“Whoever conducts them, checks and site surveys are essential to ensure the site is fit for purpose”


added reassurance that, even if something untoward turns up underground, they are shielded from a hefty bill to put matters right or a fine if litigation ensues.


“Local authorities will usually have the


results of site inspections to hand,” Colin says. “Some have an in-house landscape architect department, whilst any good contractor will know their responsibilities for conducting surveys. However, many smaller clubs may not have the resources, so must rely on contracting in a consultant for traditional builds.” As the plum sites are snapped up for development, pressure is building for playing fields to be ‘concreted over’ for development, leaving brownfield sites for sporting use. The Fields in Trust body is currently mounting a campaign to safeguard such sporting heritage, and its regional offices are mounting a rearguard action to prevent more pitches disappearing. Even before the recent austerity cuts


were announced, Sport England was tightening up its terms of funding the governing bodies of sport, who had to demonstrate that they were actively seeking greater participation among the population.


But, as Colin points out, “Most governing bodies will prefer new facilities to be located in easily accessible areas - urban conurbations usually. Developers will build new estates and housing on the best land and there is a greater priority placed on providing living space. Such land offers less risk of contamination than brownfield sites.”


So, it seems sport may have to


compromise on the quality of land that playing surfaces are built upon. The process of ensuring a proposed sports site is investigated proceeds along a clear cut path, according to Rob Everett, the head of the sportsturf design team at the Sports Turf Research Institute (STRI). “We first establish the nature and


extent of the investigation that the sports club, school or community facility wants completing, then agree a fee,” Rob explains. “We look at the site and assess the conditions, whether green or brownfield, as part of a normal feasibility study which the client has to conduct, whether the site is contaminated or not.” “That survey then points the way for further investigations, if necessary, that


will include pH readings, soil type and drainage and which will further explore the issues identified in the initial report.” Greenfield sites “usually haven’t been touched”, Rob says, “however, we receive quite a few inquiries for brownfield site surveys.” More extensive investigations will also include digging trial holes to determine what type of material lies underneath the topsoil and whether it may be contaminated and be hazardous to health.


Samples for testing are submitted to one or more specialist laboratories scattered across the UK. “They’ll be testing the soil type, particle size and hydro conductivity for example,” Rob continues. Other laboratories may focus on detecting heavy metal content - a sign of former industrial activity - and asbestos.


STRI can research the history of a site, but only so far back, he adds. “Sites used for the burning and burial of animal carcasses during the outbreak of foot and mouth that hit Britain last decade will be identified and registered.” Details of sites used for earlier outbreaks though may have more ‘hazy’ provenance, he admits, “although we wouldn’t have a problem with natural degradation.”


A service such as


Envirocheck will reveal the location of possibly problematic sites and can trace the history as far back as the 1800s, if necessary.


Everything may not always be as it seems on the surface, however. “A look at old Ordnance Survey maps might indicate a green field where a sports site is proposed, but then, later, a small factory might have sprung up, then been demolished after use, leaving a site that may have rubble lying underneath the surface.”


The rural ‘black economy’ may have played its part in muddying the waters as small undesignated sites have come and gone, leaving nothing to show on the


Colin Young, Technical and Training Manager, SAPCA surface, but


possibly something more sinister buried beneath it. However, “even excavating trial holes may not hit the right spot,” Rob concedes.


Since the 1960s, colliery spoil heaps and other industrial waste have been managed and relandscaped, particularly in South-west Yorkshire and South Wales, to become usefully deployed as parkland or performance sport facilities. Some reclamation projects are huge - hundreds of


millions of pounds in the case of Polkemmet, the site of a former steel works in Scotland, now transformed into a mix of golf courses, sports pitches and housing. Projects valued over £300,000 require a waste management plan that includes details of the materials to be used for construction of the facility, Rob explains. “Material that needs to be taken off site will be transported to an authorised tip. Some sites can deal with contaminated material and, the nastier it becomes, the more specialised the site is.” And there are other implications. “The cost of tipping material can rise quite dramatically when it is highly contaminated, but nothing can go offsite until its composition is identified. Industrial waste has come in


handy in the construction of many a sports facility - ash and clinker from power


stations and blast


furnaces have formed the foundations of bowling greens and golf courses (used


because of their free- draining properties) - one of the latter


103


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140