users of Playing fields? How do we expect them to use Playing fields?
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What are the planning needs for this data?
When plan-making, LPAs are required to demonstrate that they are planning for sufficient open space to meet local need. Therefore, they will generally identify the baseline provision of open space, and conduct an Open Space Strategy, or similar, to assess the quality of this existing provision.
Playing fields fall into the overarching category of 'open space.'
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Who are the types of users who might benefit from having access to Playing fields data?
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What are some potential uses of Playing fields data?
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What's the value of adding Playing fields data to the platform?
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From what we have learnt so far are there any risks to making Playing fields data available?
3 updates
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Claire Miller (26 September 2024)
As per some research we did, summarised in this blog on an analysis of local plans and local area requirements, we're confident that this consideration acts as an INPUT to the process of creating a local plan.
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Kieran Wint (04 September 2024)
This data is currently nationally available as per the OS Open Greenspace dataset, which we will look to use initially.
However, as a result of our research on open space typologies we will eventually look to collect this data from LPAs individually, with it encapsulating those areas of use for 'pitch sports including football, rugby union, rugby league, hockey, lacrosse, cricket, American football etc.'
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Colm Britton (09 August 2024)
Playing fields is a layer in the OS Greenspace dataset. The playing fields that are included are "only those that are used by the public at least some of the time are included in the product. School fields, for example, which are entirely enclosed and used only by the school are not included."
Last updated: 2025-09-08 14:13:28