20200702 kettering sports facilities audit & needs ... · company no: 9145032 (england)...

QUALITY, INTEGRITY, PROFESSIONALISM Knight, Kavanagh & Page Ltd Company No: 9145032 (England)

MANAGEMENT CONSULTANTS Registered Office: 1 -2 Frecheville Court, off Knowsley Street, Bury BL9 0UF

T: 0161 764 7040 E: [email protected] www.kkp.co.uk

SPORTS FACILITIES AUDIT & NEEDS ASSESSMENT KETTERING BOROUGH REPORT: June 2020

CONTENTS GLOSSARY ....................................................................................................................... 1

SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................... 2

1:1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 2

1.2: Scope of the project ................................................................................................. 2

SECTION 2: BACKGROUND ............................................................................................ 6

2.1: National context ....................................................................................................... 6

2.2: Local context .......................................................................................................... 12

2.3 Demographic profile ................................................................................................ 16

2.4: Local health and wellbeing activities ...................................................................... 28

SECTION 3: INDOOR SPORTS FACILITIES ASSESSMENT APPROACH .................. 30

3.1: Methodology .......................................................................................................... 30

3.2: Site visits ................................................................................................................ 33

3.3: Facilities Planning Model overview ........................................................................ 35

3.4: Sports hall sizes ..................................................................................................... 36

SECTION 4: VILLAGE/COMMUNITY HALLS ................................................................. 37

4.1: Village/Community Halls ........................................................................................ 37

4.2 Demand .................................................................................................................. 39

4.3 Summary of village halls and community centres key facts and issues .................. 40

SECTION 5: SPORTS HALLS ......................................................................................... 41

5.1: Supply .................................................................................................................... 41

5.2: Facilities Planning Modelling – Overview of Findings ............................................ 55

5.3: Supply and demand summary ............................................................................... 63

5.4: Summary of key facts and issues .......................................................................... 70

SECTION 6: SWIMMING POOLS .................................................................................... 72

6.1: Supply .................................................................................................................... 72

6.2: Facilities Planning Model – Overview of Findings .................................................. 84

6.3: Supply and demand summary ............................................................................... 93

6.4: Demand ................................................................................................................. 94

6.5: Summary of findings and needs ............................................................................ 95

SECTION 7: HEALTH AND FITNESS SUITES ............................................................... 97

7.1: Supply .................................................................................................................... 95

7.2: Demand ............................................................................................................... 108

7.3: Dance studios ...................................................................................................... 109

7.4: Summary of key facts and issues ........................................................................ 112

SECTION 8: SQUASH ................................................................................................... 114

8.1 Supply ................................................................................................................... 114

8.2: Demand ............................................................................................................... 116

8.3: Summary of facts and issues ............................................................................... 117

SECTION 9: GYMNASTICS .......................................................................................... 119

9.1: Supply .................................................................................................................. 119

9.2: Demand ............................................................................................................... 121

9.3: Summary of key facts and issues of dedicated gymnastics facilities ................... 123

SECTION 10: INDOOR BOWLS .................................................................................... 124

10.1: Supply ................................................................................................................ 126

10.2: Demand ............................................................................................................. 129

10.3: Summary ............................................................................................................ 129

SECTION 11: SAILING CENTRE .................................................................................. 130

11.1: Supply ................................................................................................................ 131

11.2: Demand ............................................................................................................. 133

11.3: Summary of sailing ............................................................................................ 134

SECTION 12: SUMMARY AND STRATEGIC RECOMMENDATIONS ......................... 135

Appendix 1: Consultee list .......................................................................................... 136

Appendix 2: Sport England’s Economic Impact Model 2015 indicator ................... 138

KETTERING BOROUGH: SPORTS FACILITIES AUDIT & NEEDS ASSESSMENT

June 2020 3-019-1719: Knight Kavanagh & Page 1

GLOSSARY ALS Active Lives Survey ANOG Assessing needs and opportunity guidance BBE Basketball England BE Badminton England BAME Black, Asian and minority ethnic CCG Clinical Commissioning Groups CSP County Sports Partnership ECB England and Wales Cricket Board FPM Facilities Planning Model GIS Geographical Information Systems IMD Indices of multiple deprivation JCS Joint Core Strategy KBC Kettering Borough Council KKP Knight, Kavanagh and Page NGB National Governing Body NHS National Health Service NPPF National Planning Policy Framework ONS Office for National Statistics PPS Playing Pitch Strategy S106 Section 106 SE Sport England SFS Sports Facilities Strategy TTE Table Tennis England



SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION 1:1 Introduction Kettering Borough Council (KBC) commissioned Knight Kavanagh & Page Ltd (KKP) to deliver a Sports Facilities Audit and Needs Assessment for the authority. It is an assessment of formal indoor and built sports facility requirements across the Borough. The desktop research, consultation and site assessments took place between March and August 2019. The results provide a detailed assessment of the current provision of indoor and built sports facilities and it identifies the need (demand) and gaps (deficiencies) in provision. The assessment is part of a wider series of inter-related documents for sport and recreation that also includes a Sports Facilities Strategy (SFS), a Playing Pitch Strategy (PPS) and Open Space Standards Paper. The inter-relationship between the portfolio of documents must be noted as some sports covered by the PPS also use indoor facilities for matches/training or use open space areas for informal use. Similarly, there may be forms of open space which feature a playing pitch or sporting facility. These documents will guide the future provision and management of sports facilities and playing pitches to serve both the existing and proposed communities across Kettering up to 2031. The strategies will meet the needs of different service areas within the Authority. They will provide a concise, robust, comprehensive and up-to-date evidence base for the preparation of the Site Specific Part 2 Local Plan (SSP2) for Kettering Borough and set out a strategic and action planned approach to the enhancement of existing and creation of new pitch and sporting provision, including changing room and ancillary support facilities The Report refers to Kettering as a borough throughout unless specifically referring to Kettering town. 1.2: Scope of the project The assessment provides an overview of the current provision across the Borough taking account of its condition, location, availability and overall quality. It considers demand for facilities based on population distribution, planned growth and taking into consideration health and economic deprivation. In delivering this report KKP has: Individually audited sports halls (conventional i.e. three plus court halls), swimming pools

(minimum size 160m2), health and fitness facilities (including, within reason, dance studios), village halls and community centres, indoor bowls, indoor tennis, squash courts, dedicated gymnastics and sailing centres.

Analysed supply and demand to identify facility gaps and opportunities for improved provision.

Sought to ensure that delivery of leisure facilities is undertaken with full reference to the corporate strategies of the Council and other relevant strategic influences.

Identified areas of good practice and opportunities for improved service in order to drive up participation levels.

This evidence-based report provides a quantitative and qualitative audit-based assessment of the facilities identified above. It is a robust, up-to-date assessment of need for the identified sports and community facilities and identifies opportunities for new, enhanced and rationalised provision. Specific deficiencies and surpluses are identified to inform the provision required. The specific objectives of this audit and assessment are to:



Explain how facility needs relate to sports development programmes and changes in how sports are played.

Highlight deficiencies in quantity, quality and/or accessibility of provision for sports facilities.

Identify surpluses in quantity of provision for sports facilities. Show the spatial distribution of unmet need. Set out any potential rationalisation having regard to surplus capacity, areas of demand,

site quality. Identify which facilities should be protected, recommending the protection of sites

identified as critical to individual sports development and community need. Identify which facilities should be enhanced recommending immediate action on sites

critical to individual sports development and community need. Recommend appropriate locations for new provision to meet existing deficiencies and

identify priority locations for future provision. Deliver a prioritised infrastructure plan of facilities across the study area. This will be

broken down as distinct projects that, inter alia, maximise opportunities for (Reg 123) CIL compliant pooling (taking into account NNJCS growth predictions over the plan period). The action plan, within the strategy document, will focus on remedying current deficiencies and provide recommendations to meet future predicted demand (to feed into wider infrastructure planning work).

Make recommendations for robust and appropriate developer contributions and thresholds both for residential (including consideration of the potential for a charge per dwelling and to take account of dwelling size) and commercial development, which is tied to the prioritised infrastructure plan and set out as distinct projects as discussed above.

Provide a process for the regular updating and monitoring of the SFS.

The specific tasks addressed within the study include: A review of relevant Council strategies, plans, reports, corporate objectives. A review of the local, regional and national strategic context. Analysis of the demographics of the local population at present and in the future (2031). Audit of indoor facilities provided by public, private, voluntary and education sectors. Consideration of potential participation rates and modelling of likely demand. Supply and demand analysis. Analysis of the balance between supply of, and demand for, sports facilities plus

identification of potential under and over-provision. Identification of key issues to address in the future provision of indoor sports facilities. Study Area Kettering Borough is situated in the heart of England covering an area of over 23,000 hectares; it has good road and rail links to the rest of the country. Located in Northamptonshire the Borough shares a close functional relationship with Corby, Wellingborough and East Northamptonshire. These four local authority areas are collectively known as North Northamptonshire. The study area comprises of the whole of Kettering Borough Council’s administrative area. Cross boundary issues will also be explored to determine the level of imported and exported demand, recognising, for example, that people travel to and make use of strategic facilities irrespective of administrative boundaries. Neighbouring authorities include Harborough, Corby, East Northamptonshire, Wellingborough and Daventry.



Figure 1.1: Kettering Borough with main roads and main settlements/ towns



The Borough of Kettering is relatively compact and during off peak travel time it takes generally no more than about 20 minutes to cross the Borough in any one direction. It is preferred that residents should be able to access sporting provision by walking, cycling and public transport before use of the private car. In reality, given the lower level of provision when it comes to built sports facilities, particularly strategic facilities like sports halls and swimming pools, there is an acceptance that the mode of transport will include the private car. As such it is considered appropriate to consider the Borough as a single unit in the audit and analysis of built facilities rather than breaking it down into distinct analysis areas.



SECTION 2: BACKGROUND 2.1: National context Economic value of sport to the nation Sport, leisure, recreation and culture are all important economic drivers. In November 2015, sport and sport-related activity contributed £20.3 billion to the English economy. The contribution to employment is even greater with sport and sport-related activity estimated to support over 450,000 full-time equivalent jobs. Volunteering in sport, and the health benefits derived, also have an impact on the economy. The estimated economic value of sport-related volunteering is £6.9 billion. The annual value of health benefits from people taking part in sport is estimated at £21 billion. Benefits of sport include the well-being/happiness of individuals taking part, improved health and education, reduced youth crime, environmental benefits, regeneration and community development, and to the individual and wider society through volunteering. Consumption of sport benefits includes the well-being/happiness of spectators and the national pride/feel good factor derived from sporting success/achievement. Participation in sport contributes to reducing crime and anti-social behaviour, particularly among young people. It also has a net impact on the environment; where, for example, more people walk, and cycle, emissions and congestion can reduce. In summary, it can provide a range of economic and health benefits to the Borough and its population as well as helping to provide jobs and opportunities to spectate and participate in physical activity. National Planning Policy Framework (2019), (MHCLG) The National Planning Policy Framework (Feb 2019) (NPPF) sets out the planning policies for England. It details how these are expected to be applied to the planning system and provides a framework to produce distinct local and neighbourhood plans, reflecting the needs and priorities of local communities. It states that the purpose of the planning system is to contribute to the achievement of sustainable development (paragraphs 7-9). It establishes that the planning system needs to focus on three themes of sustainable development: economic, social and environmental. A presumption in favour of sustainable development is a key aspect for any plan-making and decision-taking processes. In relation to plan-making the NPPF sets out that Local Plans should meet objectively assessed needs. Paragraph 96 of the NPPF establishes that access to a network of high quality open spaces and opportunities for sport and physical activity is important for health and well-being. It states that planning policies should be based on robust and up-to-date assessments of the needs for open space, sports and recreation facilities and opportunities for new provision. Specific needs and quantitative and qualitative deficiencies and surpluses in local areas should also be identified. This information should be used to inform what provision is required in an area. As a prerequisite paragraph 97 of the NPPF states existing open space, sports and recreation sites, including playing fields, should not be built on unless:

An assessment has been undertaken, which has clearly shown the site to be surplus to requirements; or



The loss resulting from the proposed development would be replaced by equivalent or better provision in terms of quantity and quality in a suitable location; or

The development is for alternative sports and recreational provision, the needs for which clearly outweigh the loss.

National Planning Practice Guidance (MHCLG) National Planning Practice Guidance (NPPG) is a web-based resource which brings together planning guidance on various topics into one place. It was launched in March 2014 and adds further context to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). It is intended that the two documents should be read together. When considering how local planning authorities and developers assess the needs for sports and recreation facilities the guidance states that authorities and developers may refer to Sport England guidance. Assessing Needs and Opportunities Guide for Indoor and Outdoor Sports Facilities (2014), Sport England Sport England aims to ensure positive planning for sport, enabling the right facilities to be provided in the right places, based on up to date assessment of needs for all levels of sport and all sectors of the community. This assessment report has been produced for KBC applying the principles and tools identified in the Sport England Guide Assessing Needs and Opportunities for Indoor and Outdoor Sports Facilities (ANOG). Figure 2.1: ANOG model

Sporting Future: A New Strategy for an Active Nation, (2015), DDCMS This Government strategy for sport was released in December 2015. It confirms the recognition and understanding that sport makes a positive difference through broader means and it will help the sector to deliver fundamental outcomes: physical wellbeing, mental wellbeing, individual development, social and community development and economic development. It has identified the following outputs.

As illustrated, Sport England regards an assessment of need as core to the planning for sporting provision. This report reviews indoor and built sporting facility needs in Kettering Borough and provides a basis for future strategic planning.



Maximising international and domestic sporting success and the impact of major events. More people from every background regularly and meaningfully taking part in sport and

physical activity, volunteering and experiencing live sport. A more productive, sustainable and responsible sport sector. It further identifies the following actions will need to occur that: Meet the needs of the elite and professional system and deliver successful major sporting

events. Meet the needs of the customer and enable them to engage in sport and physical activity. Strengthen the sport sector and make it more effective and resilient. Towards an Active Nation (2016-2021), Sport England In its strategy, Sport England has identified that it will invest in: Tackling inactivity. Children and young people. Volunteering – a dual benefit. Taking sport and activity into the mass market. Supporting sport’s core market. Local delivery. Facilities. These seven investment programmes are underpinned by a new Workforce Strategy and a new Coaching Plan. Figure 2.2: Sport England Strategy 2016-2021



Sport England is looking to invest in projects, programmes and individuals that make sure everybody can experience the many benefits of sport and activity. Its seven investment principles include:

Ensuring a clear line of sight to the objectives in Sporting Future, thereby making a wider impact on people's lives in terms of physical wellbeing, mental wellbeing, individual development, social and community development and economic development, rather than simply driving numbers.

Prioritising demographic groups which are currently under-represented; this includes women, older people, disabled people and people from lower socio-economic backgrounds.

Using the behaviour change model to guide its decisions focusing on three main challenges: tackling inactivity, creating regular activity habits and helping those with a habit to stay that way.

Getting maximum value from all its resources which may mean contributing advice and insight or broker a collaboration rather than a cash injection.

Expanding the supply chain, wanting to strike a balance between 'bankers' and 'innovators' to make sure it is investing in projects that deliver the outcomes while still investing in other areas that test new approaches.

Reviewing its investment portfolio regularly, it could invest more in anything going particularly well and stop investment if a project is failing and cannot be rescue.

Encourage increased efficiency by encouraging the sport and activity sector to diversify its funding from both private and other public sector sources.

Sport England’s Strategic Facilities Fund is not a stand-alone funding stream, it is part of a portfolio of support and tools designed to strategically support the sector (local authority provision in particular). The Fund has been re-positioned within Sport England’s new strategy in order to help the sector to be effective in its investment decision making. Creating a focus and vision on local outcomes, informed by customer insight and delivering interventions (capital and revenue) which effect behaviour change in the target audience and ultimately outcome delivery. The ‘Strategic Outcomes Model’ (Figure 2.3) illustrates the process which Sport England would expect a local authority to follow as part of a local strategic planning process in partnership with key stakeholders and other sectors.



Figure 2.3 Sport England’s Strategic Outcomes Model (vision)

Planning for Sport Guidance (2019), Sport England Sets out how the planning system can help provide opportunities for everyone to be physically active. It highlights the vital role planning systems play in shaping environments which offer opportunities to take part in sport and physical activity. To help with this, the guidance sets out 12 planning-for-sport principles to be embraced.



Figure 1.2: Sport England’s 12 Planning Principles

Everybody Active, Every Day (2014), Public Health England In October 2014, Public Health England (PHE) produced its plan to tackle low activity levels across the country. Along with making the case for physical activity, this identifies four areas where measures need to be taken at a national and local level: Active society: creating a social movement, shifting social norms so that physical activity

becomes a routine part of daily life. Moving professionals: activating networks of expertise. Making every contact with the

health sector count to push the ‘active’ message and to deliver the message through other sectors including education, sports and leisure, transport and planning.

Active environments: creating the right spaces. Making available and accessible appropriate environments that encourage people to be active every day.



Moving at scale: scaling up interventions that make us active. Maximising existing assets that enable communities to be active.

Investment in school sport The Government 2013 Primary PE and Sport Premium fund of £150 million per annum provided two years of investment in school sport. Supported by the Government’s Education, Health and DCMS departments, funds went directly to primary school head teachers for them to spend on sport. Its four objectives were to: Improve the quality of existing PE teaching through continuing professional learning in PE

for generalists, so that all primary pupils improve their health, skills and physical literacy and have a broader exposure to a range of sports.

Increase participation levels in competitive sports and healthy activity of pupils and maintain these into adolescence.

Increase the quality of initial teacher training in PE and sport, and to promote PE specialisation in primary level workforce.

Ensure that schools understand and value the benefits of high-quality PE and sport, including its use as a tool for whole school improvement.

Under this phase of the programme, schools with 16 or fewer eligible pupils received £1,000 per pupil while those with 17 or more received £16,000 plus a payment of £10 per head. In 2017, the amount allocated doubled and Government ministers have confirmed that funding from a tax on sugary soft drinks will continue to be ring-fenced for school sports until 2020. Evaluation of this investment has highlighted the need for clearer guidance to schools on how best to use this resource and the importance of good specialist PE knowledge for teachers of the subject. While this may cease in its present form Sport England is, in its Strategy, committed both to further investment in young people and to improving the skills of secondary school teachers, particularly in respect of physical literacy. Summary of national context Engaging all residents in physical activity is a high priority. It is acknowledged that regular sport and recreational activity plays a key role in facilitating improved health and wellbeing. Sport and physical activity also contribute significantly to the national and local economy. Ensuring an adequate supply of suitable facilities to meet local need is a requirement of the planning system in line with national policy recommendations. 2.2: Local context Northamptonshire North – Unitary Authority The Government has agreed to create two new unitary councils in Northamptonshire to provide all local government services in the county. This will come into being on 1 April 2021 when Northamptonshire’s current eight councils will cease to exist. The new North Northamptonshire unitary authority will cover the areas of Corby Borough Council, East Northamptonshire Council, Kettering Borough Council and Borough of Wellingborough Council. A new unitary council for West Northamptonshire will cover the areas of Daventry District Council, Northampton Borough Council and South Northamptonshire Council. Services currently provided by Northamptonshire County Council and the districts and boroughs will be delivered by the two new councils.



The creation of the two unitary authorities is seen as an opportunity to develop and transform services to deliver what residents and businesses need, with a modern approach that provides good value for money. North Northamptonshire Joint Core Strategy (2011-2031) The North Northamptonshire Joint Core Strategy (JCS) is the strategic Part 1 Local Plan for Corby, East Northamptonshire, Kettering and Wellingborough. It outlines a big picture to be developed in more detail through the Part 2 Local Plans prepared by the District and Borough Councils and by Neighbourhood Plans prepared by Parish Councils and Neighbourhood Forums. The JCS is prepared by the Joint Planning Unit (JPU), reporting to the North Northamptonshire Joint Committee (JC) made up of elected representatives from the District, Borough and County Councils. An important component that has guided the preparation of the Plan is the requirement to apply a spatial planning dimension to the relevant Sustainable Community Strategies that have been prepared. These individual strategies all contain a vision and objectives and deal with key inter-related themes such as: Being successful through sustainable growth and regeneration – ensuring that physical

and social infrastructure will be in place to match growth, improving and protecting countryside and buildings for future generations in addition to regenerating and improving town centres.

Health and Wellbeing – reducing health inequality, increasing life expectancy promoting social inclusion, sport and recreation and providing more access to healthy lifestyle options to improve health and wellbeing.

Education and skills – Raising skills levels to ensure that workers have the right skills for a changing economy, addressing the skills shortage for 16-25 year olds through work based learning.

Ensuring economic prosperity – ensuring the availability of relevant and appropriate business skills and training opportunities; providing high quality infrastructure to support and encourage innovation and growth; build on the unique character and location.

Environment – encouraging and promoting environmental protection, improving the environmental and visual quality of the area, managing resources effectively, sustainable transport for all.

Strong and Safe Communities – reducing and preventing crime as well as the fear of it by tackling violence, anti-social behaviour, re-offending and improving access to services and facilities.

Site Specific Part 2 Local Plan (2011-2031) The Council has started preparing a Site Specific Part 2 Local Plan for Kettering. This will be specific to the Borough of Kettering and is due to be adopted in December 2020. The document will cover the whole of Kettering Borough with the exception of issues addressed in the JCS, the Area Action Plan for Kettering Town Centre (2011), the North Northamptonshire Gypsy and Traveller Site Allocation Policy and the Broughton Neighbourhood Plan (2018). The SSP2 will allocate non-strategic land for housing and employment and it identifies potential locations for retail, leisure and community facilities. It will contain policies relating to the principle growth town of Kettering, the market towns of Rothwell, Desborough and Burton Latimer and for the 27 villages of varying scale and character. These will be supported by policies covering topics such as Local Green Space, Green Infrastructure and Settlement Boundaries.



Northamptonshire County Council - Director of Public Health Annual Report 2019 This report provides Northamptonshire area information on the following: Background to health inequality and inequity Health inequalities across Northamptonshire – demographics, life expectancy,

deprivation Maternal health inequalities Health inequalities in children Lifestyle Wider determinants Ageing Figure 2.4, overleaf, identifies the key characteristics appertaining to lifestyle of the population of North Northamptonshire. The report makes eight recommendations that require joint working to achieve the best outcomes for Northamptonshire residents; a precis of which are identified in Table 2.1. Figure 2.4: Health and wellbeing in North Northamptonshire Jan 2019

Table 2.1: Key recommendations for Northamptonshire

Recommendation

1

Local leaders and organisations need to work with new shadow unitary authorities (subject to government agreement) to ensure that public health principles and practice to improve population health and reduce health inequalities are embedded in order to shape services to best meet need.

2 There should be greater focus on improving health and promoting a healthy lifestyle for pregnant women and new parents. This will require an improvement in health literacy and understanding of what a healthy pregnancy means and how it can be achieved



3 The root cause of unhealthy weight of children and young people must be tackled by working with and educating communities, schools and families to take a lead role in preventing our children becoming overweight and addressing the issue early if it arises.

4 To reduce the number of people who experience mental ill health there is a need to improve the effectiveness of prevention services for mental wellbeing.

5 Services need to work together so that fewer women are smoking in pregnancy, more people waiting for planned operations ‘stop before the op’ and there is bedside support for in-patients, particularly those experiencing ill health due to respiratory or cardiac conditions.

6

Primary, community and hospital services all have a role in fewer people experiencing avoidable ill-health and disease, by increasing uptake of vaccination, screening programmes; cancer, non-cancer and health checks and directing people to healthy lifestyle services.

7 Optimise the use of the NCC Public Health ‘Supporting Independence Programme’ for people living with mild frailty which allows them greater autonomy and independence for longer and increases their healthy life expectancy.

8 NCC Public Health will develop a comprehensive communication and engagement strategy, linked to partners, that will reach into communities to educate, inform and support positive behaviour change.

Physical Activity and Sport Framework (2018 – 2021), Northamptonshire Sport NS is partnership of local and national organisations Working together to get people in Northamptonshire More Active, More Often. The N-Sport core team is hosted by Northamptonshire County Council and its activities are funded through Sport England Lottery grant and by local and national partners. N-Sport is committed to ensuring that sport, physical activity and recreation across Northamptonshire is both safe and inclusive. Physical Activity & Sport Framework 2018-2021



Outcomes N-Sport aims to increase levels of physical activity and participation in sport across the county and plays a key role in supporting the implementation of framework. N-Sport will: Co-ordinate the implementation of the work of partners to develop local action plans

(shaped by strategies and tactics) to deliver against the objectives of this framework. Bring investment into the area to support the delivery of the framework and local action

plans. Be the physical activity behaviour insight hub, sharing existing and commissioning new

insight and interpreting what this means for the implementation of the framework. Lead behaviour change learning and practices to help partners focus on this as a definition

of success. Support partners to grow and develop their workforce in line with the new challenges laid

out in this framework. Supporting Northamptonshire to Flourish: Northamptonshire’s Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2016-2020 This is the latest strategy which aims at improving the health and wellbeing of all people in Northamptonshire. The overall objective is to reduce health inequalities by enabling people to help themselves. The strategy lists four key priorities with targets associated for each priority. The importance of having accessible, good quality sports facilities will assist in achieving all four key priorities: Giving every child the best start Taking responsibility and making informed choices Promoting independence and quality of life for older adults Creating an environment for all people to flourish Summary of local context KBC is committed to improving the health and wellbeing of its residents and understands the relationship between physical activity and health and wellbeing. It underpins this commitment in its Corporate and Local plans. Further, there is a recognition of the importance of working in partnership with other agencies to deliver opportunities given the geographical and access issues encountered within the Borough. 2.3 Demographic profile The following is an overview of Kettering Borough based on data taken from nationally recognised sources (sources identified throughout). It reflects the most up to date information presently available although it should be noted that new data is published regularly, often at different intervals. Population and distribution - The total population of Kettering Borough is 100,252 (2017 MYE) with slightly more females (50,979) than males (49,273). The population profile of the Borough is similar to that of the East Midlands with 28.8% 10 - 34 year olds compared to the East Midlands figure of 30.7%. Similarly, there are 39.6% 35 - 64 year olds compared with



38.4% in the East Midlands. The age and make-up of the population is a key factor to consider when developing and implementing the sports and physical activity offer within the area. Ethnicity (Data source: 2011 census of population, ONS) - In broad terms, Kettering Borough’s ethnic composition varies from that of England as a whole. According to the 2011 Census of population, the largest proportion (93.9%) of the local population classified their ethnicity as White; this is higher than the comparative England rate of 85.4%. The next largest population group (by self-classification) is Asian, at 3.2% this is markedly lower than the national equivalent (7.8%). Understanding ethnicity in the context of sport is important as there can be cultural divides that prevent inclusion. Crime (Data source: 2017 Recorded Crime, Home Office) - During the 12 months to June 2018 the rate for recorded crimes per 1,000 persons in the borough was 73.0; lower than the equivalent rate for England and Wales (83.0). Crime rates have risen since June 2016, by around 12.3% within the Borough, much less than the national average of 23.9%. Deprivation (Data source: 2015 indices of deprivation, DCLG) - The English Indices of Deprivation measure relative levels of deprivation in 32,844 small areas or neighbourhoods, called Lower-layer Super Output Areas (LSOA). There are 442 LSOA in Northamptonshire Relative to other parts of the country the Borough of Kettering experiences average levels of deprivation; over a quarter of the Borough’s population (26.5%) fall within the country’s three most deprived cohorts though this is lower than the national average of c. 30%. Conversely, 40.5% live in the three least deprived groupings in the country, this also compares to a national ‘norm’ of c.30%.



Figure 2.4: Index of multiple deprivation for Kettering Borough



Table 2.1: Index of multiple deprivation (IMD) for Kettering Borough

IMD cumulative norm

Multiple deprivation Health deprivation

Population in band

Percent of population

Population in band

Percent of population

Most deprived Least deprived

10.0 7,162 7.6% 7.6% 5,751 6.1% 6.1%

20.0 5,985 6.3% 13.9% 3,603 3.8% 9.9% 30.0 12,014 12.7% 26.5% 15,756 16.6% 26.5% 40.0 2,113 2.2% 28.8% 6,237 6.6% 33.1%

50.0 11,789 12.4% 41.2% 11,827 12.5% 45.5%

60.0 9,330 9.8% 51.0% 14,718 15.5% 61.0% 70.0 8,029 8.5% 59.5% 13,419 14.1% 75.2%

80.0 18,399 19.4% 78.9% 16,770 17.7% 92.9% 90.0 10,426 11.0% 89.9% 6,760 7.1% 100.0%

100.0 9,594 10.1% 100.0% 0 0.0% 100.0%

A similar pattern, to that seen for multiple deprivation, is seen in relation to health. Over a quarter of the Borough’s population (26.6%) falls within the areas covered by the three most deprived cohorts, this compares to a national average of c.30%. Similarly, 24.8% live in the three least deprived groupings compared to a ‘norm’ of c.30%.



Figure 2.5: Index of Mulitiple Deprivation (IMD) Health domain



Health data (Data sources: ONS births and deaths, NCMP1 and NOO2) - In keeping with patterns seen alongside average levels of health deprivation, life expectancy in the Borough is almost the same as for the national estimates - the male rate is 79.6 years, whilst the female equivalent is 83.5 compared to 83.2 nationally.3 Income and benefits dependency (Data source: NOMIS (2017) - The median figure for full-time earnings (2017) in the Borough is £27,139; the comparative rate for the East Midlands is £26,806 (-1.2%) and for Great Britain is £28,740 (+5.9%). In October 2018 there were 1,075 people across the Borough claiming out of work benefits; this represents a decrease of 38.9% when compared to October 2013 (1,760). Weight and obesity - Obesity is widely recognised to be associated with health problems such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer. At a national level, the resulting NHS costs attributable to overweight and obesity4 are projected to reach £9.7 billion by 2050, with wider costs to society estimated to reach £49.9 billion per year. These factors combine to make the prevention of obesity a major public health challenge. Adult obesity rates in the Borough are below the regional averages. Child rates, however, are slightly higher. As with many other areas, obesity rates increase significantly between the ages of 4 and 11. Fewer than one in 10 (9.2%) children in the Borough are obese in their Reception Year at school though 13.7% are overweight. By Year 6 these figures have risen a fifth (20.5%) being obese and 13.6% being overweight. In total, by Year 6, over a third of children (34.1%) are either overweight or obese. Figure 2.6: Child weight – reception and year 6

1 National Child Measurement Program 2 National Obesity Observatory 3 Office of National Statistics: Life Expectancy at Birth by local areas in the United Kingdom, 2013. 4 Adult Weight Data was released in June 2015 for 2012-2014. The child data is for the period 2015-2016



Health costs of physical inactivity The British Heart Foundation (BHF) Promotion Research Group has reviewed the costs of avoidable ill health that it considers are attributable to physical inactivity. Initially produced for the DoH report Be Active Be Healthy (2009) the data has subsequently been reworked for Sport England and updated in 2014/15 by Public Health England. Illnesses that the BHF research relates to include cancers such as bowel cancer, breast cancer, type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease and cerebrovascular disease e.g., stroke. The data indicates a similar breakdown between these illnesses regionally and nationally. Figure 2.7: Health costs of physical inactivity

The Borough of Kettering is in the NHS Nene CCG covering East Northamptonshire, Daventry, Kettering, Northampton, South Northamptonshire and Wellingborough). The Borough’s population covers 15.3% of NHS Nene CCG area. The annual cost to the NHS of physical inactivity for the Nene CCG is estimated at £4,654,529.37 When compared to regional and national costs per 100,000 population, the costs for the CCG (£724,743.80) are 11.3% below the national average (£817,273.95) and 11.4% below the regional average (£818,184.98). It should also be noted that in addition to the NHS costs there are also significant costs to industry in terms of days of productivity lost due to back pain, etc. These have also been costed in CBI reports and are of similar magnitude to NHS costs. Economic impact and value (Data source: Sport England 2015) Sport England’s economic impact model (which encompasses participation, purchasing of sportswear, gambling, volunteering, attending events, etc.) shows an overall local impact for the Borough of £24.5 million (£17.3m participation, £7.2m non-participation related). This is well above the national average of £20.3 million. (see Appendix 2 for more detail).



Active Lives Sport England’s Active Lives Survey (ALS), May 2017/18 is based on 16+year olds taking part in walking, cycling, fitness, dance and other sporting activity (excluding gardening). As identified in Figure 2.8 the percentage of the population considered to be inactive in the Borough is 22.6% which is less than the regional (26.8%) and national averages (25.2%). When considering those who are fairly active and active 77.4% of the Borough’s population participate as compared to 73.3% and 74,8% regionally and nationally respectively. Figure 2.8: Sport England’s Active Lives data May 2017/18

The most popular sports A further aspect of ALS is that it makes it possible to identify the top five sports/physical activities within the Borough. As with many other areas, structured programme classes and fitness are among the most popular activities and are known to cut across age groups and gender. Table 2.2: Most popular sports in Kettering Borough (Source: Active Lives Survey Nov 2016/17)

Sport Kettering Borough East Midland England

No. Rate No. Rate No. Rate

Structured Programme Class 15,100 19.2% 647,600 16.8% 7,938,000 17.7%

Fitness 14,200 18.0% 477,900 12.4% 5,727,600 12.8%

Athletics 13,500 17.1% 572,000 14.8% 7,266,300 16.2%

Cycling 10,800 13.7% 612,200 15.9% 7,498,900 16.8%

Swimming 8,600 10.9% 390,100 10.1% 4,651,100 10.4%



For the Borough of Kettering, nearly one in five (19.2%) adults go to a structured programme class on average, at least once a month. The next most popular activities are fitness (18.0%) and athletics (17.1%) which adults take part in on a relatively regular basis. Structured Programme Classes include dance, cardio fitness and core strength classes, whilst athletics includes jogging and park runs etc. Sporting segmentation (Data source: Market segmentation, Sport England) Sport England has classified the adult population via a series of 19 market segments which provide an insight into the sporting behaviours of individuals throughout the country. These cover a wide range of characteristics, from gender and age to the sports that people take part in, other interests, the newspapers that they read etc. The segmentation profile for the Borough indicates 'Comfortable Mid-Life Males' to be the largest segment of the adult population at 10.3% (7,208) compared to a national average of 8.7%. This is closely followed by 'Retirement Home Singles' (8.9%) and 'Settling Down Males' (8.8%) At the other end of the spectrum, there are fewest 'Later Life Ladies with only 1.5% (similar in percentage to the national average), 'Stretched Single Mums' (2.3%) and 'Comfortable Retired Couples' (2.7%). Knowing which segments are most dominant in the local population is important as it can help direct provision and programming. Segmentation also enables partners to make tailored interventions, communicate effectively with target market(s) and better understand participation in the context of life stage and lifecycles. Figure 2.9: SE segmentation of Kettering Borough compared to England



Mosaic (Data source: 2018 Mosaic analysis, Experian) This is a similar consumer segmentation product. It classifies all 25.2 million households into 15 groups, 66 household types and 238 segments. The top five mosaic classifications in Kettering compared to the country as a whole are shown below. The dominance of these five segments can be seen inasmuch as they represent almost two thirds (62.6%) of the population compared to a national equivalent rate of just over a quarter (28.3%). Table 2.3: Mosaic – main population segments in Kettering Borough

Mosaic group description Kettering Borough

National % Population %

1 - Aspiring Homemakers 17,848 17.9% 4.3%

2 - Transient Renters 15,363 15.4% 5.9%

3 - Domestic Success 10,917 11.0% 6.1%

4 - Senior Security 9,409 9.5% 3.4%

5 - Rural Reality 8,756 8.8% 8.6%

The largest segment profiled for the Borough is the Aspiring Homemakers group, making up 17.9% of the adult population in the area. This group is defined as ‘Younger households who have, often, only recently set up home. They usually own their homes in private suburbs, which they have chosen to fit their budget.’ Figure 2.10: Distribution of Mosaic segments in Kettering Borough



Table 2.5: Dominant Mosaic profiles in Kettering Borough

Aspiring Homemakers

Younger households who have, often, only recently set up home. They usually own their homes in private suburbs, which they have chosen to fit their budget.

Transient Renters

Single people who pay modest rents for low cost homes. Mainly younger people, they are highly transient, often living in a property for only a short length of time before moving on.

Domestic Success

High-earning families who live affluent lifestyles in upmarket homes situated in sought after residential neighbourhoods. Their busy lives revolve around their children and successful careers in higher managerial and professional roles.

Population projections Strategic planning: Change over 14 years (2017 to 20315) The most recent ONS projections indicate a rise of 10.7% in the Borough’s population (+10,632) over the 14 years from 2017 to 2031. Over this extended timeframe fluctuations are seen in rise and fall at different points across the majority of age groups. Figure 2.11: projected change 2017-2031

5 Office for National Statistics 2016-based population projections (data released May 2018)



Table 2.6: Kettering Borough - ONS projected population (2017 to 2031)

Age (years)

Number Age structure % Change 2017 – 2031

2017 2024 2031 2017 2024 2031 2017 2024 2031

0-15 20,193 21,145 21,165 20.4% 19.5% 18.2% 100.0% 104.7% 104.8%

16-24 9,167 10,300 10,490 9.3% 9.5% 9.0% 100.0% 112.4% 114.4%

25-34 12,252 11,620 13,302 12.4% 10.7% 11.5% 100.0% 94.8% 108.6%

35-44 13,231 13,815 12,823 13.4% 12.7% 11.0% 100.0% 104.4% 96.9%

45-54 14,775 13,690 14,504 14.9% 12.6% 12.5% 100.0% 92.7% 98.2%

55-64 11,264 14,779 13,942 11.4% 13.6% 12.0% 100.0% 131.2% 123.8%

65+ 18,065 23,256 29,853 18.3% 21.4% 25.7% 100.0% 128.7% 165.3%

Total 98,947 108,604 116,078 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 109.8% 117.3%

Several key points for Kettering Borough are outlined below: One of the most notable points is the progressive rise in the number of 0-15 year olds,

rising by +928 (+4.6%) over the first half of the projection (to 2024). This will place pressure on differing types of sporting, educational and cultural provision (facility and services) by age, gender and sub-groups of the cohort.

There is a continuous increase in the numbers of persons aged 65+ and a need to consider varying sport and physical activity offers for this age group. This represents an increase of +15.1% (+2,728) in the first period continuing to rise to +37.2% (+6,713) between 2017 and 2031. While the age group represented 20.0% of the Borough’s population in 2017 it is projected to be 39.3% of the total by 2031.

There is also an initial increase of 2.2% from 11.4% to 13.6% of the 55-64 year olds. This is followed by a drop off to 12.0% in 2031. There is also a longer term decline in the number of 16-24 year olds from 9.3% to 9.0%.

Housebuilding and policy Policy 28 of the Joint Core Strategy identifies a requirement for 10,400 houses to be built by 2031 in the Borough of Kettering. Of which, 6,190 houses are identified for Kettering itself, 1,180 for Burton Latimer, 1,360 for Desborough, 1,190 for Rothwell and a further 480 for rural housing. Projection implications The projected increase in the size of the population in the Borough is likely to lead to an increase in the number of people wishing to take part in sport and physical activity (potential customers of leisure facilities). A further issue is likely to be more to do with how the ageing population chooses to use its leisure time; this may well lead to changes in demand for different activities. It is fair to assume that there will be increased demand for sports facilities and physical activity opportunity in areas where housebuilding is planned. The importance of ensuring that the proportion of the population which is currently active remains so and that more of the presently inactive become active (sustaining and improving the general health of the local population) will become increasingly relevant. Indoor and built facilities, and programmes of activity therein, need to be capable of adapting to any changing demands and needs associated with demographic change.



Summary of the demographic profile The population of the Borough is projected to grow given the house building policy identified in North Northamptonshire’s Joint Core Strategy with most growth occurring as an urban extension to Kettering. It is also projected that the over 65 age group will increase from one fifth to just almost one in four (39.3%) of the population by 2031. This is likely to have a significant impact on levels of activity and the types of physical activity demanded within the Borough. Levels of physical activity and sport are currently commensurate with national and regional levels with the most popular indoor activities being structured programme classes and fitness. It is generally recognised that older age groups prefer to take part in activities during the daytime rather than in the evenings. The projected demographic changes, therefore, need to be taken account of within any new facilities or when considering the programming and pricing of current facilities. 2.4: Local health and wellbeing activities Consultation with a range of agencies, indicates that the Borough has a number of health and wellbeing programmes in the area. Improving health and wellbeing and physical activity through partnership working are a key focus. As identified in the local context, the challenges for KBC are tackling childhood obesity, improving health and wellbeing and ensuring facilities and programming meet the needs of communities including hard to reach groups. The following is a sample from the range of programmes and activities being provided by KBC: Kettering Wellbeing Festival – organised by KBC, this is a weekend of free health and wellbeing activities for the Borough of Kettering. Groups, clubs, associations, individuals and businesses are encouraged to provide access to a range of activities that promote health behaviours and improve wellbeing. It is aimed at all ages and abilities with the activities ranging from football to flower arranging. Workplace Health –a workplace programme to engage in sport, physical activity and wellbeing activities. Examples are mindful Monday, Try it Tuesday, etc. Public Health - health walks, awareness pop up events such as smoking cessation, National Fitness days etc Life Plan- free courses for tenants and leaseholders of KBC. Courses on offer are: mindfulness, food hygiene, fire safety in the home, first aid, falls prevention, cooking on a budget, dementia friends information, basic IT, advanced IT, home security DIY skills, Love your garden, Arts workshop, diabetes workshop, be your best- promote yourself in a positive way. Active Travel – promotion of active travel in the area Beat the streets project – an 8-week challenge that turns areas into giant games. Players are challenged to earn points on their Beat the Street card and tap Beat Boxes across the community by walking, running and cycling. Players discover more about the area, get more active and can win prizes.



Activity Referral Scheme - GP, nurse or healthcare professional referral scheme to enable discounted access to exercise and activity sessions. This is currently being offered at Kettering Swimming Pool. N-Sport programmes include: Jog Northants: is a countywide programme aimed at helping beginners start jogging. It has over 50 jogging groups throughout Northamptonshire to help those who are new to running or have not exercised in a long time. Nordic Walking - is an enhancement of walking by using specially designed walking poles and a taught technique. Nordic Walking provides a gentle but effective way to work the whole body. Northamptonshire Sport offer 4-week courses to help people learn how to Nordic Walk. Falls Prevention - Get Up & Go - The new Get Up & Go activity sessions will provide strength and balance classes for older people. Get Up & Go sessions will consist of a minimum of a 24-week programme prescribed and delivered by qualified OTAGO exercise trained instructors. The Get Up & Go sessions are evidence-based activity for the elderly that will support the development of core strength and balance. Cycling:- Recreational cycling opportunities in the county, including information on free led rides, cycle routes, maps and places to cycle. Back to Sport Across the county there are sessions being run to get you 'Back into Sport' Be it Netball, Hockey, Golf or another fantastic sport, these sessions are ideal for you if you haven’t played for a few years, or since school, or anywhere in between. They aimed at being informal, fun and get you geared up to playing again! Workplace Challenge Along with 21 other counties in England, N-Sport delivers the Workplace Challenge. A free programme to help colleagues engage in sport and physical activity. Activity on Referral: is a county wide scheme whereby GP's and Health Professionals can refer physically inactive people onto a tailor-made exercise programme to assist and support them to make healthier lifestyle choices. Health Walks: Fun, free walks led by volunteer walk leaders, who guide each walk. Health walks are part of a national initiative by Walking for Health which has been developed locally by the Borough’s sports development teams. In addition, there is a new initiative (ST:EPS (Safer Travel: Enabling Primary Schools) which has been piloted at one school since September 2018. It has now expanded to more schools in the area with the aim of enabling more children to walk, scoot or cycle to school. lt is currently being rolled out across the Borough. Brightkidz is a social enterprise which promotes active travel and road safety. Kettering Parkrun – is a weekly free 5km timed run located at Wicksteed Park.



SECTION 3: INDOOR SPORTS FACILITIES ASSESSMENT APPROACH 3.1: Methodology The National Planning Practice Guidance states that local authorities may refer to Sport England’s guidance on how to assess the need for sports and recreation facilities. The recognised process for audit and assessment is set out within the Sport England Assessing Needs and Opportunities Guide (ANOG) for Indoor and Outdoor Sports Facilities (2014). The methodology for this assessment is based on ANOG. ANOG provides a recommended approach to undertaking a robust assessment of need for indoor and outdoor sports facilities. It has primarily been produced to help (local authorities) meet the requirements of the NPPF. Each facility is assessed on the basis of quality, quantity, accessibility and availability. The assessment also considers the distribution of and interrelationship between facility types in the Borough and provides a clear indication of areas of high demand. It will identify where there is potential to provide improved and/or additional facilities to meet this demand and to, where appropriate, protect or rationalise the current stock.



Figure 3.1: Recommended approach



Analysis area As noted earlier the Borough of Kettering is relatively compact and during off peak travel time it takes generally no more than about 20 minutes to cross the Borough in any one direction. It is preferred that residents should be able to access sporting provision by walking, cycling and public transport before use of the private car. In reality, given the lower level of provision when it comes to built sports facilities, particularly strategic facilities like sports halls and swimming pools, there is an acceptance that the mode of transport will include the private car. As such it is considered appropriate to consider the Borough as a single unit in the audit and analysis of built facilities rather than breaking it down into distinct analysis areas. Management arrangements A Project Team from the Council has worked with KKP to ensure that all relevant information is readily available and to support the consultants as necessary to ensure that project stages and milestones are delivered on time, within the cost envelope and to the required quality standard to meet Sport England guidance. Further to this, the Steering Group has been responsible for the direction of the emerging audit and needs assessment from a strategic perspective and for supporting, checking and challenging the work. The Steering Group is made up of Council Officers, Sport England and the relevant NGBs Consultation A clear picture of supply and demand for sports facilities across the Borough was needed to determine an accurate assessment of provision. This has been achieved through consultation with key stakeholders including council officers, national governing bodies, parish councils, local sporting clubs and organisations and / or community associations providing a sporting role. The consultation provided information on current demand, adequacy, usage, future demand and strategies for maintenance and investment for outdoor sports facility All consultees, whether strategic partners or local sports clubs and /or community associations providing a service or contributing to service delivery identified specific issues/details which they think will be needed to ensure that new/improved facilities developed impact positively on increasing participation, thereby contributing positively to the wider health and wellbeing agenda. The following provides an overview and key areas emerging from consultation with a range of consultees. Appearance - the need for a detailed specification ensuring that venues are physically

attractive and accessible to all user groups including women and girls, those from different cultural and BAME (used to refer to people in the UK who are not white) groups, parents with young children, people with dementia etc. In respect of people with disabilities it was also considered important to ‘go the extra mile’ and do more than simply create Equality Act compliant facilities for example by adding a bench/seat in a corridor can create a pause/rest point for someone with walking difficulties.

Accessibility – consideration should be given to the extent to which people will be able to get to (and from) venues in respect of walk/cycle/public transport etc.

Programming – insistence upon programmes that do not simply work on the basis of ‘first come first served. Making a real (and measured) effort to ensure variety, cross-community appeal etc.

Usage/hire/membership cost - ensuring that a proper business plan and pricing/ discounting/membership allocation system to enable people from all sections of the community to use is built into business plan/contractual management arrangements.



Marketing/promotion – building in appropriate budgets and processes that are designed to attract a full cross section of the community into the buildings; measuring and evaluating this to inform performance and future practice.

Marketing/promotion (extending reach) – ensuring that systems in place are geared to cross sell, induce and (on the basis of price and value) attract people from harder to reach (and retain) groups into activities which could have a more positive impact on their health and wellbeing.

Management information/intelligence - geared to evaluate all of the above factors and to enable the Council and individual organisations to assess contractor performance on the basis of intelligence provided about each centre’s role in delivery of social policy.

Staffing – ensuring a high-quality orientation, underpinned by good customer/client group knowledge and adoption of effective outreach approaches. All these to be geared to centres attracting and retaining a full cross section of the local community.

The above is not definitive but will enable the Council to address specific issues when considering the development of any new or refurbishment of existing facilities. The key challenge is not to think of sport and leisure facilities as venues for ‘sporty types’ but as community assets relevant and contributing to the wellbeing of all borough residents. Consultation highlighted high demand for flexible spaces of varying sizes that are designed to include high quality fixtures and fittings (and equipment) that meet the needs of all the Borough’s residents especially those with a range of additional needs are imperative to the community’s ability to use them. 3.2: Site visits Active Places Power is used to provide baseline data to identify facilities in the study area. Where possible, assessments were undertaken in the presence of facility staff. This tends to add value as it enables access to be gained to more areas within venues and more detailed in-situ discussion of issues such as customer perspectives, quality, maintenance etc. Where possible it adds value to the audit (which is a ‘snapshot’ visit) enhancing the accuracy of insight gathered about the general user experience. Site visits to key indoor facilities, those operated by other partners and the voluntary sector have been undertaken. Via the audit and via informal interviews with facility managers this report identifies ‘relevance’ and ‘condition’ and describes (e.g.): Facility and scale. Usage/local market. Ownership, management and access arrangements (plus, where available, facility owner

aspirations). Management, programming, catchments, user groups, gaps. Location (urban/rural), access and accessibility. Condition, maintenance, existing improvement plans, facility ‘investment status’ (lifespan

in the short, medium and long term). Existing/ planned adjacent facilities. Assessing Quality The assessment form used captures quantity and quality data on a site by site basis and feeds directly into the main database allowing information to be stored and analysed. Quality assessments undertaken are rated in the following categories. These ratings are applied throughout the report, regardless of facility type.



Table 3.1: Quality ratings of indoor sports facilities using ANOG

Quality rating

Description

Good Facility is assessed as being new or recently invested, up to date, well maintained, clean and well-presented and generally no older than ten years. Fixtures, fittings, equipment and sports surfaces are new or relatively new with little if any wear and tear. The facility is well lit with a modern feel. Ancillary facilities are welcoming, new or well maintained, fit for purpose, modern and attractive to use.

Above average

Facility is in reasonable condition and is well maintained and presented. May be older but it is fit for purpose and safe. Fixtures, fittings, equipment and sports surfaces are in an acceptable condition but may show some signs of wear and tear. Ancillary facilities are good quality, but potentially showing signs of age and some wear and tear.

Below average

Facility is older and showing signs of age and poor quality. Fixtures, fittings, equipment and sports surfaces are showing signs of wear and tear. The facility is usable, but quality could be improved. The facility is not as attractive to customers and does not meet current expectations. Ancillary facilities are deteriorating, reasonable quality, but usable.

Poor The facility is old and outdated. Fixtures, fittings, equipment and sports surfaces are aged, worn and/or damaged. The facility is barely usable and at times may have to be taken out of commission. The facility is unattractive to customers and does not meet basic expectations. Ancillary facilities are low quality and unattractive to use.

Ratings are based on non-technical visual assessments. These consider facility age and condition. Surfaces, tiles and walls, line markings and safety equipment are considered and problem areas such as mould, damage, leaks etc. are noted. Condition of fixtures, fittings and equipment is recorded. Maintenance and facility ‘wear and tear’ is considered as is compliant with the Equality Act, although this is not studied in detail for the purposes of this report. When all data is collated, key facility elements receive an overall quality rating. Accessibility – Applying Catchment Areas Applying catchments areas for different provision types enables identification of areas currently not served by existing indoor sports facilities. It is recognised that these can vary from person to person, day to day, hour to hour. This problem is overcome by accepting the concept of ‘effective catchment’, defined as the distance travelled by around 75-80% of users (used in the Sport England Facilities Planning Model - FPM). Sport England data indicates that most people will travel up to 20 minutes to access sports facilities. This, coupled with KKP’s experience of working with leisure facilities and use of local data enables identification of catchment areas for sports facilities as follows in table 3.2: It is understood that village halls and community centres generally cater for a much more local population. With that in mind, catchment areas for village halls are identified as 800m which is considered to reflect a 10-minute walk time.



Table 3.2: Facility catchment areas

Facility type Identified catchment area by urban/rural

Village halls/community centres 10-minute walk / 800m

Sport halls 20-minute walk/ 20 minutes’ drive / 20 minutes public transport

Health and fitness 20-minute walk/ 20 minutes’ drive / 20 minutes public transport

Swimming pools 20-minute walk/ 20 minutes’ drive / 20 minutes public transport

Squash courts 20 minutes’ drive / 20 minutes public transport

Indoor bowls centre 30-minute drive / 30 minutes public transport

Dedicated gymnastics centre 20 minutes’ drive / 30 minutes public transport

3.3: Facilities Planning Model overview The FPM helps to assess the strategic provision of community sports facilities. It has been developed as a means of:

Assessing the extent to which the existing supply of sports facilities meet current levels of demand across Kettering Borough and neighbouring administrative areas in 2018; and.

Assessing the extent to which the projected population increase up to 2031, along with committed residential development, will have on the future total demand for sports facilities and their distribution.

In its simplest form the model seeks to assess whether the capacity of existing facilities for a particular sport are capable of meeting local demand considering how far people are prepared to travel to a facility (using the integrated transport network). To estimate the level of sports provision in an area, the model compares the number of facilities (supply) with the want for that facility (demand) generated by the local population. The Model is prescriptive and not predictive in that it does not provide precise estimates of the use of proposed facilities. Rather, it prescribes an appropriate level of provision for any defined area in relation to demand and which reflects national expectations and policies. The FPM is also used to test scenarios by predicting the impact a new facility might have or the closure of an existing venue. It can also model the impact of changes in population, for example, from major housing development. For this Report FPM data from two Facilities Planning Model Reports has been used: Strategic Assessment of Provision for Sports Halls (2018) Sport England Strategic Assessment of Provision for Pools (2018) Sport England These documents set out the findings from two local FPM assessments (known as runs): Run 1 – supply, demand and access to sports halls / pools, in 2018. This run provides

an assessment of current provision and how well it is meeting demand; it provides a baseline from which to measure change; and

Run 2 – supply, demand and access to sports halls / pools in 2031, it includes the projected increase in population and residential development across Kettering Borough and the wider study area between 2018 and 2031



The population projections applied in the FPM assessment for Run 1 (current situation) are based on the 2011 Census modified by the 2014 sub national updated projections. Run 2 (scenario testing) applies the Cambridge Centre for Housing and Planning bespoke population totals for 2031, for the North Northamptonshire Local Authorities of Kettering, Corby, East Northamptonshire and Wellingborough. This allows the modelling to progress using population totals in line with local planning. There are no bespoke population totals for Harborough or Daventry, meaning Run 2 is based on the ONS 2016- subnational population projections. Findings are compared directly with the audit and assessment carried out by KKP. The findings of the halls and pools modelling will be considered in more detail below. The FPM provides a good indication of supply against demand in the context of predicting current and future need. However, it is a strategic overview and the findings are best supported by on-site assessments and club consultations to corroborate modelling predictions with the existing situation. By using the ANOG approach this audit and assessment has followed this protocol. 3.4: Sports hall sizes Sport England has updated the Building Bulletin 98 which refers to a minimum size of a 4-court hall as 18m (width) x 33m (length) x 7.6m (height). Since 2012 Sport England and NGBs consider these dimensions to be unsuitable as they do not allow the recommended court sizes for different sports and limits teaching/coaching and flexibility of use. The individual spatial requirements of sports such as netball, handball, hockey and korfball that exceed the minimum requirements for 4-badminton courts are critical - extra space will be required both on the width and the length. The updated 4-court hall module suggests nominal dimensions of 34.5m (length) x 20.0m (width) x 7.5m (height) and a larger 5 court hall module with nominal dimensions of 40.6m (length) x 21.35m (width) x 7.5 m (height) being the minimum sizes for multi-sport projects, depending on the range of sports to be accommodated Table 3.3 identifies the required area in square metres for the relevant number of courts. Table 3.3: Sports hall sizes

Number of courts Range (area m2) Number of courts Range (area m2)

0 0 - 180m2 7 1012 - 1120m2 1 180 - 225m2 8 1120 - 1381m2 2 225 - 459m2 9 1381 - 1520m2 3 459 - 544m2 10 1520 - 1734m2

4 544 - 759m2 11 1734 - 1772m2

5 759 - 867m2 12 1772 - 2071m2 6 867 - 1012m2

Many older sports halls were constructed to the Building Bulletin 98 specification and are, therefore, likely to restrict some required run-offs, restricting the programmes that can be offered within sports halls



SECTION 4: VILLAGE/COMMUNITY HALLS 4.1: Village/Community Halls Village halls and community centres are important recreational facilities, especially in rural areas that, in some instances, may lack access to purpose-built sport facilities. They are usually multi-functional, providing places for meetings, socialising and for sports and recreation clubs and activities. In some parishes, a church hall or a sports pavilion can also serve a range of functions depending on its size. It is not a requirement of the Sport England ANOG methodology to audit and undertake non-technical assessments of village halls and local community centres. While their value is recognised the number of them and the variability between facilities for example, with respect to different opening times, smaller hall sizes, auxiliary facilities, etc puts a consistent and fair assessment between such facilities beyond the scope of this study. Consequently, information regarding village halls and community centres has been provided by the Borough Council to enable desk top research helping to determine factors like programming and other key issues.



Figure 4.1: Location of village/community halls in Kettering Borough with 800m radial catchment



Table 4.2: Village halls across Kettering Borough

Map ID

Village / community hall name Map ID

Village / community hall name

1 Ashley Village Hall 21 The Centre at Mawsley

20 Barton Seagrave Village Hall 23 Pytchley Village Hall

6 Braybrooke Village Hall 8 Rushton Village Hall

22 Broughton Village Hall 3 Stoke Albany Village Hall

25 Burton Latimer Village Hall 15 Thorpe Malsor Village Hall

14 Cranford Village Hall 2 Wilbarston Village Hall

19 Cransley Village Hall 7 Newton Field Centre

9 Geddington Village Hall 13 Warkton Village Hall

18 Great Cransley Village Hall 10 Weekley Village Hall

12 Harrington Village Hall 4 Dingley Village Hall

17 Kettering Parish Church Rooms 11 Grafton Underwood Village Hall

5 Little Oakley Village Hall 24 Rothwell Community Centre

16 Loddington Village Hall

The 25 village halls and community centres are spread throughout the Borough. It is estimated that just over 23% (22,775) of the Borough’s population live within 800m (10-minute walk time) catchment of a village/community hall. It should be noted that even though the catchment is based on 800m (10-minute walk) many users travel by car to venues and parking is still an important requirement for facilities. Although Desborough does not have a village hall / community centre it does have a leisure centre which goes some way to meeting this gap in provision. Availability Although all village halls rely on volunteers to operate, many offer facilities to the local community at the times needed i.e. daytime and evening. Activities tend to reflect the needs of the local community with the different types including:

Dance Fitness Physical activity Sport Ballroom Western dancing Morris dancing Line dancing Sosa Over 60s dance Mode Academy of dance

Zumba Pilates Boot camp Yoga Mini me yoga

Aerobics (legs bums & tums) Keep fit Tai chi Majorettes Clubbercise Qigong

Table tennis Badminton Martial arts (karate) Short mat bowls

4.2 Demand Research undertaken for the audit suggests that demand for village hall / community centre space is high, highlighting the importance of these sites in ensuring a good range of local sport and physical activity for residents across the Borough Consultation with local groups especially to the east of Kettering (Hanwood Park) identify the need for an indoor community space to benefit local residents.



These sites can (and could) play an important role in ensuring that older people and / or people in the more rural areas and / or hard to reach groups have access to facilities and can also contribute to getting the inactive active or retaining those already involved. Further analysis is required to understand whether, and the extent to which, activities in these facilities can meet the needs of the aging population. 4.3 Summary of village halls and community centres key facts and issues

Facility type Village halls

Elements Assessment findings Specific facility needs

Quantity The audit identified 25 village and community halls within the Borough. Village halls serve many of the more rural parts of the Borough. There is a gap in village hall/community centre provision in the more populated areas of Desborough. Consultation with residents identify their desire for a new facility in close proximity the Hanwood Park Development in the east of the Borough

The areas with higher population density are serviced by village halls or community centres – so there is no need to develop additional venues in these areas. Desborough Leisure Centre has the potential to plug the gap of village hall provision in that area There may be a need for additional provision in the east of the borough. This should be investigated.

Quality No site visits were undertaken, however, it is understood that facilities generally deteriorate with age, unless sufficient maintenance, resources and investment are forthcoming.

KBC and partners need to understand the age and quality of the village halls/ community centres with a view to establishing a register of need. KBC should consider if and what support it can give to ensure that facility quality is improved and/or maintained.

Accessibility Analysis indicates that 19.4% of the population lives within an 800-metre catchment of a site. The proposed housing development in East Kettering may place additional demand on current facilities. The areas of Kettering (and variable levels of access to a car for leisure activity) means that the importance of local facilities should not be underestimated.

There is no need to develop additional venues at this time. Residents of Hanwood Park have identified the need for an indoor community facility.

Availability (Management and usage)

Management varies between village hall committees, parish councils and individuals. All management relies on the goodwill of volunteers. The range of activities varies between each hall and is considered to broadly reflect interpreted local need.

Continue to support the work of hall management to secure external funding, improve volunteer skills and enhance the quality and effectiveness of facility management, programming, and finance.

Summary Creating a ‘register of needs’ could help the Council establish an approach to support village hall and parish council committees in their role to positively contribute to the physical activity, health and wellbeing of local communities.



SECTION 5: SPORTS HALLS Indoor multi-purpose sports halls are one of the prime sports facilities for community sport. They provide venues suitable to allow a range of sport and recreational activities to be played. The standard methodology for measuring sports halls is the number of badminton courts contained within the floor area.

Sports halls are generally considered to be of greatest value if they are of at least 3+ badminton court size with sufficient height to allow games such as badminton to be played. However, a 4-court sports hall provides greater flexibility as it can accommodate major indoor team sports such as football (5-a-side and training), basketball and netball. It also has sufficient length to accommodate indoor cricket nets and indoor athletics; as such, 4-court halls tend to offer greater sport development flexibility than the 3-court counterpart.

Larger halls, for example those with six or eight courts, can accommodate higher level training and/or competition as well as meeting day to day need. They may also provide an option for more than one pitch/court increasing flexibility for both training and competition and hosting of indoor central venue leagues for sports such as netball. The assessment in this section on sports halls is based on facilities that provide 3+ badminton court sized halls. Halls that function as specialist venues, such as dance studios are excluded.

5.1: Supply

The definition of supply is a stock or amount of something supplied or available for use. In this assessment that means the number of 3+ badminton court sized sports halls which are available for public and club use in the weekly peak period. Figure 5.1 illustrates all sports halls located in the Borough regardless of size and mapped against population density. Table 5.1 provides a key to the map and sets out the number of courts provided by each facility.

Table 5.1: All sports /activity halls in Kettering Borough

Map ID Site name Courts

1 Arena Sports (National Volleyball Centre) 12

4 Bishop Stopford School 4


4 Bishop Stopford School 0*

9 Desborough Leisure Centre 4

16 Grange Primary Academy 1

20 John Yeomans Hall 1

21 Kettering Buccleuch Academy 4

28 Kettering Science Academy 4

34 Latimer Arts College 1

37 Loddington Village Hall 0*

38 Montsaye Academy 4

48 Southfield School 1



58 Tresham College (Kettering Campus) 4**

Total 46 *0-cts indicate that the facilities are smaller than a 1 badminton court hall. **the audit differs from the FPM report in that it found a 4 court hall as opposed to a 3-court hall specified in the FPM



Figure 5.1: All sports /activity halls in Kettering Borough



Table 5.1 shows there are 12 sports hall sites with 16 individual sports halls offering a total of 46 badminton courts. They are mainly located in the areas of higher population density with the exception of Loddington village hall (Map ID:37) and Montsaye Academy (Map ID:38). Eight of the sports halls have two or fewer badminton courts. While often appropriate for mat sports, exercise to music and similar provision, they inevitably limit the range and scale of recreational and sporting activity that larger halls can enable. Some venues have more than one activity/sports hall on site. Tables 5.2 and 5.3 identify those halls which are to be excluded from the audit and assessment from this point on due to their size: Table 5.2: Halls with no marked courts which are excluded from the assessed supply



37 Loddington Village Hall 0 Table 5.3: Sports halls with one marked court which are excluded from assessed supply



16 Grange Primary Academy 1

20 John Yeomans Hall 1

34 Latimer Arts College 1


48 Southfield School 1 With the above sites removed from the assessment there are eight remaining sites providing 12 individual sports halls equating to 40 badminton courts between them (as identified in Table 5.4 and Figure 5.2). Table 5.4: Sports halls in Kettering Borough with 3+ badminton courts Map ID Site name Courts

1 Arena Sports (National Volleyball Centre) 12


9 Desborough Leisure Centre 4

21 Kettering Buccleuch Academy 4

28 Kettering Science Academy 4

38 Montsaye Academy 4


58 Tresham College (Kettering Campus) 4 TOTAL 8 40



In terms of the split between public leisure centre venues and educational sites, there are: Two public venues equating to 16 badminton courts

Arena Sports Desborough Leisure Centre

Six education sites equating to 24 Badminton courts Bishop Stopford School Kettering Buccleuch Academy Kettering Science Academy Montsaye Academy Southfield School Tresham College (Kettering Campus)

Figure 5.4, overleaf, illustrates that there are no 3+ badminton court size halls in rural areas. This highlights the important role village halls can have in these communities. The west of the Borough, which covers Rothwell and Desborough is served by Desborough Leisure Centre and Montsaye Academy. The remaining six halls are clustered in the Kettering and Burton Latimer areas. The Arena Sports venue is an extensive site with 12 badminton courts, which can be sub – divided into three separate halls each of 4 badminton court size. It is an extremely flexible venue in terms of the number of individual sports it can accommodate at any one time. The centre also has retractable tiered seating, so it can create a centre show court for major indoor sports events. The Desborough Leisure Centre is a 4 badminton court size sports hall which provides for indoor hall sports clubs and community recreational sport Of the six education venues two, Bishop Stopford School and Southfield School have two smaller activity halls in addition to their main four badminton court size sports hall. While the activity halls are discounted from this assessment because they are too small to be considered they do give the schools an advantage. Both venues can programme the main hall for the sports which require the bigger space, such as netball and basketball, whilst accommodating fitness activity classes in the smaller activity halls. In short, there is more potential for flexibility in the number of sports which can be accommodated in the programme at these two venues. Southfield School does not offer community use currently, which is discussed in further detail in the Availability section.



Table 5.4: Sports halls in Kettering Borough with 3+ badminton courts



Measure of Provision Based on a measure of badminton courts per 10,000 population, the Borough had 4.9 badminton courts per 10,000 population in 2018 which decreases to 4.3 badminton courts in 2031 (based on the projected population increase between 2018 – 2031). Present day findings for the East Midlands Region is 4.3 badminton courts per 10,000 population and 4.2 courts per 10,000 population across England (see Table 5.5). Therefore, the Borough of Kettering has the highest level of provision based on this measure in comparison with neighbouring authorities, the East Midlands and for the England-wide average. Table 5.5: Badminton courts per 10,000 Population for the authorities in the Study Area, East Midlands Region and England 2018 and 2031

Courts per 10,000 population Run 1 Run 2

2018 2031

Kettering 4.9 4.3

Harborough 4.4 4.0

Corby 2.7 2.4

Daventry 3.1 2.8

East Northamptonshire 2.2 1.9

East Midlands Region 4.3 4.0

England 4.2 3.9 It should be noted that the findings set out above are not setting a quantitative standard, they are given because it is useful for the Council to see how their provision compares with that of other areas. Quality of facilities All 40 courts on the eight qualifying hall sites were subject to a non-technical assessment to ascertain quality (Table 3.1, Section 3 identifies the criteria concerning quality). Table 5.4 and Figure 5.2 indicate the findings of these non-technical assessments.



Figure 5.2: Sports halls with 3+ courts in Kettering Borough by condition



Table 5.4: Sports halls (3+ courts) in Kettering Borough by condition Map ID

Site name Courts Assessment condition

Hall quality Changing

1 Arena Sports (National Volleyball Centre) 12 Above average Above average

4 Bishop Stopford School 4 Below average Below average

9 Desborough Leisure Centre 4 Above average Above average

21 Kettering Buccleuch Academy 4 Above average Below average

28 Kettering Science Academy 4 Below average Not assessed

38 Montsaye Academy 4 Above average Below average

48 Southfield School 4 Above average Not assessed

58 Tresham College (Kettering Campus) 4 Above average Not assessed Two of the eight sports halls are considered to be below average for quality (Kettering Science Academy and Bishop Stopford School) with the remainder being above average. It was not possible to assess changing facilities in the Kettering Science Academy, Southfield School and Tresham College as they were in use by students at the time of audit. Consequently, they remain as unassessed. Table 5.5: Facility - year of construction and refurbishment details

Site name Year built Year

refurbished Hall Quality

Arena Sports (National Volleyball Centre) 1993 2009 Above

Bishop Stopford School 2000 2008 Below

Desborough Leisure Centre 2012 Above

Kettering Buccleuch Academy 2004 2013 Above

Kettering Science Academy* 2012 Below

Montsaye Academy 2006 Above

Southfield School 2008 Above

Tresham College (Kettering Campus) 2007 Above

(*some refurbishment has taken place - date unknown)

Table 5.5 indicates the year of construction and/or refurbishment of sports halls in Kettering. The average age for the sports hall sites in 2019 is 18 years, but six of the venues have opened post 2000. The most recent to open are the Desborough Leisure Centre and Kettering Science Academy in 2012. Only one venue opened prior to 2000, the Arena Sports venue in 1993 which was extensively modernised in 2009. It is interesting to note that both the Bishop Stopford School hall (refurbished in 2008) and Kettering Science Academy (new build 2012) have assessment findings that indicate the facilities as below average. Conversely the Montsaye Academy was built in 2006 but was assessed as above average. This is perhaps an indication with respect to the level of use and / the degree to which the facilities are managed and maintained.



The audit identified plans in place to sand, reseal and re-line the sports hall floor at Bishop Stopford School in summer 2019 which should improve the quality of the hall. There is also an ambition to improve the lighting in the hall once funding is sourced. Accessibility Sports hall accessibility is affected by how far people are willing and able to travel to and from them. This is demonstrated through the FPM assessment which assesses demand based on travelling to a sports hall site by three different travel modes: car (20 minutes’ drive); public transport (20 minutes’ travel time); and walking (20 minutes’/1mile). Car travel is currently the dominant travel mode to sports halls with 81% of all visits being made by car. The finding is the same for the future year 2031. The current percentage of all visits by walkers is 12% which remains the same for the future year 2031. The percentage of visits to sports halls by public transport is 6%, again, this remains the same for 2013.

Visits to sports halls by walkers and public transport combined, is 18% of all visits, or just below one in five of all visits. Based on these findings a network of local accessible sports halls is important, in order to accommodate residents who do not have access to a car, (17% of the Kettering population based on the 2011 Census), and either walk, or use public transport, to access sports halls. Figure 5.3 and Table 5.6 identify the one-mile accessibility of sports halls in Kettering. They show that 66.3% (62,876) of the population live within a 20-minute walk (one mile) of a 3+ court sports hall. Residents who do not, tend to reside in the more rural, less populated areas of the Borough. The whole of Kettering’s population resides within a 20-minutes’ drive of a community use sports hall with 3 courts or more equivalent hall space as identified in Figure 5.4. It is a generally accepted fact and Sport England acknowledges that residents from more deprived areas are less likely to participate in sport than more affluent areas. The reasons for this are multifarious but cost and access form part of that barrier. Having facilities within a suitable distance (20-minute walk time) is important to ensure that the majority of residents have access. Analysis of data in Table 5.6 below, shows that 26.6% of Kettering’s population lives in the most deprived areas of the Borough compared to c. 30% nationally. Nearly all (23.3% of the 26.6%) of these residents live within one-mile walking distance of a sports hall, which indicates that halls are generally located in very accessible places.



Figure 5.3: 20-minute walk catchment showing areas of multiple deprivation (IMD 2015)



Table 5.6: Percentage of residents living in areas of deprivation (IMD 2015) with access to a 3+ court sports hall in the 20 minutes’ walking catchment

IMD 2015 10% bands

Kettering All sports halls (3 court+).

catchment populations by IMD

Persons Population

%

Persons inside

catchment

Population inside (%)

Persons outside

catchment

Population outside

(%)

0 - 10 7,162 7.6% 6,989 7.4% 173 0.2%

10.1 - 20 5,985 6.3% 5,826 6.1% 159 0.2%

20.1 - 30 12,014 12.7% 9,322 9.8% 2,692 2.8%

30.1 - 40 2,113 2.2% 1,777 1.9% 336 0.4%

40.1 - 50 11,789 12.4% 9,798 10.3% 1,991 2.1%

50.1 - 60 9,330 9.8% 5,718 6.0% 3,612 3.8%

60.1 - 70 8,029 8.5% 1,605 1.7% 6,424 6.8%

70.1 - 80 18,399 19.4% 10,415 11.0% 7,984 8.4%

80.1 - 90 10,426 11.0% 6,636 7.0% 3,790 4.0%

90.1 - 100 9,594 10.1% 4,790 5.1% 4,804 5.1%

Total 94,841 100.0% 62,876 66.3% 31,965 33.7%



Figure 5.4: 3+ court sports halls by condition with 20-minute drive time catchment IMD 2015



Availability The majority of sports halls are managed independently by schools themselves, using in-house staff/teams. Venue ownership and management arrangements are set out in Table 5.7. Table 5.7: Ownership and management of sports hall facilities

Site Ownership Management

Arena Sports (National Volleyball Centre) Local Authority Kettering Leisure Village Bishop Stopford School School School (in house) Desborough Leisure Centre Local Authority Legacy Leisure

Kettering Buccleuch Academy Academy Academy (in house)

Kettering Science Academy Academy School Lettings Solutions Montsaye Academy Academy Academy (in house)

Southfield School School School (in house) Tresham College (Kettering Campus) Further Education College (in house)

Availability and facility management Community availability is governed by a range of factors, for example, some facilities may be commercially operated and may require membership fees (thereby restricting use to those who can afford to pay); others will allow only sport clubs to use the facility, which must be booked in advance; whilst others may allow pay and pay availability which allows the public to book a facility on a first come first served principle. Local authority owned facilities offer pay and play opportunity to the general public (but will also take block bookings at peak times) which is illustrated in Table 5.8 by the high number of hours the halls are available. School providers typically allow sports club and association use in preference to pay and play. This is generally easier to administer especially for educational establishments. The sports halls located on educational sites are not usually available during the day in term time. Table 5.8: Opening times and activities in sports halls in Kettering Borough

Community Use Hours

KKP Ref

Site Total

Courts Main sports played

None 48 Southfield School 4 None

20 - 40 20.0 28 Kettering Science Academy

4 Cricket, football, martial arts futsal and netball

40+

83.0 1 Arena Sports (National Volleyball Centre)

12 Netball, football, walking football, badminton, over 50s activities and table tennis

46.0 4 Bishop Stopford School 4 Badminton

98.0 9 Desborough Leisure Centre

4 Karate, badminton, kick boxing, fitness classes, yoga, Pilates, gymnastics

53.5 21 Kettering Buccleuch Academy

4 Badminton, volleyball, dance and fitness

46.0 38 Montsaye Academy 4 Cricket, basketball, archery, martial arts, table tennis and badminton



Community Use Hours

KKP Ref

Site Total

Courts Main sports played

51.0 58 Tresham College (Kettering Campus)

4 Basketball, futsal and football

Table 5.8 indicates that all facilities, with the exception of Southfield School, offer community use. The Southfield courts are privately operated by the school exclusively for school use. Of the facilities offering community use, Kettering Science Academy offers the least number of hours available but offers a wide variety of sports. The programme overall shows a variety of sports available at different sites, with indoor cricket, badminton, futsal and table tennis available. Desborough Leisure Centre offers much of its class-based fitness programme within the main sports hall, due to a lack of available group fitness spaces. This can lead to increases in the number of people taking part but can also lead to conflict of programming where sports such as badminton struggle to play alongside music-based activities. It can also inhibit the time given to more traditional sports such as badminton and basketball etc as they can get squeezed out in favour of the class-based activity (which potentially draws in more income). Management of the leisure centre is mindful to manage the competing demands and has suggested that the addition of studios to the centre would potentially reduce the strain on the sports hall and increase the availability for indoor sports as well as increasing the fitness class offer (both in numbers and variety). Desborough Leisure Centre as it stands was provided as part of the Grange Development in 2012. It was phase one of a two phase delivery. Phase two will commence upon the occupation of the 450th dwelling on the Desborough North development. Development has not yet started for Desborough North but negotiations are under way. Phase two will see the delivery of fitness studio, which as identified above will lead to improved availability of the sports hall for sports which require a sports hall to take part, such as badminton, basketball etc. Size of sports halls As set out in section 3.4, the multi-sport sports hall regulation size was increased in 2012 to ensure they conform with the needs of sports such as netball, handball, hockey and badminton. These sports require additional width and length than the previous standard 4 court size. Table 5.9 shows that Tresham College is the only facility in the Borough which does not conform to modern size requirements which potentially reduces the range of activities that can take place in this sports hall. Table 5.9: Sports hall sizes Map ID

Site name Courts Sports hall size (m2)

Sport England regulation size

1 Arena Sports (National Volleyball Centre) 12 1944 Yes

4 Bishop Stopford School 4 690 Yes

9 Desborough Leisure Centre 4 594 Yes

21 Kettering Buccleuch Academy 4 594 Yes

28 Kettering Science Academy 4 690 Yes

38 Montsaye Academy 4 690 Yes



Map ID

Site name Courts Sports hall size (m2)

Sport England regulation size

48 Southfield School 4 690 Yes 58 Tresham College (Kettering Campus) 4 486 No

5.2: Facilities Planning Modelling – Overview of Findings The Facilities Planning Model (FPM) helps to assess the strategic provision of community sports facilities. It assesses the extent to which the existing supply of sports halls meets current levels of demand across the Borough in 2018. In addition, it evaluates the impact anticipated population growth and committed residential development will have on the future total demand for sports facilities and their distribution up to 2031. More about the FPM model can be found in Section 3 – Methodology. Demand balance for sports halls Total demand represents the total demand for sports halls by both genders across the 14 five-year age bands from 0 to 65+. In the FPM Report total demand is expressed in two ways, firstly by the number visits in the weekly peak period and secondly in numbers of badminton courts. For this assessment the focus of demand will be based on the number of badminton courts. The Borough wide total demand of sports halls in 2018 is for 28.4 badminton courts across a weekly period. This is projected to increase to 31.5 courts by 2031. Therefore, the total demand for sports halls is projected to increase by 11.1% from 2018 to 2031. The demand for sports halls is highest in and around Kettering Town. Supply and demand balance Supply and demand balance compares the total demand for sports halls generated within Borough, with the total supply of sports halls located within Borough. It therefore represents an assumption that all the demand for sports halls in the Borough, is met by all the supply of sports halls in Borough. It should be noted that this is not a true representation of how people use sports halls. People will usually travel to their closest hall which may be across neighbouring local authority boundaries. The reason for presenting the supply and demand balance of halls in this way is to show the Council how their total supply of sports halls compares with their total, Borough-led, demand for sports halls. When looking at this closed assessment, the Borough supply of sports halls available for community use in 2018 is 39.5 badminton courts. The total demand is for 28.4 courts (over a weekly peak period). Therefore, the total supply of sports halls in 2018 exceeds the demand by 11.1 badminton courts. In 2031, the Kettering supply of sports halls for community use, exceeds demand by 8 badminton courts. This modelled information should be read with caution as it varies from the finding of the audit and assessment. This is explained later in the document in the sports hall availability section. The FPM supply and demand balance does, however, indicate that over the time period from 2018 to 2031, that the supply of badminton courts available to accommodate demand reduces by 3.1 courts.



Satisfied demand for sports halls Satisfied demand represents the proportion of total demand that is met by the capacity at the sports halls from residents who live within the driving, walking or public transport catchment area of a sports hall. Based on sports halls located in a catchment of Kettering Borough and the neighbouring authorities the FPM modelling found that 94% of the Kettering total demand can be met in both 2018 and 2031. Retained demand is a sub-set of the satisfied demand findings. Using the same catchment as above it analyses how much of the satisfied demand for the Borough is retained in Kettering Borough sports halls. The findings show that the retained demand is very high, 93% of the total satisfied demand which is 94% in total. These findings indicate that the nearest sports hall for over nine out of ten visits to a sports hall by a Kettering resident in both years, is a sports hall located inside the Borough. Exported demand and neighbouring facilities The residual of satisfied demand, having extracted retained demand, is exported demand. This is based on Kettering residents using the nearest sports hall to where they live, but where that hall is located in a neighbouring authority. The total of exported demand for the Borough is low at 7% of the Kettering satisfied demand in 2018 and 6% in 2031 The reason residents will visit neighbouring facilities is based on a number of factors including quality, availability and accessibility (distance and modes of travel). As noted in the Sports hall accessibility section above, all of the resident population lives within 20 minutes’ drive time of a sports hall within the Borough of Kettering. Consequently, Figure 5.5 identifies facilities which are located within 2 miles of the local authority border (as this indicative of how far people may travel to use alternative facilities) There are seven sports halls on six sites located within 2 miles of Kettering Borough. They offer 30 badminton courts in total. Four facilities are in Harborough, north west of the Borough with the remaining three in Corby, located to the north east of the Borough. Five of the sites have four courts, one site has three courts and the Robert Smyth Sports Centre, Harborough has both a four and a three-court hall. None of the sites have pay and play availability though, they are either registered membership or sports club/association. Table 5.10: Sports halls with 3+ courts within 2 miles of Kettering Borough

Map ID Site name Courts Access type Local authority

S1 Lodge Park Sports Centre 4 Pay and play Corby

S2 Robert Smyth Sports Centre 4 +3 Sports club / CA Harborough

S3 Meadowdale Primary School 3 Sports club / CA Harborough

S4 Kingswood Secondary 4 Sports club / CA Corby

S5 Welland Park Academy 4 Sports club / CA Harborough

S6 Brooke Weston Academy 4 Sports club / CA Corby

S7 Harborough Leisure Centre 4 Pay and play Harborough

Total 30

Source: Active Places Power 30/04/2019



Figure 5.5: Sports halls with 3+ courts within 2 miles of Kettering Borough



Figure 5.6 shows the destination and scale of the Borough’s exported demand in 2018 by visits per week (over a weekly peak period). The largest export is to Wellingborough followed by Harborough and then Corby. The findings for the other local authorities are below 1%. This trend is the same in both 2018 and 2031. The FPM model identifies slightly greater imported demand than exported. The numbers of import and export are relatively small, suggesting a self reliance on sports halls within the Borough.



Figure 5.6: Run 1: Destination and Scale of Kettering Exported Demand for Sports Halls 2018



Unmet demand for sports halls Unmet demand has two parts to it (1) there is too much demand for any particular sports hall within its catchment area (insufficient hall capacity); or (2) the demand is located outside the catchment area of any sports hall and is then classified as unmet demand. The total unmet demand for the Borough is just 1.6 badminton courts in 2018 rising to 1.9 courts in 2031. In the main, this unmet demand arises from part 2 of the definition, demand outside of catchment. It equates to 1.5 badminton courts in 2018 rising to 1.7 courts in 2031. This is a very low level of demand given there the FPM identifies 39 courts available for community use in the existing and future year. The location and scale of unmet demand from both definitions can be seen in Figures 5.7 and 5.8 overleaf. These maps illustrate that there is no one area demonstrating a cluster of unmet demand at a sufficient scale to consider recommending the provision of new sports halls



Figure5.7: Run 1 Total Demand for Sports Halls Kettering 2018



Figure: 5.8 Run 2 Total Demand for Sports Halls Kettering 2031



Used capacity is a measure of usage at sports halls which estimates how well used/how full facilities are. The FPM assessment includes a ‘comfort factor’, beyond which, in the case of sports halls, the venues are too full. The model assumes that usage over 80% of capacity is busy and the sports hall is operating at an uncomfortable level above that percentage. On average the used capacity for sports halls across the Borough in 2018 is 63.7% rising to 71.2% in 2031. This reflects the supply and demand findings set out earlier showing that the supply of sports halls exceeds the demand (by 11 badminton courts in 2018 and 8 courts in 2031). This is an average measure, however, showing there is enough capacity to meet demand when demand is distributed between the halls. The findings on capacity differ when considering the individual halls Table 5.11: FPM assessed -used capacity at individual sits in 2018 and 2031

Individual Sites Utilised Capacity Run 1 (2018) %

Run 2 (2031) %

Kettering area collectively 64 71

Arena Sports 45 47

Bishop Stopford School 44 51

Desborough Leisure Centre 85 97

Kettering Buccleuch Academy 100 100

Kettering Science Academy 96 99

Montsaye Academy 61 73

Southfield School 63 85

Tresham College (Kettering Campus) 100 100

Summary of used capacity The FPM identifies that modelled use at the different sports hall facilities is dependent upon a range of factors including, for example the number of peak hours they are open, the type of programming, quality of facilities and the cost of use. It suggests that there is a draw effect making some facilities full at peak times, whereas others are not. It should be noted of course that Southfield School is identified as being available (within the FPM modelling), although the audit identifies that it is not available for community use. The closest two facilities to Southfield School are Tresham College (which is identified at full capacity) and Bishop Stopford School. It is likely, therefore, that Bishop Stopford School will be the likely recipient of additional demand for facilities, which may be displaced from Southfield School. 5.3: Supply and demand summary There are 12 sports halls on eight sites providing the hall space equivalent of 40

badminton courts available for community use The average age of the sports hall stock in 2019 is 18 years, with six venues opening

since 2000. Six of the eight sports halls are owned by educational establishments. Therefore, meeting

the demand for sports halls is dependent on community use at these sites. The audit found that there is no community use at Southfield School but this position may

change in the future The available supply of sports halls in the Borough currently exceeds the demand by 11

courts which decreases to 8 in 2031. In quantitative terms this means there is a sufficient supply of halls to meet Borough demands both now and in the future



On average 63.7% of the Borough’s sports halls are currently used at peak times rising to 71.2% in 2031. However, while there appears to be sufficient capacity there is a draw effect to some facilities making them very full at peak times where others are not

The unmet demand for sports halls is currently the equivalent of 1.6 badminton courts rising to 1.9 in 2031. However, there is no one area demonstrating a cluster of unmet demand at a sufficient scale to consider the provision of new sports halls

The total satisfied demand for sports halls within the Borough is currently 94.3% decreasing to 93.9% in 2031

The level of demand from Kettering residents using Kettering provision is currently 92.9% rising to 93% in 2031 meaning that over 9 out of 10 visits is to a venue located in the borough

Consultation Findings Badminton England Badminton England (BE) is the national governing body of sport (NGB) for badminton. Its latest strategy, Discover Badminton 2017-2025 presents a vision for the sport to become one of the nation’s most popular and to consistently win medals at world, Olympic and Paralympic levels. To achieve this, it has identified three key objectives: Grow grassroots participation. Create a system that identifies and develops player potential to deliver consistent world

class performers. Build financial resilience to become a well governed organisation and demonstrate

compliance with the UK governance code. Consultation with BE indicates that there have not been any access issues for clubs recently, nor to badminton activity at local leisure centres. Many clubs are operating from school sites and BE is aware that rising court hire costs are becoming an issue for some clubs which are trying to maintain long-standing bookings at the sties. BE identified that Northamptonshire County Schools Badminton Association (NSCBA) operates its junior club at Bishop Stopford School with many fixtures being played at Towcester Leisure Centre. Other than that, there are no other ‘key’ facilities, as different clubs and organisations operate across various sites. BE suggests that there is potential to grow badminton in the Borough, expand club development and develop their associated workforce in Kettering and across Northamptonshire. Junior provision still needs additional support, particularly at participation level. Social development is becoming more of a focus, to ensure more opportunities are available for adults and young adults to play outside of the traditional club structures (although there is still a requirement for adequate signposting to opportunities within local clubs). Badminton is still a vibrant sport with considerable growth at junior level (particularly primary aged children) and the provision and opportunities available for these groups. At adult level, BE suggests there has been growth in the core market linked to clubs, groups and organised activity. Over 1 million people now play badminton at least once a month.



Basketball Basketball England (BBE) is the NGB for the sport in England. Its latest strategy, Transforming Basketball in Britain Together (2016 - 2028) aims to improve basketball from grassroots to GB teams by adopting a whole sport approach and working closely with the basketball community. To achieve this, a series of key objectives have been identified: Develop successful GB teams. Build high-quality men’s and women’s leagues and teams. Support talented players, officials and coaches and coach development pathways. Drive increased awareness and profile of the sport. Increase opportunities to play the game at every level. Transform the leadership and culture of the sport. To increase the opportunities to play the game at every level, BBE is in the process of producing a facilities strategy which aims to create community hubs including, where appropriate, arenas that sit at the heart of communities and are homes for the leading British Basketball League, Women’s British Basketball League and community clubs. The stated intent is that as part of its facilities strategy implementation, BBE will regularly monitor provision in schools, colleges, universities, clubs and at local authority sites and identify any gaps, looking to improve connections between these organisations to increase the availability and affordability of facilities of the right quality. The NGB identifies that there is one club, Kettering Phoenix, in the Borough with 81 members. It is based at Tresham College and is made up mainly of adult male, female and junior male players. Basketball England identifies the following: Player age groups Population -2019 Population growth in age groups

5-10 years 8,186 -3.3%

11-16 years 7,527 +11.1%

17-18 years 2,255 +24.3%

19-24 years 5,608 +11.5%

25-74 years 64,294 +1.5% Kettering overview: BBE identifies Kettering as 137 priority local authority out of 326 Netball England Netball’s latest strategy, Your Game, Your Way (2017 – 2021) (update), aims to establish it as a top performing, financially sustainable NGB that promotes ‘Netball for Life’ and develops more world class athletes. The four key stated priorities are: Grow participation in the game by an average of 10,000 participants per annum. Deliver a 1st class member and participant experience. Establish England as the number one team in the world by winning the World Netball

Championships.



Lead an effective and progressive infrastructure enabling all involved in the netball experience to collaborate as one team aligned behind one dream.

England Netball reports that netball is growing fast across the region. Locally, affiliated numbers are up by 330 in the last four years. Back to Netball alone has attracted 300 new members. Junior numbers and clubs are increasing year on year. Club consultation The majority of netball activity is played outdoors at Kettering Science Academy (KSA) where there are three courts. Kettering Science Academy reports that it is fully booked at peak times. Totally Netball (commercial organisation) consultation indicated that there is demand for a 6-court outdoor venue. The League indicated it has no intention of playing indoors, the netballers dress appropriately for the weather and play. Play Netball leagues (outdoors) are also based at Kettering Science Academy and use the outdoor netball courts. Kettering Netball League (14 teams) also plays at Kettering Science Academy and KBA. It reports to varying between 13-18 teams over the year (summer and winter) which has grown significantly over recent years. It has demand and would like to increase provision however reports that all sports halls are full in the area, this has been exacerbated with Southfield School withdrawing community use. It wishes to move indoors but reports that there is no availability at present due to cricket use. This has resulted in the League altering the game format to play shorter games to ensure there is no reduction to the number of teams. At KSA, the League cannot secure any indoor time and are having to play outdoors despite being an indoor league. Northants Storm is a performance club with juniors at under 10s,12s,13s,14s and 16s. There are also two senior teams. Northants Storm serve the whole of Northamptonshire and so use a number of sites across the county to ensure it is accessible. In Kettering, the Club uses KSA and reports the courts to be average in quality. There is currently no availability at KSA to expand. Volleyball Numerous attempts were made to contact both Volleyball England and volleyball clubs in the area, however, no response has been received. Research indicates that The National Volleyball Centre has been based at Arena Sports since 2009 and has recently renewed its lease for another three years. It is also used as a central location to provide volleyball courses and the annual referee, coaching and higher education volleyball conferences as well as English National Squads training camps. The facility has hosted a range of competitions including National and European Cup events. Kettering Volleyball Club uses the indoor volleyball courts at Arena Sports and William Knibb Youth Centre plus the outdoor courts at Arena Sports (beach volleyball) and Bowling Green Courts at Kettering Sports Club. The club caters for both juniors and seniors playing competitively and recreationally.



Table Tennis The Table Tennis England (TTE) Mission 2025 strategy will ensure that facility investment (£750k from Sport England) enables “A network of vibrant table tennis venues, meeting the needs of social and committed participants that cater for current participants and enable an increase to 200,000 regular participants”. The key to delivering this are schools and young people. TTE recognises that getting schools and young people to embrace table tennis is paramount to its long-term growth. TTE aims to offer table tennis for young people in 500 additional community venues and get it played in 1,000 more schools than in 2015. It has a plan to re-launch a new school-club link programme to provide a vital and sustainable partnership. A key target is that by 2025 there should be a club and/or league within 30 minutes’ drive of 80% of the population. Consultation with Rothborough Table Tennis Club reports that the Club currently hires Montsaye Academy sports hall and which is meeting the need of the Club. It has c. 24 members and membership has remained fairly static over the last three years. Club member recruitment and retention of younger players is a particular challenge for the Club as it is reported to be restricted by hall availability for session times and days and there is no resource available within the club to co-ordinate and offer coaching within the club. Futsal Futsal is administered by the Football Association. Its strategy “Fast Forward with Futsal” is The FA’s Futsal Strategy 2018 – 2024. The FA vision to Make Futsal the FA’s - and the nation’s indoor game of choice for young players with an accompanying mission to ensure that every young player experiences Futsal as part of his/her development. Targets set by the FA to achieve by 2024 are: Participation:150,000 Futsal players participating regularly across genders & of all ages. Workforce:15,000 FA qualified Futsal coaches at FA Level 2 and UEFA ‘B’ (currently 900). Facilities: A defined network of Futsal facilities, covering every County FA International: An England men’s Futsal team in the top 20 of the FIFA world rankings

(currently 54th) and an England women’s Futsal team. Football is popular in the area with the majority of sports halls reporting that it takes place in sports halls. Considering the National and County FA drive there is a need to consider developing futsal in the area. It is likely that demand for Futsal will increase and consideration should be given to the installation of futsal markings should any new sports halls large enough to accommodate the sport be built. Consultation with Kettering Futsal Club indicates that Futsal is popular in the area with 100 children playing each week. There are eight teams in the area and the sport trains at Tresham College, Kettering Science Academy and on occasions at Arena Sports. There is an aspiration to develop a league in the area, but this has not been established as yet. The Club reports that the current facilities within the Borough do not meet the demands of the sport as hall availability is poor at the times and days the Club wishes to hire. On occasions Kettering Futsal Club travels up to 60 miles to meet the facility requirements for matches. This was, reportedly, made more difficult when Southfield School retracted community use and the clubs had to re-locate.



The Club reports that it has an increased challenge when booking a facility as it requires the entire sports hall and, on many occasions, there is availability for courts but not for a whole hall due to other sports requirements and those who need smaller spaces such as. badminton, trampolining, table tennis etc. Walking Football Consultation with Kettering Walking Football Club found that the Club currently plays outdoors at Kettering Science Academy. The Club’s preference is to play indoors during the daytime however, sports facilities are predominantly on school sites and are, therefore, not available at the time required. The Club reports to have stopped promoting its sessions as it is full to capacity with 30 players and only has one hour and one pitch to play on. The Club also reports to have been in discussion with Northamptonshire FA regarding the development of a League in the area. Archery Kettering Archers which affiliates to Archery GB has c. 100 members. It is a section of Kettering Town and Cricket Club and predominantly shoots outdoors. Over the winter months the Club hires Kettering Buccleuch Academy sports hall to enable it to offer a year-round programme. Beginners courses are delivered by the Club’s qualified coaches at St Edwards Church, which is considered a pre-requisite to joining the Club’s training sessions. A thriving club, it is able to attract younger people. It holds pay and play introductory offers twice per annum which are proving successful. It is able to hold Flight competitions due to being able to access a facility of the requisite length (164 metres). Summary of consultation findings A wide range of sporting activities are happening in the Borough including traditional sports alongside more modern play. Badminton, basketball, netball and tennis are vying for hall space with archery, volleyball, table tennis, futsal and walking football. Consultation with the clubs indicates a high level of local demand for sports hall space. This is particularly true for netball, table tennis, futsal and walking football. Both the Kettering Netball League and Kettering Futsal Club report that the issue of hall demand is exasperated since Southfield School has withdrawn community use of their facilities. The lack of hall provision at a time to meet programming needs for local clubs / leagues is inhibiting game growth as well. Daytime access to hall provision is important for physical activity programmes such as the walking sports. Although the Arena Sports Centre can offer this option it is not usually a possibility at sports halls based on education sites. Future development The East Kettering Sustainable Urban Extension (also called Hanwood Park) is a mixed use development containing up to 5,500 dwellings, a secondary school, up to four primary schools, open space (including parks and play areas), employment areas, local centre facilities (e.g., shops and health care) and associated infrastructure.



A community owned sports hall is planned as part of the development. It is anticipated this will offer a 10-court sized facility once the development is complete. The hall may be delivered in two phases aligned with the development delivery, starting with a high roof 5-court which can be extended to 10 courts. The schools will be able to use the community owned sports facilities rather than having to provide the courts themselves. The planned sports hall is notably larger than would usually be provided as part of a school and can be utilised by the adjacent planned primary school and used by the other schools within the development. The schools may have their own smaller sports halls but these would be part of the schools and designed specifically for the pupils use. Such a community facility, designed to be accessible to all ages and abilities, will ensure that the community does not face the challenges of access or restrictions of buildings associated with sports halls on education premises. Latimer Arts College reported that it is planning to develop a new sports hall which is likely to be completed by early 2020. It is proposed that the new facility will have 4 courts and futsal markings and that there will be a community use agreement will be granted to ensure the facility is available for use to the community. Tresham College is having volleyball fittings installed in Summer 2019. Summary of future development The development at Latimer Arts College is likely to ensure improved accessibility to sports halls in the east of the Borough as it is located in Barton Seagrave (assuming that the College will encourage community use). The facility at Hanwood Park is identified as a community owned sports hall so assuming that appropriate safeguarding measures are built into its design, it has the potential of offering both daytime and peak time use. Summary of sports halls The assessment identifies 12 sports halls on eight sites providing 40 badminton courts. The availability of the sports halls varies significantly with Desborough Leisure Centre and Kettering Arena offering daytime and evening access. Schools do not offer daytime availability but are a significant part of the community offer at weekends and on weekday evenings. The FPM differs from some findings within the audit in that the audit identifies that Southfield School is not available for community use, which reduces the effective supply. It is, however, still part of the supply of sports halls as management at schools can vary and it may well become available for use in the future. The proposed development at Latimer Arts College (very likely to proceed) is likely to be available for community use. Its development would offset the loss of Southfield School. In addition, the proposed development of an initial 5- court hall at Hanwood Park, followed by an additional 5- court hall on the same site will ensure that the effective supply of sports hall space will be able to accommodate increases in demand generated by both projected population growth and sports development growth.



5.4: Summary of key facts and issues

Facility type Sports halls


Quantity There are 12 sports halls on eight sites providing the hall space equivalent of 40 badminton courts available for community use

Six of the eight sports halls are owned by educational establishments so meeting demand is dependent on community use at these sites.

FPM modelled available supply exceeds demand by 11 courts decreasing to 8 in 2031. In quantitative terms, supply is sufficient to meet Borough demands for present and future needs.

The new proposed sports hall at Latimer Arts College will increase the effective supply by 4 courts providing a community use agreement is signed.

The 5 to 10-court hall provision on the Hanwood Park development will increase the effective supply.

Given the current effective supply, the meagre levels of unmet demand and the existing commitment of new facilities there is no additional requirement for new sports halls.

The effective supply is dependent on community use of school sites. The Council needs to work with, encourage and support schools to develop active community use agreements. The priority focus is Southfield School and Latimer Arts College for use of the new hall

Quality The main towns of Kettering, Desborough and Rothwell are all serviced by above quality sports hall facilities.

Six of the eight halls are rated as above average; two of the eight changing facilities rate above average, three rate as below average and three were not assessed as they were in use.

The average age of the sports hall stock in 2019 is 18 years, increasing to 31 years by 2031. Modernisation is required to maintain quality

Investment programmes to improve the quality and flexibility of existing stock and to expand facilities where possible would also increase capacity.

Bishop Stopford School and Kettering Science Academy are identified for priority investment given the below average rating of facilities.

Further, the changing rooms for Kettering Buccleuch Academy and Montsaye Academy are identified for priority investment given the below average rating of facilities.

Accessibility There is a close correlation between sport hall locations, their catchment areas and the location of demand for Borough facilities. The facilities are in the right location and very accessible

The resident population of Kettering Borough can access a sports hall within a 20 minutes’ drive

Two thirds of the population can access a sports hall within a 20 minutes’ walk.

27% of residents are located in areas of deprivation, 23% of these can access a sports hall within a 20 minutes’ walk.

The FPM models that 9 out of 10 visits to a hall by Borough residents is to a venue inside the Borough

From an accessibility perspective there is no one area demonstrating unmet demand at a sufficient scale to prompt the provision for new sports hall.



Unmet demand is low, the equivalent of 1.6 courts rising to 1.9 in 2031

There are seven sports halls on six sites located within a 20 minutes’ drive beyond the Borough’s border but none offer a pay and play opportunity.

Modelled exported demand to facilities outside the Borough is low, just 3% to Wellingborough, 1.9% to Harborough, 1.4% to Corby and less than 1% to Daventry and East Northamptonshire


The scale / size of a sports hall impacts on availability e.g., not having a fitness studio means Desborough Leisure Centre uses the main hall for fitness programming and classes inhibiting bookings for court type sports.

Southfield School has withdrawn community availability to sports hall facilities resulting in a loss of a 4-court hall and 2 activity halls to the effective supply

Investment programmes to improve the quality and flexibility of existing stock and to expand facilities where possible would also increase capacity.

The Council needs to work with, encourage and support schools to develop active community use agreements.

The priority focus is Southfield School to make provision for community use and Kettering Science Academy to increase the number of hours available for hire. Opportunities to offer daytime and / or extended hours for community use at education venues should be explored. Any recommendations within this exercise must address safeguarding for the whole school community and include proposals to support facilities management

Strategic summary

Investment programmes to improve the quality and flexibility of existing stock and to expand facilities where possible would also increase capacity Ensure any new sports hall development has futsal markings to enable the sport to continue to grow. Work with Southfield School to make provision for community use and Kettering Science Academy to increase the hours available for community use. Retain daytime access to sports halls at the public facilities and opportunities to offer day-time and / or extended hours for community use at education venues should be worked towards. Ensure community use agreements are in place for any new sports hall developments in the future including Latimer Arts College.



SECTION 6: SWIMMING POOLS Sport England defines a swimming pool as an “enclosed area of water, specifically maintained for all forms of water-based sport and recreation”. It includes indoor and outdoor pools, freeform leisure pools and specific diving tanks used for general swimming, teaching, training and diving. Many small pools are used solely for recreational swimming and will not necessarily need to strictly follow the national governing body recommendations, especially with regard to competition regulation. It is, however, generally recommended that standard dimensions are used to allow appropriate levels of competition and training and to help meet safety standards. Relatively few pools need to be designed to full competition standards or include spectator facilities. Training for competition, low-level synchronised swimming, and water polo can all take place in a 25m pool (normally with a minimum of 4-lanes). With modest spectator seating, pools can also accommodate competitive events in these activities. Diving from boards, advanced synchronised swimming and more advanced sub-aqua training require deeper water (generally greater than 2m in depth but dependent upon the specific activity). These can all be accommodated in one pool tank, which ideally should be in addition to the main pool. The NGB responsible for administering diving, swimming, synchronised swimming and water polo in England is Swim England. 6.1: Supply The definition of supply is a stock or amount of something supplied or available for use. For facilities planning modelling (FPM) that mainly means all operational indoor pools (including privately run and school pools) available for community use i.e. pay and play, membership, Sports Club/Community Association and which exceed 160m2 (e.g. 20m x 4 lanes) water space. There are exceptions however which will be explained below. Pools with less than 160m2 space and / or require membership and / or are associated with the premises they are based in do restrict community access and limit opportunities related to health as well as availability in areas of deprivation. These accessibility and availability issues will be considered in more detail later in the report. Figure 5.1 illustrates all swimming pools located in the Borough regardless of size and mapped against population density. Table 5.1 provides a key to the map and sets out the type of facility, number of lanes, length (metres) and area m2



Figure 6.1 All swimming pools in Kettering Borough



Table 6.1: All swimming pools and sites in Kettering Borough

Map ID

Site name Facility type Lanes Length (m)

Area (m2)

2 Balance Health Club (Kettering)

Learner/Teaching/Training 0 12 120

25 Kettering Park Spa Learner/Teaching/Training 2 13 117

30 Kettering Swimming Pool Main/General 6 25 325

38 Montsaye Academy Main/General 4 20 140

49 Sports Direct Fitness (Kettering)

Main/General 3 16 160

50 Stableyard Spa Learner/Teaching/Training 0 14 98

TOTAL 960 Table 6.1 shows there are six swimming pool sites providing a total of 960m2 water space. The map shows Kettering Swimming Pool is located in the highest populated area of the Borough, a fitting location for a public facility. Balance Health Club, Kettering Park Spa and Sport Direct Fitness are also located in areas of high population density and to some extent form a Kettering Town cluster. Table 6.1 shows two of the six pool facilities meet the 160m2 water space criteria namely Kettering Swimming Pool and the Sports Direct Fitness facility. The Montsaye Academy has a full swimming programme which includes swimming lessons, pay and play recreational swimming, pool parties etc. It is also providing swimming opportunities to people living to the east of Kettering Town saving additional journey time and potential town congestion. Given the extent of its offer it is included as a relevant facility within the facilities planning modelling (FPM) and this audit and needs assessment. It is important to note that there are no dedicated teacher / learning pools at the three key sites identified above. While Kettering and Montsaye offer a learn to swim programmes the pools have a minimum depth of 0.9m which could impact on the confidence of the learner, particularly younger swimmers. Balance Health Club, Kettering Park Spa and Stableyard Spa also offer learn to swim sessions but the same depth issue applies and they are too small to offer a full swim programme. As noted earlier, they will be discounted from the evaluation on the grounds of accessibility and availability issues later in this Section. Measure of provision Based on a measure of water space m2 per 1,000 population, the Borough had 6.2 m2 per 1,000 in 2018 which decreases to 5.5m2 in 2031 (based on the projected population increase between 2018 – 2031). The Kettering water space per 1000 population is considerably below that of all its neighbours, the East Midlands Region and England wide in both years. Reference to Table 6.2 shows that the East Midlands Region and England wide provision is twice that of Kettering, locally, Corby’s provision exceeds that for the present year at 15.7m2 per 1,000. The supply and demand for swimming pools across Kettering, will be based on the FPM assessment which investigates a number of factors when determining surpluses and deficiencies, not just supply. It will also be verified through the audit and assessment process of provision. That said, a supply of water space which is less than 50% of most of its neighbours is a significant finding.



Table 6.2: Water space per 1,000 population for all authorities 2018 – 2031

Water space per 1,000 population Run 1 Run 2

2018 2031

Kettering 6.2 5.5

Harborough 10.3 9.2 Corby 15.7 14.2 Daventry 9.0 8.2 East Northamptonshire 14.0 12.5 East Midlands Region 12.6 11.4 England 13.0 12.0

It should be noted that the findings set out above are not setting a quantitative standard, they are given because it is useful for the Council to see how their provision compares with that of other areas. Quality of facilities All but one of the pools were subject to a non-technical assessment to ascertain quality (Table 3.1, Section 3 identifies the criteria concerning quality). An assessment of changing provision is included as part of this process as it plays a significant role in influencing and attracting users. Table 6.2 and Figure 6.2 indicate the findings of these non-technical assessments



Figure 6.2: Quality of swimming pools in Kettering



Table 6.2: Swimming pools in Kettering

Map ID

Site name Lanes x length (m)

Condition

Pool Changing 2 Balance Health Club (Kettering) 0 x 12m Above average Above average 25 Kettering Park Spa 2 x 13m Good Above average

30 Kettering Swimming Pool 6 x 25m Below average Below average

38 Montsaye Academy 4 x 20m Below average Below average 49 Sports Direct Fitness (Kettering) 3 x 16m Above average Not assessed

50 Stableyard Spa 0 x 14m Not assessed Not assessed One of the five pools assessed, Kettering Park Spa, is rated as good, for pool provision. Both Balance Health Club and Sports Direct Fitness are rated as above average where Kettering Swimming Pool and Montsaye Academy rated below average. Access was not gained to Stableyard Spa or changing facilities at the Sports Direct facility. Consequently, of the swimming pools identified above as providing key provision in the Borough, Kettering Swimming Pool, Montsaye Academy and Sports Direct Fitness, only Sports Direct comes out as above average with the remaining two rated as below. Changing provision was generally assessed to be in the same condition as the swimming pools with the exception of Kettering Park Spa, which has a pool identified as good where the changing provision is rated as above average. Table 6.3: Age of pools in Kettering

Site name Year built Refurbishment Age (years) since

refurbishment

Balance Health Club (Kettering) 2001 18

Kettering Park Spa 1993 26

Kettering Swimming Pool 1984 2002 17

Montsaye Academy 2006 13

Sports Direct Fitness (Kettering) 2002 17

Stableyard Spa 2008 11

Table 6.3 indicates the year of construction and/or refurbishment of swimming pools in the Borough. The average age for the pools in 2019 is 17 years, with four of the six venues opening post 2000. Kettering Swimming Pool is the oldest in the group but it was refurbished in 2002. The most recent to open was the Stableyard Spa in 2008.

It is interesting to note that Kettering Park Spa still retains a good rating even though it is the second oldest pool in the Borough. This may be associated with the fact it is a commercially owned pool. Indeed, the other two commercially run pools are considered as better quality than the publicly owned Kettering Swimming Pool and school owned Montsaye Academy. This is potentially related to the level of investment in these pools and possibly fewer users than generally found in publicly owned facilities.



Accessibility

Swimming pool accessibility is affected by how far people are willing and able to travel to and from them. This is demonstrated through the FPM assessment which assesses demand based on travelling to a pool site by three different travel modes: car (20 minutes drive); public transport (20 minutes travel time); and walking (20 minutes/1mile). .

Car travel is currently the dominant travel mode to swimming pools with 82.5% of all visits in 2018 being made by car which is higher than the East Midlands Region average of 76.4% and the England wide rate of 72.6%. However, compared to neighbouring authorities Kettering’s car reliance is below Daventry (91%), Market Harborough (89.6%) and East Northamptonshire (84.7%) but above Corby (77.8%) and Wellingborough (78.3%).

Based on the 2011 Census data the percentage of the population who do not have access to a car is 17.6%. Travel to pools by walking was 11.4% of all visits in 2018 and arrival by public transport is 6.1%. So around 17% of all visits to pools were either on foot and / or by public transport, that’s around one in six visits compared to eight out of ten visits being made by car.

These findings have two implications, firstly a network of local accessible pools is important for residents who do not have access to a car. Secondly, given the dominance of car travel, it is possible that those who use this mode do so to access pools beyond the Borough boundary that they deem more attractive in terms of quality and programming activities not available at pools in Kettering

It is a generally accepted fact and Sport England acknowledges that residents from more deprived areas are less likely to participate in sport than more affluent areas. The reasons for this are multifarious but cost and access form part of that barrier. Having facilities within a suitable distance (20-minute walk time) is important to ensure that the majority of residents have access. Figure 6.3 and Table 6.6 identify the one-mile accessibility of swimming pools in the Borough. Analysis of Table 6.6 shows that nearly 45% (42,550) of the Borough’s population live within a 20-minute walk (one mile) of pool. 26.6% (25,161) of Kettering’s population lives in the most deprived areas of the Borough (compared to c. 30% nationally). Just over three quarters of these residents (19.9% (18,845 residents) out of 26.6% (25,161 residents)) live within one-mile walking distance of a swimming pool. Over 99% of Kettering’s population (100,185 of the ONS MYE 2017 population of 100,252) is estimated to be within a 20 minutes’ drive time of a pay and play pool as identified in Figure 6.4. .



Figure 6.3: All swimming facilities in Kettering with 20 minutes’ walk time showing areas of multiple deprivation (IMD 2015)



Figure 6.4: Pay and play swimming pools in the Kettering Borough with 20 minutes’ drive time



Table 6.6: Percentage of residents living in areas of deprivation (IMD 2015) with access to a swimming pools in the 20 minutes’ walking catchment

IMD 2015 10% bands

Kettering All pools


Persons Population

%

Persons inside

catchment


Persons outside

catchment

Population outside

(%)

0 - 10 7,162 7.6% 4,384 4.6% 2,778 2.9%

10.1 - 20 5,985 6.3% 5,661 6.0% 324 0.3%

20.1 - 30 12,014 12.7% 8,800 9.3% 3,214 3.4%

30.1 - 40 2,113 2.2% 2,065 2.2% 48 0.1%

40.1 - 50 11,789 12.4% 8,927 9.4% 2,862 3.0%

50.1 - 60 9,330 9.8% 3,216 3.4% 6,114 6.4%

60.1 - 70 8,029 8.5% 411 0.4% 7,618 8.0%

70.1 - 80 18,399 19.4% 2,447 2.6% 15,952 16.8%

80.1 - 90 10,426 11.0% 2,985 3.1% 7,441 7.8%

90.1 - 100 9,594 10.1% 3,654 3.9% 5,940 6.3%

Total 94,841 100.0% 42,550 44.9% 52,291 55.1%



Figure 6.4: Community available swimming pools in Kettering (Pay and Play)



There is a close correlation between accessibility and availability when considering facility ownership and / or management. As noted earlier only two of the pools, Kettering Swimming Pool and Montsaye Academy offer a full pay and play opportunity. The remaining four pools are commercially operated and require some form of membership (Balance Health Club and Sports Direct Fitness) or interaction with the premises where they are located (Kettering Park Spa and Stableyard Spa). This restricts accessibility and availability as described in more detail below. When the four commercially operated pools are removed from the IMD analysis (Figure 6.4), accessibility reduces to 36.5% (34,662) of the population who live within a one-mile catchment of an available swimming pool, of which 18.1% (17,123) live in areas of higher deprivation.

Table 6.7: Percentage of residents living in areas of deprivation (IMD 2015) with access to swimming pools offering full public access and within the 20 minutes’ walking catchment

IMD 2015 10% bands

Kettering Pay and Play pools


Persons Population

%

Persons inside

catchment


Persons outside

catchment

Population outside

(%)

0 - 10 7,162 7.6% 2,662 2.8% 4,500 4.7%

10.1 - 20 5,985 6.3% 5,661 6.0% 324 0.3%

20.1 - 30 12,014 12.7% 8,800 9.3% 3,214 3.4%

30.1 - 40 2,113 2.2% 1,777 1.9% 336 0.4%

40.1 - 50 11,789 12.4% 7,838 8.3% 3,951 4.2%

50.1 - 60 9,330 9.8% 1,169 1.2% 8,161 8.6%

60.1 - 70 8,029 8.5% 197 0.2% 7,832 8.3%

70.1 - 80 18,399 19.4% 2,095 2.2% 16,304 17.2%

80.1 - 90 10,426 11.0% 1,389 1.5% 9,037 9.5%

90.1 - 100 9,594 10.1% 3,074 3.2% 6,520 6.9%

Total 94,841 100.0% 34,662 36.5% 60,179 63.5%

Availability and facility management) Community availability is governed by a range of factors, for example, some facilities may be commercially operated and may require membership fees (thereby restricting use to those who can afford to pay); others will allow only sport clubs to use the facility, which must be booked in advance. Whilst acknowledging that such swim facilities cater for specific market segments it is noted that accessibility is restricted for other sections of the community. Facilities that offer pay and play opportunities or booking on a first come first served principle provide full community access and availability to all market segments. There are no private use swimming pools in Kettering.



Table 6.8: Ownership and management of swimming pool facilities

Site Ownership

Balance Health Club Commercial Kettering Park Spa Commercial Kettering Swimming Pool Local Authority

Montsaye Academy Academy Sports Direct Fitness (Kettering) Commercial

Stableyard Spa Commercial Both Kettering Swimming Pool and Montsaye Academy offer pay and play opportunities to the general public. Both pools also provide a full range of swimming activities including learn to swim, public recreational swimming, lane and fitness activities and private parties. Kettering Swimming Pool is used by Kettering Amateur Swimming Club. Montsaye has less appeal for club use as it is only a 20m pool. Montsaye’s availability is affected during term time as the programming provides priority use to the school during this time to coincide with the School’s PE curriculum. Kettering Swimming Pool does not provide free parking. Swimmers are required to use the Pay & Display car park which results in additional costs for those accessing the facility via car. Sports Direct and Balance Health Club are commercially managed and require a monthly/annual membership to access facilities. Sports Direct offers aqua-fitness classes where Balance Health Club offers a wider range of activities including swimming lessons for both children and adults. Kettering Park Spa and Stableyard Spa are spa facilities primarily geared towards recreation and relaxation. Access is gained either via the hotel or health club. Programming Programming is restricted by the lack of a separate teacher / learner pool in both Kettering Swimming Pool and Montsaye. It means that swim school takes place in a main pool reducing the number of available pay and play hours. If there was a dedicated teacher / learning pool programming could be rescheduled which would allow for additional activities in the main pool which could lead to increased lane swimming, club swimming and/or additional aquafit classes, thereby increasing the capacity of the swimming pools.. 6.2: Facilities Planning Model – Overview of Findings The Facilities Planning Model (FPM) helps to assess the strategic provision of community sports facilities. It assesses the extent to which the existing supply of swimming pools meets current levels of demand across the Borough in 2018. In addition, it evaluates the impact anticipated population growth and committed residential development will have on the future total demand for sports facilities and their distribution up to 2031. More about the FPM model can be found in Section 3 – Methodology.



Total demand - The Kettering total demand for swimming in 2018 is 6,444 visits per week in the weekly peak period and this equates to a total demand for 1,069m2 of water in the same weekly peak period. For context a 25m x 4 lane pool is between 210 – 250 m2 of water, depending on lane width. The total demand is projected to increase to 7,034 visits in the weekly peak period by 2031 and this equates to a demand for 1,167m2 of water.

So, there is a projected 13.4% increase in the total population in Kettering Borough between 2018 and 2031 and a projected 9.1% increase in the total demand for swimming.

The total demand for swimming in 2031 is made of the resident population in 2018 and the growth in population between 2018 and 2031. The ageing of the resident population between 2018 and 2031, will influence the demand for swimming. Sometimes with an older age structure population, there are fewer people in the main age bands for swimming (14 – 54 and for both genders) in the second run year than in the baseline run year. So the increase in demand for swimming from population growth, can be partially offset by the ageing of the resident population. This interaction of the two demand drivers appears to be having a very slight impact in Kettering.

Supply and Demand Balance Supply and demand balance compares the total demand for swimming pools generated within Borough, with the total supply of pools located within Borough. It therefore represents an assumption that all the demand for pools in the Borough, is met by all the supply of pools in Borough It should be noted that this is not a true representation of how people use swimming pools. People will usually travel to their closest pool which may be across neighbouring local authority boundaries. The reason for presenting the supply and demand balance of pools in this way is to show the Council how their total supply of pools compares with their total, Borough-led, demand for pools. When looking at this closed assessment, the Borough supply of pools available for community use (based on hours available in the peak period) equates to 593m2 of water in both years (modelling assumes no change to the Borough’s swimming pools). The total demand is for 1,069m2 of water in 2018, increasing to 1,167m2 2031. Therefore, the total demand for pools exceeds the supply in both years by 476 m2 and 574m2 respectively Satisfied demand for swimming pools Satisfied demand represents the proportion of total demand that is met by the capacity at the swimming pools from residents, who live within the driving, walking, or public transport catchment area of a pool. Based on pools located in a catchment of Kettering Borough and the neighbouring authorities the FPM modelling found that 92% of the Borough’s total demand can be met in both 2018 and 2031. Therefore, the population growth and associated increase in demand for swimming pools in Kettering and across the wider study area can be met by the existing supply of swimming pools, up to 2031. Retained demand is a sub-set of the satisfied demand findings. Using the same catchment as above it analyses how much of the satisfied demand for the Borough is retained in Kettering Borough swimming pools. The findings show that the retained demand is reasonably high,



73.1% of the total satisfied demand which is 92.4% overall in 2018. These findings indicate that the nearest pool for over seven out of ten visits to a swimming pool by a Kettering resident, is to a pool located in the Borough. It also means that the location and catchment area of the swimming pools in the Borough are very well correlated with the location of the Kettering demand for swimming pools and provide very good travel accessibility for Kettering residents. Exported demand and neighbouring facilities The residual of satisfied demand, having extracted retained demand, is exported demand. This is based on Kettering residents using the nearest swimming pool to where they live, but where that pool is located in a neighbouring authority. The total of exported demand for the Borough is 26.9% of satisfied demand in 2018, rising to 28.1% in 2031 The reason residents will visit neighbouring facilities is based on a number of factors including quality, availability and accessibility (distance and modes of travel). As noted in the section on Accessibility above, the whole resident population lives within 20 minutes’ drive time of a swimming pool within the Borough. Facilities which are located within 2 miles of the local authority border (as this indicative of how far people may travel to use alternative facilities for individual reasons) are identified in Table 6.8 and Figure 6.3. There are 5 pools on 2 sites located within 2 miles of Kettering Borough. Corby East Midlands International Pool, located north east of the Borough, has three pools, one of which is a 50m competition pool. Harborough Leisure Centre, located to the west of the Borough is likely to service some of the rural population in Kettering, given its proximity to the border. Both pools offer learner/teaching provision unlike the pools in Kettering. Both facilities are available to the community through pay and play. Table 6.8: Swimming pools within 2 miles of Kettering Borough

Map ID

Active Places site name Pool type Lanes / length

Local authority

P1 Corby East Midlands International Pool Main/General 8 x 50m Corby

P1 Corby East Midlands International Pool Main/General 4 x 20m Corby

P1 Corby East Midlands International Pool Leisure Pool 0 x 8m Corby

P2 Harborough Leisure Centre Main/General 6 x 25m Harborough

P2 Harborough Leisure Centre Learner/Teaching 0 x 5m Harborough

Figures 6.4 and 6.5 show the destination and scale of the Borough’s exported demand in 2018 and 2031 by visits per week (over a weekly peak period). The largest export is to Corby (12.1%) then to Wellingborough (6.5%), East Northamptonshire (4.2%), Harborough (3.4%) and finally Daventry (0.2%). This trend is the same for both 2018 and 2031. It is worth noting that a finding from the on-site audit and assessment is that Harborough Pool is likely to be re-located in the near future to the north of Harborough. Although the impact will be minor, this is likely to reduce the accessibility of the existing pool to Kettering residents.



Figure 6.3: All swimming pools by condition with 2-miles of Kettering Borough



Figure 6.4: Run 1: Destination and Scale of Kettering Exported Demand for Swimming Pools (2018)



Figure 6.5: Run 1: Destination and Scale of Kettering Exported Demand for Swimming Pools (2031)



Figure 6.5: Run 1 Total Demand for Swimming Pools in Kettering 2018



Figure 6.6: Run 2 Total Demand for Swimming Pools in Kettering 2018



Unmet demand for swimming pools Unmet demand has two parts to it (1) there is too much demand for any particular pool within its catchment area (insufficient pool capacity); or (2) the demand is located outside the catchment area of any pool and is then classified as unmet demand.

The total unmet demand for the Borough is 81m2 (7.6%) of water space in 2018 rising to 90m2 (7.7%) in 2031. In the main, this unmet demand arises from part 2 of the definition, demand from outside of catchment. It equates to 85% of the unmet demand in 2018 (68m2 of water space) rising to 86% in 2031 (77m2 of water space). Again, to put this into context a 25m x 4 lane pool is between 210 and 250 m2 of water, depending on lane width

The key point is not that unmet demand outside the catchment exists, it always will because it is not possible to achieve complete spatial coverage. It is the scale and the range of between the 68m2 to 77m2 of water space that is important, this finding is small scale. For context, Kettering has a supply of 593m2 of water space available for community use in both years.

The location and scale of unmet demand from both definitions can be seen in Figures 6.5 and 6.6 above. These maps illustrate that there is no one area demonstrating a cluster of unmet demand at a sufficient scale to consider recommending the provision of a new swimming pool.

Used Capacity (how full are the swimming pools?) Used capacity is a measure of usage at swimming pools which estimates how well used/how full facilities are. The FPM assessment includes a ‘comfort factor’, beyond which, the venues are too full i.e. because the pool becomes too crowded to swim comfortably and / or the changing and circulation areas become too crowded. The model assumes that usage over 70% of capacity is busy and the pool is operating at an uncomfortable level above that percentage. In run 1 the estimate is that the pools, as an authority wide average, are 91% full in the weekly peak period. The impact of the projected population increase between 2018 and 2031, means the estimated used capacity of the pools in the weekly peak period, is 97% of total pool capacity, again as an authority wide average. Kettering Swimming Pool and Montsaye Academy have an estimated used capacity of 100% in the weekly peak period. The weekly peak period is up to 5 hours each weekday afternoon/evening and up to seven hours per weekend day. For Kettering Swimming Pool, the estimated used capacity is because of reasons/draw of the fullest availability of the pool for public and club use, plus promotion of swimming and physical activity.

The modelling for the Montsaye Academy, is based on the hours available for hire of the pool by swimming clubs and other groups, weekday evenings, weekend days and outside of school term time. Whilst the Montsaye Academy pool is the smallest in the Borough, at 20m x 7m, it is also the most recent pool site, having opened in 2006. The pool length may limit its appeal to swimming clubs, but as the most modern pool site, it may also have a draw effect.

The Sports Direct Fitness swimming pool site has an estimated used capacity of 67% in 2018 and 92% in 2031 in the weekly peak period. This is below the Kettering wide average in both years. Commercial pools provide for residents who have the ability and willingness to pay the monthly membership fee. They provide access for members to do recreational swimming, but very few, if any, other swimming activities, although some commercial pools may operate a swim school.



So, the range of swimming activities is considerably more limited than for public swimming pools and use is also limited to the membership of the centre. Finally, their opening hours can be less extensive than public swimming pools. These reasons explain, why the used capacity of the commercial pool site, is projected to be lower than the authority wide average. FPM summary The key drivers for change are to reduce the used capacity of Kettering Swimming Pool and to increase the swimming activities on offer. This could be met by the provision of a dedicated teaching/learning pool which would increase the swimming pool capacity and could increase the range, quality and offer of swimming activities in the Borough. 6.3: Supply and demand summary There are six swimming pools in Kettering providing a total of 960m2 water space. Two of the six pools (Kettering Swimming Pool and Montsaye Academy) offer full

community use through pay and play access. Both facilities have main pools offering a varied programme of aquatic activities including swim school but neither has a dedicated learner / teaching pool facility.

There are no dedicated learner / teaching pool facilities in the Borough. Four of the six pools (Balance Health Club, Kettering Park Spa, Sports Direct Fitness,

Stableyard Spa) provide limited access and availability for community use due to lack of pay and play opportunities.

Kettering Swimming Pool was built in 1984 and refurbished in 2002. It is owned and managed by the local authority. Montsaye Academy was built in 2006. It is owned and managed by the Academy; it has daytime restrictions on community use.

Kettering Swimming Pool and Montsaye Academy have an estimated used capacity of 100% in the weekly peak period.

Three pools met the criteria to be assessed by the Sport England Facilities Planning Model – Kettering Swimming Pool, Montsaye Academy and Sports Direct Fitness.

The FPM identified that level of demand from Kettering residents using Kettering pools is currently 92.9% rising to 93% in 2031 meaning that over 9 out of 10 visits is to a venue located in the Borough

On the basis of the FPM findings the total demand for pools within the Borough exceeds the supply of pools within the Borough by 476m2 in 2018 and by 574m2 in 2031.

When based on the catchment of pools within the Borough and the neighbouring authorities provision the FPM findings establish that 92% of the Borough’s total demand can be met in both 2018 and 2031.

The FPM assessment shows unmet demand is low in both years, it is insufficient to consider the provision of a new pool but additional water space could reduce the extent of used capacity at Kettering Swimming Pool and Montsaye academy bringing them back to the Sport England benchmark of good practice (comfortably full at 70% of capacity used in a peak period)

The location and catchment area of Kettering swimming pools is closely correlated with the location of the Kettering demand for swimming pools



6.4: Consultation findings Swim England’s latest strategy, Towards a Nation Swimming: a Strategic Plan for Swimming in England 2017-21, aims to create a happier, healthier and more successful nation through swimming. To achieve this, several strategic objectives have been set: Provide strong leadership and be the recognised authority for swimming. Substantially increase the number of people able to swim. Significantly grow the number and diversity of people enjoying and benefitting from regular

swimming. Create a world leading talent system for all disciplines. Deliver a high quality, diverse and motivated workforce within swimming. Strengthening organisational sustainability for future generations. Consultation with Swim England confirms that in relation to UK wide participation all local authority areas are priority areas but areas with swimming pool water deficit are a greater priority. Kettering has a -479m² deficit. To put this into context, a 25m x 4 lane pool is between 212-250m2 of water, depending on lane width. In terms of competition swimming, Kettering has only one community use swimming pool (6-lane pool) that seriously restricts swimming club activity. Higher level competition is provided by Corby 50m swimming pool complex. Swim England goes on to indicate that the local swimming club is inhibited in its desire to expand due to a lack of waterspace. Nationally, participation levels are steadily increasing, which is a reverse of the previous decade. Innovations in facility design are resulting in more sustainable and flexible use pools. Club consultation Kettering Amateur Swimming Club has 190 members and is based at Kettering Swimming Pool. The Club has reached its membership capacity with the lack of water space is inhibiting growth. The Club also hires pools outside of the Borough including the Nene Centre in Thrapston which is approximately 20 minutes’ drive from Kettering, and for long course training for its performance swimmers it uses at Oundle School which is currently a 43m pool with a 50m pool opening later in 2019. The Club reports that it struggles to retain swimmers that have to travel out of the Borough for swimming as this necessitates additional travel time and cost for parents. It also suggests that Kettering Swimming pool does not meet the expectations of modern swimmers even though it recognises investment is being made into the plant and facilities. One of the main challenges is the facility design and layout in that the changing provision is shared with the public and is not a village style changing which, it suggests, causes safeguarding concerns. The Club would like to be able to host galas and competitions, but this again is not possible due to the lack of spectator seating/viewing gallery. The Club, therefore, travels out of the Borough to access all competitions. Future demand The FPM identifies that there will be sufficient pool space available in 2031 due to the use of neighbouring authority pools.



Both the FPM and the KKP audit identify an undersupply balance at peak times. This equates to a learner pool. Neither current nor increased demand can be accommodated by the current supply of swimming pools, however the pools in neighbouring authorities are currently accommodating this demand. The local government reform leading to the creation of a North Northamptonshire Unitary Authority is likely to have a bearing on the future management and maintenance of existing and provision of new facilities in the area. The switch to Unitary is planned for 2021. The investment required for the delivery of a new swimming pool would have to be supported by a strong business case prior to the switch and currently, KBC considers the case is not compelling. A programme that seeks to invest in existing facilities in the interim is deemed to be the best value approach at this moment in time. In terms of providing a learner/teaching pool, there is no capacity to extend Kettering Swimming Pool and, therefore the only option would be to remove the fitness gym, which would impact on other facilities as described in section 7. 6.5: Summary of findings and needs In summary, the above consultation and analysis would indicate that the borough of Kettering is in the following position with regards to its swimming pool provision:

Facility type Swimming pools


Quantity There are six swimming pools providing 960m2 of water space. Only three of the six meet the size and programme requisites to be considered fully accessible and available for community use (Kettering Swimming Pool, Montsaye Academy, Sports Direct Fitness). FPM identifies that the total demand for pools exceeds the supply in 2018 and 2031 by 476 m2

and 574m2 respectively. Demand is met through use of neighbouring authority pools. A dedicated learner/teaching pool for Kettering would help meet demand by releasing programming capacity at the three key pool sites.

There is a need for a learner/teaching pool within the Borough.

Quality Kettering Swimming Pool and Montsaye Academy and changing facilities are rated as below average in quality. Sports Direct Fitness is rated above average (changing not assessed). The average age of the three key pools in 2019 is 22 years. Modernisation will be required to maintain quality

Investment programmes are required to upgrade facilities with a view to improving quality Kettering Swimming Pool and Montsaye Academy are identified for priority investment given the below average rating of facilities with a view to improving the quality.



Facility type Swimming pools


Accessibility The resident population of Kettering Borough can access a swimming pool within 20 minutes drive. 82% of all visits to pools in 2018 were by car. 36.5% of the population can access one of the key pools within a 20 minute walk. 11.4% of all visits to pools in 2018 were on foot. Facilities in neighbouring authorities are meeting demand from Kettering residents with Corby East Midland International Pool, and Harborough Leisure Centre worthy of particular mention.

The FPM indicates that current swimming facilities are located in the correct place to address demand.


In terms of scale and availability only Kettering Swimming pool and Montsaye Academy are providing the full range of swimming activities on a pay and play option. Montsaye’s availability is affected during term time to meet the schools PE curriculum Programming is restricted by the lack of a separate learner / teaching pool. With swim school taking place in the main pools the number of pay and play hours are reduced Kettering Swimming Club has indicated that it would like additional swim time in Kettering Pool to keep up with demand for places. Pools in neighbouring authorities are supplementing activity in Kettering. The 50m pools in Corby and Oundle School are used by performance swimmers.

There is a need for a learner/teaching pool within the Borough.

Summary Even given the forecast increase in population from 2018-2031, there is sufficient water space in the Borough, given the use of facilities in neighbouring authorities. That is not to say that with effective programming (and a swimming club which requires additional water time) that a larger pool with learning/teaching water could not increase participation. A watching brief should be kept on facilities in neighbouring authorities to ensure they remain accessible and can accommodate Kettering’s demand. There is, however, a need for learning/ water space due to the complete lack of it in Kettering currently. This also has the potential to free up space in the main pools which will allow for development of a more varied water programme, and or allow development of the swimming club. The Unitary switch in 2021 is likely to impact the management and maintenance of facilities. A strong business case will be required to justify new provision, so the best value approach is to invest in existing facilities.



SECTION 7: HEALTH AND FITNESS SUITES Health and fitness suites provide a valuable way to introduce exercise into the daily lives and routines of people irrespective of age, ability, ethnicity, faith, etc. This not only benefits physical health and fitness, but mental health and well-being also. The UK has seen major growth in the number and use of health and fitness suites over the past 30 years. They have evolved their offer and appeal to all ages and backgrounds. Many are used as the first port of call for exercise on referral and for improving the health and wellbeing of hard to reach groups. Larger facilities (150+ stations) tend to have a wider pull than smaller facilities. Some facilities attract very specific users (niche market) such as body builders, whilst others are designed to attract a wider population. Many facilities now offer dance studios as part of the physical exercise offer. Again, the types of classes offered within studios varies massively from slower stretch based classes to high energy classes. In more recent years, cycling classes have increased exponentially with many facilities now offering both cycling and studio classes as part of the wider offer. This section considers health and fitness suites and dance studios as separate typologies but recognises that they are interwoven with he programming of facilities. As identified in The 2019 State of the UK Fitness Industry Report, the current state of the UK fitness industry is complex with a variety of providers including the private / commercial sector (ranging from low cost operators to the high-end market), trusts, schools and local authority operators. The Report identifies that within the UK, the private fitness market has continued to grow steadily over the last 12 months with an estimated increase of 4.7% in the number of members, 2.8% in the number of facilities and 4.2% in market value. According to the State of the UK Fitness Industry Report (SFIR) (2019) total industry membership is up 4.7% to 10.4 million. The total market value is estimated at £5.1 billion, up 4.2% on 2018. The UK penetration rate (i.e. number of people participating in health and fitness) passed 15% for the first time. 7.1: Supply The definition of supply is a stock or amount of something supplied or available for use. For the purposes of this assessment health and fitness suites are defined as venues with 20 stations (piece of static fitness equipment). In general larger health and fitness centres are more attractive to both members and casual users; they usually offer greater flexibility in payment plans, longer opening hours, a wider selection of fitness equipment, more stations in a larger surrounding, fitness trainers on hand, cardio and weight training programmes and other facilities like cafes, better changing rooms and fitness studios for classes. Therefore, they usually provide better facilities in more comfortable surroundings Quantity At the time of writing the State of the UK Fitness Industry Report recorded a total number of 7,038 fitness facilities in the UK, this was a rise of 310 facilities from the previous year of 6,728 facilities). A total of 275 new public and private fitness facilities opened in the last 12 months, up from 272 in 2017.



Figure 7.1: All health and fitness facilities in Kettering on population density



Table 7.1: All health and fitness facilities in Kettering

Map ID Site name Stations Access type

2 Balance Health Club (Kettering)* 80 Registered Membership

2 Balance Health Club (Kettering)* 30 Registered Membership 5 Bodyshapers Gym & Health Studio 100 Registered Membership 9 Desborough Leisure Centre 30 Pay and Play

14 Fit4Less (Kettering) 61 Registered Membership 17 Gym 11 17 Registered Membership

21 Kettering Buccleuch Academy 16 Private Use

25 Kettering Park Spa 26 Registered Membership 28 Kettering Science Academy 9 Private Use 30 Kettering Swimming Pool 30 Pay and Play

33 Ladies First (Kettering) 45 Registered Membership

34 Latimer Arts College 17 Private Use 38 Montsaye Academy 40 Registered Membership 46 Shire Kings 20 Registered Membership

47 Simply Gym Kettering 80 Registered Membership 49 Sports Direct Fitness (Kettering) 85 Registered Membership

50 Stableyard Spa 11 Registered Membership

58 Tresham College (Kettering Campus) 20 Sports Club/CA

Total 17 sites 717 stations *Balance Health Club has two separate health and fitness gymnasiums within the one facility. Table 7.1 shows that the total supply of fitness suites across the Borough is currently 717 stations across 17 sites. There are 5 sites (highlighted in Table 7.1) equipped with less than 20 stations which, as noted above, will be excluded from the analysis below. All facilities can be an asset to certain sections of the community, however, smaller health and fitness suites (less than 20 stations) tend to offer opportunity to niche markets, are difficult to quantify, tend to have more limited opening times and can be less financially stable than larger facilities, which makes verifying them and their offer more difficult to undertake. In addition, the size of the market they cater to is also limited. Once the smaller suites are removed from the total supply the number of health and fitness suites available for community use across the Borough reduces to 12 sites with 13 facilities providing 647 stations between them. These will be considered in more detail below. Figure 7.1 shows the location of all health and fitness facilities across the Borough mapped against population density. The map shows there is a correlation between the location of the facilities and population density, in general, fitness suites are located where the population is highest which is to be expected given commercial operators will want to capture a large market share and public facilities want to be located to provide easy access for local residents. Quality With the exception of Shire Kings and Tresham college, each health and fitness suite available for community use received a non-technical quality assessment. Of the 18, one is rated as good, seven are above average, three below average with none rated poor. Shire Kings and Tresham College remain unassessed as permission was declined.



Figure 7.2: Health & fitness suites with 20+ stations on population density by condition



Table 7.2: Health & fitness suites with 20+ stations on population density by condition

Map ID Site name Stations Condition

2 Balance Health Club (Kettering) 80 Above average 2 Balance Health Club (Kettering) 30 Above average 5 Bodyshapers Gym & Health Studio 100 Below average

9 Desborough Leisure Centre 30 Above average

14 Fit4Less (Kettering) 61 Above average 25 Kettering Park Spa 26 Good

30 Kettering Swimming Pool 30 Below average 33 Ladies First (Kettering) 45 Below average 38 Montsaye Academy 40 Above average

46 Shire Kings 20 Not assessed

47 Simply Gym Kettering 80 Above average 49 Sports Direct Fitness (Kettering) 85 Above average 58 Tresham College (Kettering Campus) 20 Not assessed

Total 13 sites 647 stations Accessibility As with swimming pools and sports halls, access to health and fitness suites is affected by how far people are willing and able to travel to and from them. Ideally the travel parameters for residents accessing sport and fitness facilities is based on the Sport England preference of a 20 minutes’ walk (approximately 1 mile) / 20 minute public transport journey / 20 minute drive. Assessing public transport access is complex and beyond the brief of this study. Therefore, the determination of provision deficiencies and surpluses will be based on a 20 minutes’ walk and a 20 minutes’ drive catchment. Figure 7.3 identifies a one-mile radial (20 minutes’ walk) and 20 minutes’ drive time of health and fitness suites of 20 stations or more across the Borough. Table 7.3 shows that 71.8% of the population can access a facility within a 20-minute walk. While access for 71.8% is a high proportion of the population this finding does mean that the remaining residents, nearly 30% of the population, are left needing to use a car or public transport if they wish to use these facilities. It should be noted that residents who do not live within a 20 minute walk tend to reside in the more rural, less populated areas of the Borough. The whole Borough population resides within a 20-minute drive of a health and fitness suite as depicted in Figure 7.3.



Figure 7.3: Health and fitness suites with 20 minutes’ drive time catchment on IMD



Table 7.3: Health and fitness suites with 20 minutes’ walk time catchment on IMD

IMD 2015 10% bands

Kettering Health & Fitness (20 stations+)


Persons Population

%

Persons inside

catchment


Persons outside

catchment

Population outside (%)

0 - 10 7,162 7.6% 6,800 7.2% 362 0.4%

10.1 - 20 5,985 6.3% 5,985 6.3% 0 0.0%

20.1 - 30 12,014 12.7% 10,768 11.4% 1,246 1.3%

30.1 - 40 2,113 2.2% 1,777 1.9% 336 0.4%

40.1 - 50 11,789 12.4% 10,045 10.6% 1,744 1.8%

50.1 - 60 9,330 9.8% 6,984 7.4% 2,346 2.5%

60.1 - 70 8,029 8.5% 1,566 1.7% 6,463 6.8%

70.1 - 80 18,399 19.4% 10,313 10.9% 8,086 8.5%

80.1 - 90 10,426 11.0% 8,491 9.0% 1,935 2.0%

90.1 - 100 9,594 10.1% 5,393 5.7% 4,201 4.4%

Total 94,841 100.0% 68,122 71.8% 26,719 28.2%

Table 7.3 identifies that 12.7% (12,014) of the population live in areas of higher deprivation in Kettering and that 11.4% (10,768) of these residents live within one mile of a health and fitness facility. Neighbouring facilities As with swimming and use of sports halls, users of health and fitness facilities do not always use facilities within their own local authority. There are no specific studies into why people prefer to use some facilities over others but cost, location (adjacent to work-place or home), auxiliary facilities, programming and personnel (e.g. specific coaches) can all be determining factors. Consequently, it is useful to know the location of alternative provision across the border. Facilities which are located within 2 miles of the local authority border (as this indicative of how far people may travel to use alternative facilities for individual reasons) are identified in Table 7.4 and Figure 7.4. Table 7.4: Health and fitness (20+ stations) within two miles of KBC LA boundary

Map ID

Site name Stations Access type Local authority

H1 Lodge Park Sports Centre 60 Registered Membership Corby

H2 Corby East Midlands International Pool

70 Registered Membership Corby

H3 Places Gym Corby 125 Registered Membership Corby

H4 3D Health & Fitness 24 Registered Membership Corby

H5 Gym 11 43 Registered Membership Harborough

H6 Snap Fitness (Market Harborough) 70 Registered Membership Harborough

H7 Curves (Market Harborough) 23 Registered Membership Harborough



Map ID

Site name Stations Access type Local authority

H8 Bruno's Fitness Centre 32 Registered Membership Harborough

H9 Brooke Weston Academy 26 Registered Membership Corby

H10 Harborough Leisure Centre 70 Registered Membership Harborough There are 10 health and fitness facilities located within two miles of the Borough boundary, five in Corby and five in Harborough. It is likely that these serve the more rural communities in the north of the Borough. All of the facilities require a membership to access.



Figure 7.4: Fitness gyms in Kettering and within 2 miles of KBC boundary

Source: Active Places Power 30/04/2019



Availability and facility management The availability of health and fitness suites for community use could be through pay and play opportunities but more often, as acknowledged by Sport England, it’s through a registered membership scheme. This generally means a monthly or annual membership fee, the cost of which can vary considerably but equally, so does the quality of the product / service on offer. Facility ownership and management The difference between the public, commercial and private sector providers of health and fitness suites has a bearing on the choice and availability of facilities to local communities. The public sector, whilst having regard for commercial sensitivity, are also focused on the positive contribution that physical activity has on the health and mental well-being of their local communities; that participation can enhance community spirit, equality of opportunity, personal development and social integration. They tailor their programmes to welcome exercise referral and actively target hard to reach groups. Table 7.5: Ownership and management of health and fitness facilities

Map ID Site name Ownership Access type

2 Balance Health Club (Kettering)* Commercial Registered Membership

2 Balance Health Club (Kettering)* Commercial Registered Membership

5 Bodyshapers Gym & Health Studio Commercial Registered Membership 9 Desborough Leisure Centre Local authority Pay and Play 14 Fit4Less (Kettering) Commercial Registered Membership

17 Gym 11 Commercial Registered Membership

21 Kettering Buccleuch Academy Education Private Use 25 Kettering Park Spa Commercial Registered Membership

28 Kettering Science Academy Education Private Use 30 Kettering Swimming Pool Local authority Pay and Play 33 Ladies First (Kettering) Commercial Registered Membership

34 Latimer Arts College Education Private Use 38 Montsaye Academy Education Registered Membership 46 Shire Kings Education Registered Membership

47 Simply Gym Kettering Commercial Registered Membership 49 Sports Direct Fitness (Kettering) Commercial Registered Membership

50 Stableyard Spa Commercial Registered Membership

58 Tresham College (Kettering Campus) Education Sports Club/CA * NB: there are two separate gyms at Balance Health Club hence the two rows Commercial and private operators do not usually have such contractual obligations. They see the benefits of actively encouraging participation, but they are economically driven and therefore their offer is tailored to reach a different market segments. They are able to alter their programmes to continue to retain members and attract new users (regardless of age or gender). Market segmentation models make suggestions as to the requirements of different population profiles, but these are not all encompassing. Further, all health and fitness facilities need to stay abreast of industry developments in order to stay attractive to current customers. Despite the different drivers motivating the commercial and private sector they do help alleviate the demand placed on the public sector facilities.



It is clear from Table 7.5 that the influence of Kettering Borough Council is limited in terms of health and fitness provision as the majority of facilities are provided by commercial operators. Pay and play opportunities are limited to local authority owned sites with commercially owned facilities preferring registered memberships. Facilities on educational sites tend to private use, apart from Tresham College which allows sports club and community association use. Table 7.5: Pricing structure of health and fitness facilities in Kettering

Site name Pay & play

Monthly 12 months direct debit

Annual Notes

Balance Health Club (Kettering)

£47.00

Bodyshapers Gym & Health Studio

£35.00 £25.00 £99.00

Desborough Leisure Centre £7.00 £29.00* £313.20*

GP referral - annual £145.00

Fit4Less (Kettering) £16.99

Kettering Park Spa £79.00* *minimum 2

months also £25.00 joining fee.

Kettering Swimming Pool £7.00 £29.00* £313.20*

GP referral - annual £145.00.

Ladies First (Kettering) £16.99

Montsaye Academy £19.99 £5.00 extra to add swimming.

Shire Kings £27.00 Simply Gym Kettering £16.99

Sports Direct Fitness (Kettering)

£20.00 £30.00

£20.00 -Gym and swim. £30.00 per month includes multiple club access and fitness classes

*use of facilities at Desborough Leisure Centre, Kettering Swimming Pool and Corn Market Hall includes swimming as part of membership. Table 7.5 shows that monthly costs for an adult single usage vary from £7.00 for a day pass at the public leisure centres to £79.00 per month and £25.00 joining fee at Kettering Park Spa for adult standard anytime use. The cheapest monthly membership is £16.99 at Simply Gym, Ladies First Kettering and Fit4Less. It is worth noting that well run health and fitness facilities with studios can support the financial viability of other facilities such as swimming pools which often run at a loss. Commercial and leisure centre operators tend to open their facilities for more hours than those available on education sites, due to educational needs and child welfare. In the early years of health and fitness gyms, the quality was driven, in most instances, by the commercial sector. Local authorities recognised this fact and most improved the quality of them recognising the importance of using health and fitness facilities to support the wider health and wellbeing agenda and understanding the financial contribution they can make to sustainable facilities. The preference of using such facilities is, therefore, complex. Pay and play opportunities allows for greater flexibility of use for customers who prefer not to (or cannot) afford monthly membership fees.



7.2: Demand Health and fitness via exercising in a gym or class environment is a highly popular form of exercise, appealing to men and women across a range of age groups. To determine if there is enough provision to meet existing and future needs a demand calculation based upon the assumption that participation across the UK will increase slightly in the future is applied. Population increases are also factored in to enable a calculation of whether current supply will meet future demand. Table 7.6: UK penetration rates; health/fitness in Kettering (ONS Data) Curent (2017) Future (2031)

Adult population (16+ years) 78,754 94,913

UK penetration rate 15% 16%

Number of potential members 11,813 15,186

Number of visits per week (1.75/member) 20,673 26,576

% of visits in peak time 65 65

No. of visits in peak time (equated to no. of stations required i.e. no. of visits/39 weeks*65%)

345 443

Number of stations (with comfort factor applied) 517 664

The model identifies 1.75 visits per week by members and 65% usage during 39 weeks of the year. (All figures rounded up/down) Based upon UK penetration rates there is a current need for 517 stations across Kettering. This is expected to grow to 664 by 2031; taking account of a comfort factor (50%) (particularly at peak times). If facilities are too busy (i.e. there is a limited comfort factor), members may have to wait to use specific facilities and will, therefore, consider different times or even different facilities or be put off completely. When comparing the number of community available stations currently available (647- as identified in Table 7.2) and accounting for the projected demand in 2031 of 664 stations (as identified in Table 7.6) the market appears to have a near supply demand balance to service the adult population based on the calculations above. Projecting forwards to 2031, if the 50% comfort factor is applied (as described above) and the predicted participation rate of 16% is applied there will be a shortfall of 17 stations. It is not uncommon for the private sector to identify niche markets and fill them with a range of health and fitness stations which can appear to look as though the market is congested. The key issue is that while some of these may be budget operators this does not necessarily make them available to harder to reach groups and people from areas of (relative) disadvantage (as cost is only one factor which may hinder usage). Supply and demand summary As noted earlier, health and fitness facilities are an important facet of leisure provision and have been a successful addition to sports centres over the past three decades. Income derived can help to offset the cost/underpin the viability of other aspects of leisure provision, especially swimming and targeted physical activity programmes such as Exercise on Referral. Having a good quality swimming pool as part of an exercise on referral offer adds value to the programme and has the potential for the Council to develop its own niche area.



For the borough of Kettering, the challenge is to provide opportunity for people from areas of higher deprivation and rural areas who are less likely to be able to afford or choose to access health and fitness opportunity and do not have the transport to access the facilities particularly during the evening when there are limited bus timetables. In the more rural areas, use of greenspace and flexible community spaces for fitness / physical activity is likely to be of key importance. Further, in seeking to improve the offer to the community, KBC needs to consider how it can improve its below average health and fitness facility at a swimming pool which is also considered to be below average. 7.3: Dance studios Dance studios are an important element of the wider health, fitness and conditioning market. They vary in size, shape, quality of environment, access to sprung wooden floors and quality of ancillary facilities. There has been an increase in the number of people participating in fitness classes as identified in increased UK participation rates. The type of activities on offer vary from low impact classes such as pilates and yoga to the more energetic dance, step, boxercise and zumba. It is worth noting that dance classes/clubs are regular users of studio spaces throughout the country. Supply The audit identified 19 studios (see Figure 7.5 and Table 7.8), across 15 sites. Balance Health Club, Ladies First, Simply Gym and Sports Direct each have two studios. There are 17 studios available for community use across 13 sites. With the exception of Stableyard Spa they are all located in areas of relatively high and high population density. As noted in the introduction, most health and fitness suites have dance studios as part of the wider offer. Of the 12 health and fitness suites considered above (20 stations+) 8 of them host at least one dance studio. Kettering Buccleuch, Kettering Science Academy and Stableyard Spa are discounted from the fitness assessment because their gyms are less than 20 stations but they each host a studio as part of their offer. Only Arena Sports, Bishop Stopford and the Assembly Room do not have an association with a health and fitness suite. Dance studios on education sites like Southfield and Tresham tend to be unavailable during the day-time. The programmes on offer in commercial facilities tend to be available as part of the wider monthly membership fee, whilst local authority operated facilities tend to be available via monthly memberships and through pay and play opportunities. Quality Of the 17 studios available for community use 14 received a non-technical assessment, the remaining three were not available for assessment during scheduled assessment days. Only one, Kettering Park Spa achieved a good rating. However, 10 were found to be above average so the supply is in a reasonable condition. These 10 are a mix between commercially run and school owned facilities. Three studios rated below average, one at Kettering Buccleuch Academy and both studios at Ladies First.



Figure 7.5: Dance studios in the Borough of Kettering



Table 7.8: List of Kettering studios

Map ID Site name Condition

1 Arena Sports (National Volleyball Centre) Above average 2 Balance Health Club (studio 1) Above average

2 Balance Health Club (studio 2) Above average 4 Bishop Stopford School Above average

21 Kettering Buccleuch Academy Below average

25 Kettering Park Spa Good 28 Kettering Science Academy Above average 33 Ladies First (studio 1) Below average

33 Ladies First (studio 2) Below average

38 Montsaye Academy Above average 46 Shire Kings Not assessed

47 Simply Gym Kettering (studio 1) Above average 47 Simply Gym Kettering (studio 2) Above average 48 Southfield School Above average

49 Sports Direct Fitness (studio 1) Above average 49 Sports Direct Fitness (studio 2) Above average 50 Stableyard Spa Not assessed 52 The Assembly Room Not assessed

58 Tresham College (Kettering Campus) Above average Accessibility As mentioned in the Supply section, dance studios are often incorporated as part of a health and fitness suite offer. Accessibility is therefore closely linked to the accessibility of health and fitness suites which are identified in Figure 7.3 above. Table 7.3 shows that 71.8% of the population can access a facility within a 20-minute walk. While access for 71.8% is a high proportion of the population this finding does mean that the remaining residents, nearly 30% of the population, are left needing to use a car or public transport if they wish to use these facilities. It should be noted that residents who do not live within a 20 minutes’ walk tend to reside in the more rural, less populated areas of the Borough. All residents from across the Borough can access a health and fitness suite within a 20-minute drive (see Figure 7.3.)

Availability

Programmes within studios vary from slow stretch type activity (e.g. yoga, pilates) to more high energy dance classes such as Zumba, with everything in between. Community availability is governed by a range of factors, for example, some facilities may be commercially operated and may require membership fees to access activities (thereby restricting use to those who can afford to pay) while others may allow pay and pay availability which allows the public to join an activity on a first come first served principle. Kettering Swimming Pool and Desborough Leisure Centre both offer pay and play opportunities to the general public. Schools typically hire their hall to a service provider who then administers the individual class payments. This is generally easier to administer especially for educational establishments. As noted above, studios located on educational sites can be subject to availability restrictions during the day in term time.



Future developments Across the country, the commercial sector has, in general, been relatively flexible and agile in identifying gaps in demand for health and fitness facilities and opening facilities which are relevant to different areas. These vary significantly from high end facilities such as David Lloyd and Bannatynes Leisure (which generally require a membership fee and monthly fees to budget gyms which offer a more basic but highly available facilities at lower costs (but still require a monthly membership fee). At the time of the audit, there does not appear to be any evidence of national operators planning to build additional facilities in the area. Desborough Leisure Centre, as it stands, was provided as part of the Grange Development in 2012. It was phase one of a two phase delivery. Phase two will commence upon the occupation of the 450th dwelling on the Desborough North development. Development has not yet started for Desborough North but negotiations are under way. Phase two will see the delivery of fitness studio, which is identified as needed in the sports hall section as the main hall is currently being used for fitness classes and inhibiting other sports development). 7.4: Summary of key facts and issues

Facility type Health & fitness


Quantity There are 18 health and fitness facilities of which 13 have 20 stations or more. The 13 facilities offer 647 stations in Kettering. There is a current supply demand balance and just a small predicted undersupply in 2031. In addition, there are 16 dance studios. Desborough Leisure Centre does not have adequate studio space, so physical activity classes take place in the main hall

Desborough Leisure Centre requires additional studio space as the current lack of them is impacting on other sports activities and programming in its main sports hall.

Quality Only Kettering Park Spa was assessed as good for the provision of both its fitness suite and studio. The majority of fitness suites and dance studios were assessed as above average. The health and fitness suite at Kettering Swimming Pool was rated as below average along with two commercial providers – Bodyshapers and Ladies First. The studio at Kettering Buccleuch Academy was rated as below average along with the studios in the commercially operated Ladies First

The Council needs to prioritise improvements to the health and fitness suite in Kettering Swimming Pool. An opportunity should be sought to work with Kettering Buccleuch Academy to support the improvement of their below average studio provision (but only if it remains open to the wider public). Opportunities should be sought to work with schools, colleges, Parish Councils and other appropriate bodies managing local facilities with community access to maintain and / or enhance the quality of such facilities

Accessibility All the main population areas have health and fitness facilities. Over 70.0% of the population live within one mile of a health and fitness facility

The facilities appear well placed to accommodate most people living in areas of higher deprivation in the borough. A key aim is to understand



and all residents in Kettering live within 20 minutes’ drive of a health and fitness and dance facility. A further 10 health and fitness facilities are located within 2 miles of the KBC boundary. 12.7% (12,014) of the population live in areas of higher deprivation in Kettering and 11.4% (10,768) of these residents live within one mile of a health and fitness facility.

whether people with health issues and harder to reach groups are using the facilities.


There are two publicly accessible pay and play health and fitness facilities in Kettering and nine which require a membership to access. Programmes vary between the different facilities, especially with regard to dance studios.

There is a need to ensure that health and fitness facilities cater fully for the full range of users within the Kettering community (as identified in the introduction). Desborough Leisure Centre is identified for priority investment; explore the opportunity to extend the facilities to provide a fitness studios.

Strategic Summary

The market for health and fitness is still growing with different market segments utilising different types of facility. The importance of the financial contribution that health and fitness provision can make to the viability of (and to enable) other publicly accessible facilities as swimming pools needs to be taken into account. This is currently a challenge for Kettering Swimming Pool with a below average swimming pool, below average fitness provision and no studio. Health and fitness facilities along with dance studio space have the potential to increase physical activity and thus the health and well-being in the wider resident population. Desborough Leisure Centre is in need of additional studio space.



SECTION 8: SQUASH

Squash, having experienced challenging times, is now on a new strategic path, implementing a rebrand and undergoing a major restructure. England Squash has achieved core strategic goals agreed with Sport England one of which was to arrest the decline in participation. It is committed to supporting the traditional infrastructure of county associations, clubs, coaches and officials to grow the game through key programmes (e.g. Squash101) and campaigns (e.g. Squash Girls Can) but it will need to apportion resources in a significantly different manner.

Table 8.1: England Squash Strategic aims:

Element Aim

Governance Adhere to the highest standards of organisational governance.

Membership Provide a membership model that caters to and provides benefits for anyone interested in playing and coaching squash irrespective of their ability.

Programmes Enabling and supporting partners to be at the forefront of adult and player recruitment and retention.

Talent & high performance

Provide a support and development programme that identifies, develops and delivers world leading individuals and teams.

Commercial Create a diversified and effective revenue model that minimises risk and reduces dependency on funding.

The strategy for England Squash, Enhancing Squash (2017-2021), outlines the vision, principles and strategic pillars for England Squash. Its Vision is to make squash the #1 racket sport in England. Its Mission is to create a thriving squash community by redefining and enhancing the experience for players, coaches, officials and volunteers - enabling England Squash to sustain the sport, maximise revenue potential and develop world leading teams and individuals. The 2017-2021 strategy aims to:

Continue to build a model sport NGB that enables participation and enjoyment of squash whilst delivering a robust talent pathway and successful performance programme.

Deliver a membership scheme that caters to and encourages players/coaches at all levels.

Form a progressive organisation with an enhanced international reputation.

8.1 Supply There are four squash courts in Kettering all located at Arena Sports, which is owned by the local authority but is operated by a commercial provider (Kettering Leisure Village). This facility was built in 1993 and refurbished in 2009, the courts and changing facilities are in above average condition. At the time of audit one of the courts was undergoing repairs following a leak in the roof. The key difference between glass backed and normal courts is that spectators can see what is happening on a court from a ground level. Table 8.2: Squash courts in Kettering

Map ID

Site name

Courts

Condition Normal

Glass backed

Total

1 Arena Sports (National Volleyball Centre) 0 4 4 Above average



Figure 8.1: Location of squash courts in Kettering Borough and beyond against the 20 minutes’ drive time



Table 8.3: Squash facilities within 2 miles of the local authority boundary

Map ID

APP facility ID Courts Access type Local authority

SQ1 Market Harborough Cricket & Squash Club

2 Sports club/ CA Harborough

SQ2 Redwell Leisure Centre 2 Pay and Play Wellingborough

SQ3 Diana's Health & Fitness 4

Registered Membership

Wellingborough

There are eight squash courts on three sites located within two miles of the KBC boundary. Two courts at Redwell Leisure Centre offer a pay and play opportunity. Availability of the other six courts require either a membership at Diana’s Health and Fitness or membership of Market Harborough Cricket and Squash Club. Accessibility As identified in Figure 8.1 a small rural area in the north of the borough is not within 20 minutes’ drive time of the squash courts at Arena Sports. This area is, however, within 20 minutes’ drive of Market Harborough Cricket and Squash Club. Availability Squash courts at Kettering Leisure Village are available on a pay and play basis. They are well used by the local club especially in peak hours. Although it is a commercial facility it is operated to try and drive increases in participation. The local authority does not have influence over programming nor pricing. Future developments Desborough Leisure Centre as it stands was provided as part of the Grange Development in 2012. It was phase one of a two phase delivery. Phase two will commence upon the occupation of the 450th dwelling on the Desborough North development. Development has not yet started for Desborough North but negotiations are under way. Phase two will see the delivery of two squash courts including a viewing area, 4 additional changing rooms and additional parking provision. Consultation with the management at Desborough Leisure Centre revealed their keen interest in this provision coming forward as they report the demand for squash in the area is high. When constructed these courts will improve access to squash facilities not only for the residents of Desborough but also for those in the more rural north of the Borough 8.2: Demand Informal play Consultation with Arena sports indicates that squash is a very popular sport with a lot of recreational play and informal leagues taking place. The courts are regularly fully booked at peak times and local squash club uses the facilities also.



Club consultation Kettering Squash Club indicates that squash is very popular in the area and that courts are fully booked between 4.30pm and 9.00pm during the winter months, in particular. This has been exacerbated by the closure of one court due to water damage from a leaking roof. The Leisure Centre Management have advised that there are plans in place to improve the quality of the court. The club has c.30 members and operates three squash teams in winter and two in summer and as well as a racketball team. It runs an internal league at the Sports Arena which has four divisions and also operates a daytime racketball league. There is no membership fee for the Club; players pay a subscription fee to play. The key challenge for the club is trying to make the facility have more of a club feel. It operates sport club nights, leagues, racketball competitions and county league teams. The changing rooms are over 20 years old and the Clubs suggests that there are maintenance issues. It is reported, that improvements are starting to be made at the centre, which is welcomed by the club and members. There is a need for more coaches which could then lead to an increase in players. Players are unable to score league matches adequately as there is no balcony. Refereeing takes place by balancing on a chair and looking over the court! The club also reports issues with line markings and provision of food after league matches, all contributing to a lack of club feel. In addition, there is an understanding that the Club needs to grow its junior section. Kettering Squash Club is, however, aware of the potential to grow the sport in the area as it has seen a large growth in participation at Market Harborough (approximately 12 miles away). Summary With high levels of demand for squash in the borough, there appears to be an emerging case justify the development of two new squash courts at Desborough Leisure Centre. This development has been identified as necessary in previous years, but it is suggested that a feasibility and business case be prepared to ensure its justification. 8.3: Summary of facts and issues

Facility type Squash


Quantity Arena Sports is a commercial facility providing 4 squash courts on one site. At the time of writing one court was closed for repair. Arena is the only squash court provide in the Borough 2 additional squash courts and changing facilities are planned at Desborough Leisure Centre; delivery is dependent on development of Desborough North

Quality The court and changing provision for Arena Sports rated as above average quality.

Opportunities should be sought to work with Arena Sports to enhance



However, Kettering Squash Club report dated changing provision, poor line marking and impracticalities around refereeing and scoring as issues impairing the playing experience

the quality of the courts and changing facilities

Accessibility With the exception of the rural north and a small area bordering East Northamptonshire the majority of the population can access a squash court within a 20 minutes’ drive time.


Consultation has revealed that existing facilities are well used and at capacity during peak play times. Capacity exists to increase daytime use. Kettering Squash Club is keen to grow and understands the need to develop its workforce in order to attract juniors, in particular. Racketball is a growing sport and there is a daytime league. A key challenge has been the lack of club atmosphere at the Arena.

Monitor the progress of Desborough Leisure Centre being expanded to provide two new squash courts Opportunities should be sought to develop programmes and promote play outside peak hours. Opportunities should be sought to work with Kettering Squash Club to support game growth and club development.

Strategic Summary

Due to the relatively high demand of squash in the area, the development of additional squash courts is likely to lead to an increase in squash participation (which will buck the national trend), if accompanied by good development programmes. There is a need to maintain the quality and preserve the function of existing courts. Continue to develop the sport through workforce and junior development.



SECTION 9: GYMNASTICS The British Gymnastics’ (BG) Strategic Framework 2017-2021 identifies three key priorities, to: Diversify sources of revenue to develop and grow the provision of gymnastics. Build the capacity and grow the demand in gymnastics. Raise the profile and increase the appeal of gymnastics. Its facility development priorities (for the period 2017 - 2021) are to: Support increased capacity within gymnastics through clubs, leisure providers and other

delivery providers. Guide funding investment through the United Kingdom from BG, home country sports

councils, local authorities and other potential funders. Maintain/improve the quality of facilities and equipment within existing delivery partners. Develop insight, understanding and direction of how facility developments can contribute

towards other BG strategic priorities. Participation in gymnastics is reportedly increasing rapidly. BG membership reached 390,500 in 2017 and has been increasing at about 12% per year between 2013-17. The emphasis for this strategy period is on using gymnastics as a foundation sport for 5 to 11-year olds. Across the country, BG reports extensive demand for more gymnastics opportunity and many clubs report having long waiting lists. One million people are estimated to be on waiting lists for gymnastics (Freshminds Latent Demand Research, 2017). This research also suggests that a further 1.9 million would like to participate but are not currently on a waiting list. A key part of BG’s strategy to increase participation is to support clubs moving into their own dedicated facility, offering more time and space for classes. There is a definite trend for gymnastics clubs to do this. There are other forms of the sport taking place across the county. Programmes are run for men and women’s artistic gymnastics, acro and tumbling and rhythmic classes. There are also opportunities for disabled participants and Sport England is funding programmes for older people including their Love to Move initiative which is focused on dementia patients. In the main, activities associated with gymnastics in the Borough are registered with the National Governing Body. The Northamptonshire Gymnastics Association is responsible for growing opportunities and development of the sport within the county. Some schools have been working with the Association to bring the sport to an in-county competition at the Kettering venue. 9.1: Supply There is one dedicated gymnastics venue in the Borough which is located in Kettering and used by the Kettering Olympic Gymnastics Club (now known as the Kettering Gymnastics Club) Additionally, gymnastics operates from Desborough Leisure Centre (a non-dedicated facility, which is identified and mapped in the sports hall typology in section 5) with North Northants Gymnastics Club and the Centre running its own club. British Gymnastics has not identified other facilities/clubs within a 2 miles distance of the Borough. Table 9.1 Gymnastics venues in Kettering

Map ID Site name

G1 Kettering Gymnastics Club

Desborough Leisure Centre



Figure 9.1: Facilities at which gymnastic occur in the borough of Kettering with 20 minute’s drive time from the dedicated facility

In ensuring consistency within the report Figure9.1 identifies the 20 minutes’ drive time from the dedicated gymnastics facility in Kettering whilst acknowledging that gymnastics clubs and programmes operate within Desborough Leisure Centre Approximately 99% of Kettering’s population (99,242 of the ONS MYE 2017 population of 100,252) is within a 20 minute drive of a dedicated gymnastics centre.



Quality The facility used by Kettering Gymnastics Club (KGC) is ageing and the roof needs replacing. The L-shaped layout is not ideal for competitions and there is not enough spectator space. The non-technical assessment found the facility to be below average in condition. As mentioned above gymnastics also takes place at Desborough Leisure Centre (which is rated as in above average condition in general). The key issue surrounding activity at Desborough is that all equipment needs to be erected and dismantled for each gymnastics session, which loses time and increases associated costs for clubs, in general. Accessibility Section 3 establishes that the effective catchment for gymnastics is a 20 minutes’ drive time. Approximately 99% of Kettering’s population (99,242 of the ONS MYE 2017 population of 100,252) is within a 20-minute drive of both gymnastic facilities. Figure 9.1 illustrates that both facilities are located in areas of higher population density. While the application of a walking catchment isn’t necessary for an assessment of gymnastics provision the location of these facilities is advantageous from an accessibility perspective given the demand for the sport. Availability Kettering Gymnastics Club is available during the daytime, evenings and weekends for a variety of gymnastics programmes. It offers beginners programmes right through to elite development. North Northants Gymnastics Club and the recreational club run at Desborough Leisure Centre offer additional opportunities for gymnastics in the Borough. Future development As noted earlier under the Dance and Squash Sections of this study Desborough Leisure Centre is due to be expanded as part of the Desborough North Housing Development. Phase two will see the delivery of 2 squash courts, a fitness hall, 4 changing rooms and 37 additional parking spaces. While this is not specific to additional provision for gymnastics there may be an opportunity to work with the Leisure Centre on the design in an effort to overcome the need to erect and dismantle some or all of the equipment needed for each gymnastics session. This may enable increased programming to increase capacity 9.2: Demand National Governing Body Consultation

British Gymnastics (BG) has a range of products, programmes and expert assistance to support the local delivery of gymnastic activities. This support is proving successful in the growth of membership and retention of members across the country. British Gymnastics report that: Kettering Gymnastics Club is based in its own dedicated facility with 515 members Kettering Trampoline Club has nine registered members. It is currently seeking new

premises but at the time of writing had not secured a tenure. North Northants Gym Club is based at Desborough Leisure Centre and has 76 registered

members. Desborough Leisure Centre – delivers a leisure centre programme to 71 members



When considering provision locally BG recognises there is a large demand for more gymnastics opportunities and clubs in the area stating that all the existing clubs report large waiting lists. At the same time they acknowledge access to facilities in the area is limited. Kettering Gymnastics Club (KGC) is noted as a key facility and club in the area. However, BG does acknowledge that the Club has outgrown its existing dedicated site and is looking for alternatives. BG advises that a key part of its strategy to increase participation is to support clubs, leisure providers and other partners moving into their own dedicated facilities, offering more time and space for classes. It is working with KGC to secure a new premise that would satisfy the current demand Club Consultation Kettering Gymnastics Club (KGC) - is a CASC registered Club with over 600 members. It has a participant waiting list in excess of 300 depending on the time of year and it can take between 12 to 18 months for a prospective participant to move from the waiting list into membership. This is limiting access to the sport, furthermore, the Club observes that the inability to take people off the waiting list is resulting in lost income, income which could potentially be re-invested into programme and workforce development. KGC is severely restricted by the size of its facility. The current premises are just under 6,000 sq feet. In reality the Club needs at least 10,000 sq feet to meet its full membership and programme potential and 15,000+ sq feet to realise the ambition of becoming a county competition facility. KGC has engaged with the Council and BG in an effort to bring forward a new, competition fit, facility as part of the sports provision at Hanwood Park. Ideally, the facility would have an increased roof height to enable KGC to share the facility with Kettering Trampoline Club. Discussions are taking place to secure funding from multiple providers including BG and the Council. However, at the time of writing it was reported that progress is slow, partly because the development at Hanwood Park is taking more time than KGC had hoped. In the interim the lease expired on the existing facility in June 2019, the premises were sold on leading to a new lease signing. This enables the Club to stay until September 2020. The Club is trying to negotiate a longer lease but at the time of writing nothing had been confirmed. In the meantime, the Club continues to seek a solution to its circumstance. Kettering Trampoline Club (KTC) - confirmed that it needs additional space but securing a dedicated facility is a challenge given the low membership base which impacts on income. Discussions have taken place with KGC around the aspiration to develop a shared facility at Hanwood Park. However, progress on this project is slow and at the time of writing KTC had been displaced and was seeking alternative provision Northamptonshire Trampoline Gymnastics Academy - was displaced out of the area when Southfield School retracted community use from its facilities. It no longer operates any sessions in the Borough area due to the lack of available facilities in the area.



9.3: Summary of key facts and issues of dedicated gymnastics facilities

Facility type Gymnastics


Quantity There is one dedicated gymnastics venue which the Kettering Gymnastics Club has outgrown There is one non-dedicated gymnastics venue, Desborough Leisure Centre, which provides for the North Northants Gymnastics Club and a locally run, Desborough based club.

Opportunities for additional provision in leisure centre venues should be investigated to The Council should work with KGC, the NGB and other relevant partners to provide an alternative facility enabling the sport to grow and compete

Quality The dedicated facility is rated as below average quality. Both the hall and changing facilities in Desborough Leisure Centre are rated as above average for quality but the need to erect and dismantle equipment for each session means additional costs to clubs with the programme limited by other activities.

Continued maintenance and investment in the KGC facilities are required to maintain quality for as long as possible until new facilities can be found.

Accessibility Gymnastics is accessible to Kettering residents in two locations, the KGC venue and Desborough Leisure Centre. However, capacity issues are prohibiting participation. Kettering Trampolining Club has been displaced from their previous facility but securing a new venue is challenging as membership numbers are low making the sport cost prohibitive

Work with Kettering Gymnastics Club, try to identify a facility that could host both clubs and allow for growth.

Availability (Management & usage)

The dedicated centre is operational during the day and in the evening. It is, however, at capacity and has a lengthy waiting list. KGC wants to reduce waiting lists by developing the coaching and volunteer workforce and increase programming. However, the dedicated venue lacks capacity to fully operationalise this aspiration. The dedicated facility does not have the capacity to host county-wide (or wider) competitions which is an aspiration for KGC Desborough Leisure Centre provides additional gymnastics opportunities for the Borough but programming is limited as the Centre caters for a range of sporting activities

Increase coaching and volunteer workforce to reduce waiting lists and enable additional programming for when the club moves to its new facilities. Support the progress of the Desborough Leisure Centre expansion; explore design opportunities to enhance programming

Strategic Summary

There is a need to support Kettering Gymnastics Club to either move to a new facility or provide additional facilities as a gymnastics hub in order to meet current demand for the sport in Kettering. There is a need to increase the coaching and volunteer workforce to enable additional programming which would reduce waiting lists and grow the sport both for now and for the future. Work with Desborough Leisure Centre on the expansion programme with the aim to enhance programming and increase capacity



SECTION 10: INDOOR BOWLS The five forms of bowls that are played indoors that require a different venue are flat/level green, crown green, long mat, short mat and carpet mat. Each format of the game requires a different technical specification for their indoor facility. Indoor flat / level green bowls is played on a purpose-built indoor green which complies with the Laws of the sport of Bowls. The NGB is EIBA (English Indoor Bowling Association). It requires a standard bowling green; a flat area 31-40 metres long divided into playing areas called rinks. The number of these varies, depending on the width of the green. Crown Green bowls requires a standard crown green, artificial grass (carpeted) area of approximately 38m square which is crowned i.e. higher in the centre than round the perimeter. Indoor crown greens are relatively rare – substantially less common than those provided for flat green bowls. The NGB is the British Crown Green Bowling Association. Carpet bowls is played on a rectangular carpet (45 x 6 feet) that is rolled out. It can be accommodated in any indoor space large enough to accommodate the mats which come in different lengths. It tends to be played at a recreational level. The NGB is the English Carpet Bowls Association. Short mat bowls is typically played in sports halls, parish council rooms, outdoor bowls club pavilions; on indoor flat green bowls club greens. The NGB is the English Short Mat Bowling Association. Long mat bowls is played on a rolled carpet typically laid on a sports hall floor. There are no ditches in this game. It is typically found in areas of low flat-green supply and/or where Crown Green bowls is played outdoors. There is no NGB for this version of the game. An indoor bowling centre typically comprises a single flat green with a number of rinks and ancillary accommodation such as changing rooms, lounge/bar, viewing area, kitchen, office/ meeting rooms and stores plus designated car parking. The size of ancillary accommodation varies according to the number of rinks available. A successful indoor bowls centre requires a combination of the right location, design, and financial and general management. Sport England6 guidelines on catchment for indoor bowls centres are set out to be interpreted in the light of local circumstances: Assume the majority of users live locally and not travel more than 30 minutes. Assume that 90% of users will travel by car, with the remainder by foot. As a guide, calculate demand on the basis of one rink per 14,000-17,000 total population. The number of rinks required can be related to the estimated number of members,

assume 80-100 members per rink. The stated priorities of EIBA are: Recruitment of participants. Retention of participants. Clubs obtaining “Clubmark Accreditation”. Retention and improvement of facilities. New indoor facilities in areas of low-supply and high-demand.

6 Sport England Design Guidance Note Indoor Bowls 2005



EIBA Outline Plan 2017 - 2021 The EIBA plan is focused on: recruit and retain 45+ and recruit and retain 70+. Both markets require growth. The idea is that people aged 45+ need new versions/formats of the game to play and the 70+ will wish to continue with current formats. Its focus areas are: Facilities: build, improve, retain. Youth and the family. Women – increase participation and retention. Disability. Competitions. Internationals. Promotion. Commercial partnerships. The “Recruit and Retain Strategy” is to concentrate on encouraging and supporting clubs to increase participation and improve the experience of all participants. Its objectives include: Growing participation across the adult population in local communities. Targeted work to

increase female participation. Growing participation in the 12-18 age range as part of the EIBA Development Pathway. The provision of an excellent sporting experience for new and existing participants. A growth in Indoor Bowls participation by people who have disabilities. Running alongside this is the Sport England funded development work provided jointly by the Indoor NGB (EIBA); Outdoor NGB (Bowls England) and the “Bowls Development Alliance” (BDA). Each NGB has two directors on the Board of BDA. The Sport England funding for the 2017-2021 period, focuses on the delivery of:

Club Development Programme: supports clubs across the country where they have identified greatest need.

Play Bowls Package Scheme: supports clubs with their recruitment. Coach Bowls: providing qualifications for coaches and developing the best tutor

workforce to deliver these qualifications across the whole sport including BE, EIBA, British Crown Green BA and English Short Mat BA

Facilities: providing funding support for BE and EIBA to research the facility requirements of their clubs.

Alongside these core objectives the BDA works with key partners on:

Safeguarding: ensuring the sport is safe for everyone to play by working across all five National Governing Bodies (NGBs) [BE, EIBA, British Crown Green BA, English Short Mat BA and English Bowling Federation] to have policies and processes in place. Training is also available to support the network of Club Safeguarding Officers.

Disability: the BDA works in partnership with Disability Bowls England, Activity Alliance, BE and the EIBA to ensure everyone regardless of disability can access the sport of bowls.

Women Can: the BDA are driving a campaign alongside BE and the EIBA to encourage more women to play bowls, coach bowls and volunteer in bowls.

Equality & Diversity: the BDA, BE and the EIBA are all striving to ensure the sport of bowls is as diverse as it can be.



10.1: Supply There are two indoor bowls facilities in Kettering, Desborough Northants Indoor Bowls Club with six rinks and Kettering Lodge Bowls Club with four rinks. There are six indoor sports facilities within 30 minutes’ drive of Kettering. Figure 10.1: Indoor bowls facilities within 30 mins drive of Kettering



Quality The audit and non technical assessment identified Kettering Lodge Bowling Club as above average. The audit found that the carpet and underlay is approximately 8/9 years old and will, require new underlay and the carpet turning within the next two years. The estimated cost of this is reported to be c. £10,000. The Club has recently invested in LED lighting in the social areas of the facility and has applied for funding to contribute towards the cost of installing LED lighting into the indoor bowls hall. Desborough Indoor Bowls Club has a carpet which is 15 years old. The carpet was turned approximately five years ago and no further action is required in the short term. In addition, c. £100,000 was invested in the facility to lower the ceiling height, which was funded by Wrenn waste disposal company. Table 10.2: Indoor bowls facilities within 30 mins drive of Kettering

Map ID

Active Places site name Rinks Access type Condition

10 Desborough Northants Indoor BC 6 Registered membership Above average

24 Kettering Lodge BC 4 Registered membership Above average

Map ID

Active Places site name Rinks Authority

B1 Uppingham Indoor BC 2 Rutland

B2 Harborough Leisure Centre 6 Harborough

B3 Wellingborough BC 6 Wellingborough

B4 Rushden Town Indoor BC 6 East Northamptonshire

B5 Kingsthorpe Indoor BC 6 Northampton

B6 Northampton & District Indoor Bowling Association

8 Northampton

Accessibility Figure 10.1 identifies that in addition to the 2 Borough facilities there are six additional bowling facilities within 30 minutes of the local authority. Section 3 establishes that the effective catchment for accessing an indoor bowls facility is a 30 minute drive time. Figure 10.1 therefore illustrates that the entire population of Kettering lives within 30 minutes’ drive time of an indoor bowls facility. Figure 10.1 also illustrates that both the Kettering facilities are located in areas of higher population density. While the application of a walking catchment isn’t necessary for an assessment of indoor bowls provision the location of these facilities is advantageous from an on foot accessibility perspective. Availability Both Desborough and Kettering Lodge bowling clubs require people to be a member in order to gain access to the facilities. Both are available during the day and in the evening. They



tend to be busier in the winter as many indoor bowlers move to play outside from April to September.



10.2: Demand Club consultation Kettering Lodge Bowling Club is reported to have c.230 indoor members (and 119 outdoor members). The Club offers both recreational and competitive play with members playing at county and national level. It is open seven days a week and offers social and playing membership and activities. It reports that carpet bowls is really popular in the wider area, in village halls and community centres, and this is typically where players start to play before joining the club. The main challenge for the Club is car parking; the current provision is difficult for drivers as parking is located under the indoor bowls centre and there are lots of pillars to negotiate and an insufficient number of spaces to accommodate the centre. It reports that having the centre located close to the town centre is not necessarily a benefit as members do not tend to travel via public transport. The Club is also located on a hill. The issue is such a challenge for the Club that it has indicated that it would be interested in relocating should the opportunity arise. Desborough Indoor Bowls Club has c.380 members aged between 7 years and 90 years. It has an adult section playing in both daytime and evening leagues (internal and external) and offers casual play for three sessions before paying membership. It also has thriving junior and disability sections. The Club competes in county competitions. It has links with primary and secondary schools and offers coaching to all members as part of its programme. 10.3: Summary

Facility type Indoor bowls


Quantity There are two indoor bowls facilities in Kettering and a total of 10 rinks.

There are no specific facility needs regarding the quantity of facilities

Quality Both the indoor bowling clubs are above average in quality.

Kettering Lodge Bowling Club requires underlay replacement and the carpet turning within the next two years.

Accessibility All of Kettering’s population lives within 30 minutes’ drive of an indoor bowls facility.

Car parking at Kettering Lodge Bowling Club is a particular challenge and is considered inadequate for the needs of the Club. It would consider re-locating should the opportunity arise.


All facilities are available during the day and in the evening. It is necessary to be a member of a club to access indoor bowls on a regular basis.

No availability requirements as these are members clubs and outside the jurisdiction of the Council.

Strategic Summary

Consultation did not highlight any additional demand for indoor bowls. Based upon current membership figures, EIBA’s view is that retention of the two existing clubs within KBC essential and that the two clubs and neighboring facilities will be able to accommodate current and future demand. Opportunity to relocate Kettering Lodge Bowling Club should be considered which could be supported by the council in the form of planning or other development support (not financial).



SECTION 11: SAILING CENTRE Introduction This section covers both sailing and rowing. The Royal Yachting Association (RYA) is the national body for all forms of boating, including dinghy and yacht racing, motor and sail cruising, RIBs and sports boats, powerboat racing, windsurfing, canal and river boat cruising, and personal watercraft. Within its Strategic Plan 2017-2021, it has identified that it will invest in the following activities with an aim of getting more people involved:

The RYA strategies for increasing participation are as follows:

Strategy Enablers Measures Broader Delivery Network Clubs, commercial providers and marinas Develop robust multi-sport offer “Pay and Play” ownership alternatives

Consumer insight data and market intelligence Collaboration with sports and charity partners

Diversity of participant profile Number of providers, sessions and regulars by programme

Regional Participation Plans Tailored, local plans supporting core activity Trial opportunities with local clubs Focus on conversion to regular participation Integrated RYA teams Local communications

Promote and market boating to all Demolish perception of “elitism” Build awareness and connection via shows, digital, advertising, press Create, support or leverage mass participation events Ensure retention of existing core participants Encourage lapsed boaters to return to the sport



Strategy Enablers Measures

Strengthen routes into boating Direct work with schools and youth groups Holiday to club links Friends & Family core introduction programme Closer liaison with sailors leaving the squad pathway

Enhanced digital & physical communications

Club participation in core programmes and providing regular data Engagement with Start Boating site and digital campaigns

Targeted diversity More Black, Asian & Minority Ethnic role models Differentiated marketing Sailability tailored by impairment group Charity partners

Current RYA programmes include: OnBoard programme - which introduces young people into the sport by teaching them

new skills in a safe controlled environment. Push the Boat Out (PTBO) programme - PTBO is about getting out on the water and

discovering sailing and windsurfing. Clubs are encouraged to open their doors, during a specific week of the year, to the public to allow people to try either sailing or windsurfing.

Active Marina programme is designed to build competence and confidence in marina berth holders. The programme engages with a large number of people who sail recreationally to develop their skills and confidence and give them opportunities to sail more frequently.

Sailability programme which supports disabled people to sail through specialist provision at Sailability Foundation sites.

Promote adult sailing opportunities through RYA Affiliated Clubs and RYA Recognised Training Centres through participation pathway activities.

Provide Try Sailing opportunities for new or returning sailors Encouraging more female participation through the promotion This Girl Can. Sailing clubs

are actively encouraged to promote women only sailing programme. Certain clubs have adopted the Women on Water (WOW) programme to encourage more female participation.

Marine Federation Code of Practice guidance is prepared by the British Marine Federation (BMF) and RYA provides planning authorities with supporting information and sample policies to safeguard and enable marine businesses and voluntarily run clubs to be developed. The aim is for such organisations and individuals to adapt and increase recreational boating facilities across the UK’s inland and coastal waters on a planned and sustainable basis. It is acknowledged throughout that although the primary audience is policy makers within planning authorities and regional assemblies, the advice is also relevant to a wide range of policy and decision makers that develop management plans, including Sport England. 11.1: Supply There is one sailing club, Cransley Sailing Centre, within the borough of Kettering. A location map of the centre is identified in figure 11.1. Quality of facilities was not assessed.



Figure 11.1: Location map of sailing centre in Kettering



Table 9.1: Sailing centre in Kettering Map ID Club

SA1 Cransley Sailing Club Accessibility Figure 11.1 identifies the Cransley Sailing Centre in the context a 30 minute drive time which is assumed as an acceptable catchment given the lack of sailing lakes in the area. Figure 11.1 illustrates that the entire population of Kettering lives within 30 minutes’ drive time of the facility. Availability Sailing at the centre is seasonal with sailing taking place at weekends from March to November and evenings from April to September with social sessions taking place all year round. In addition, school holiday sessions take place at Easter, May and throughout the summer holidays. There is also a racing calendar for members to participate in should they choose to compete. 11.2: Demand Centre consultation Known locally as the Three Chimneys, the lowland lake is a 40-acre reservoir constructed in the 1880s. The reservoir is privately owned and used by Cransley Sailing Club. The Club itself was established in 1967 and has c.100 members in total, 70 of which are social/junior members. It is a recognised RYA Training Centre offering dinghy, power boat and safety boat courses, tuition and guidance from RYA instructors. The Club is also a British Youth Sailing recognised club which allows junior sailors to develop their sailing and racing skills and encourages young sailors at grassroots level to stay in the sport. Courses on offer at the centre include:

Beginners

Adult RYA Level 1 Start Sailing Level 2 Basic Skills

Youth RYA Stage 1 Learn to Sail Stage 2 Learn to Sail

Members

First Aid One day 8-hour course Holiday Fun On-Board Get Back on the Water Sessions (3 days) Confidence sessions Get back on the water confidence sessions

Powerboat, safety boat and refresher powerboat sessions

Start Power Boating Level 1 Powerboat handling Level 2 combined course Safety Boat Course



The Club has a selection of boats, kit and equipment for members and beginners to hire and use. Membership is £50.00 per year for juniors, £35.00 social membership, £105.00 for adults and £135.00 for families. The Club has recently invested in its clubhouse making it more accessible by installing a changing room on the ground floor. During consultation the Club raised concerns regarding the security of tenure of the site. The landowner has submitted a planning request to the Council for two shepherds’ huts to be built and used as holiday lets. The decision on this has been deferred. The Club reports that the owner has indicated that should he not receive planning permission, access to the reservoir could be rescinded. Generally, it is understood the owner is interested in increasing use of the reservoir in return for financial gain, however the sanction of planning permission to let the shepherds huts is crucial to this. The Club suggest that increased usage at the site could come via open water swimming, triathlon club links, and angling. In addition to the sailing club, there is also a model sailing section which uses the Cransley Sailing Club as its base and the reservoir for the model boats general sailing and competitions. 11.3: Summary of sailing

Facility type Sailing and water sports


Quantity There is one sailing centre in Kettering Due to the lack of other inland lakes, there is not requirement for additional sailing clubs.

Quality The Owner and the Club both invest in the maintenance of the reservoir and the Club house to ensure it meets the needs of the Club and the users of the reservoir.

There is a need to maintain quality of the site and the club house, which is the responsibility of the land owner.

Accessibility All of Kettering’s population lives within 30 minutes’ drive of Cransley Sailing Club.


The site is privately owned. Cransley Sailing Club is a British Youth Sailing recognised club and a RYA training centre. The centre offers development and learning programmes which are progressive. The Club has concerns regarding the long-term security of tenure. Increase use of the site by considering other sports and recreational use to drive up revenue.

Retain access to the site for the Sailing Club, model boaters and other potential users. Increase use of the site by supporting with the owner to ensure it is financially viable.

Strategic Summary

There is a need to retain long term access to the site for sailing, which may need some support from the Council in the form of planning or development support (i.e. not financial).



SECTION 12: SUMMARY AND STRATEGIC RECOMMENDATIONS Key strategic recommendations therefore include to:

The creation of a North Northamptonshire Unitary Authority will impact on the

management and maintenance of facilities and the provision of new facilities. In the short term, a programme of investment should be implemented to improve the quality and flexibility of existing stock and to expand facilities where possible to increase capacity. This should take account of investment, maintenance and refurbishment requirements to protect and improve existing sports facilities.

Conduct a feasibility study to determine the long term future of Kettering Swimming Pool and whether a new leisure facility with a new facility mix (including a larger fitness gym, a teaching pool, main pool and studios) in an alternative location could better meet the current and long term future of Kettering residents.

Improve the facility mix at Desborough Leisure Centre to meet the needs of the community and grow both fitness and indoor sports at the centre. Explore whether the demand for additional squash courts exists to ensure the business case is robust.

The Council to monitor opportunities to offer and or extend daytime access to school facilities, taking account of appropriate safeguarding issues for the whole school.

Work with, assist and support schools to develop active community use agreements enabling access to both existing and new school sports facilities. Where community use agreements are already operational encourage providers to maintain the agreement and update them regularly for continued access.

Given the high levels of import and export, ensure that the Council stays aware of major programme changes and/or potential closure or the development of new facilities in neighbouring authorities to ensure the needs of the Kettering residents are met.

Support Cransley Sailing Club to obtain long term security of tenure and increase the use of the site.

Consider the options for a relocation of Kettering Lodge Bowling Club.

Support other developments (via planning, developer contributions and officer expertise) which may assist in increasing sport and physical activity within the wider community.

Support the development of a new, larger dedicated gymnastics facility which also includes provision for trampolining.

Opportunities should be sought to work with schools, colleges, Parish Councils and other appropriate bodies managing local facilities with community access to ensure that programming and pricing of facilities and activities are inclusive of hard to reach groups and are accessible for all, whilst recognising that the influence of the Council is limited in many circumstances.

Creating a ‘register of needs’ with respect to village and community halls could help the Council establish an approach to support village hall and parish council committees in their role to positively contribute to the physical activity, health and wellbeing of local communities.



Appendix 1: Consultee list

Name Designation Organisation

Emma Arklay Senior Development Officer Development Services (Planning Policy)

Kettering Borough Council

Mark Coleman Support to project Lead Kettering Borough Council Simon Richardson Development Manager

Planning Policy Kettering Borough Council

Hazel Webb Community Services Manager Kettering Borough Council

Collette Lilley Economic Development Kettering Borough Council

Sophie Leming Health and wellbeing Kettering Borough Council Pat Starsmore Brian Langton

Treasurer Management group

Kettering Lodge Bowling Club

Matthew Green General Manager Balance Health Club & Arena Sports Matt Tilley General Manager Legacy Leisure

Alex Godfrey Regional Manager Parkwood Leisure Christopher Todd Chairman Kettering Tennis Club Janice Daynes Manager Totally Netball

Harjinder Singh Committee member Kettering Interfaith Forum Andy Bowen Nick Wilkins

Secretary Chair

Kettering Squash Club

Nigel Austin Commodore Cransley Sailing Club Amanda Green Manager Marlow House, Vine Trust

Sean Silver Voluntary Sector Development Worker

Kettering Volunteer Network Groundwork

Marie Mitchell Phil Purcell

Founder Kettering Olympic Gymnastics Club

Lorraine Manager Ladies First Gym

Tony Hough Club Manager Simply Gym Kettering Mike Annable Kettering Amateur Swimming Club Kelvi Linnett Rothborough Table Tennis Club

Keith Andrews Kettering Futsal Club

Alan Ducker Kettering Walking Football Club

Mary Stringer Secretary Desborough Indoor Bowls

Carl Chambers Sports Centre Manager Montsaye Community Sports Centre James Green Site Manager Kettering Science Academy

Andrew Green MD of Bedford College Services Bedford College

Joe O’Reilly Koby Dee

Estates Manager Head of Sports

Southfield School

Nathan Smith Sport & Lettings Manager Bishop Stopford School Esther Bushell Chief Operating Officer & Premises

Manager Islebrook College

Esther Bushell Chief Operating Officer & Premises Manager

Wren Spinney Community School

Tim Ball Estates / Health & Safety Manager Kettering Buccleuch Academy Tim Webb Community Services Officer Kettering Borough Council

Lee Ward Senior Relationship Manager Badminton England Natalie Laws Business Support Officer - facility British Gymnastics



Name Designation Organisation

Peter Griffiths Senior Delivery Manager - Infrastructure

England Basketball

Stephen Rodwell Development Manager England Indoor Bowling Association

Richard Lamburn Head of Facilities Swim England Duty Manager Sports Direct Fitness

Kerry Fisher School Leisure and Sports Manager School Lettings Solutions Sonya Shire Kings



Appendix 2: Sport England’s Economic Impact Model 2015 indicator

20200702 kettering sports facilities audit & needs ... · company no: 9145032 (england)...

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