Ed has the balls!
New money for school sports so pitches can be used in the evenings and through winter
SECRETARY of State for Children, Schools and Families, Ed Balls, has announced a further £30m investment over the next three years to help the most needy sports colleges build new pitches, install floodlights and provide better drainage so facilities can be used all year and round the clock.
Speaking at the Specialist Sports Colleges Conference in Telford he said he wanted to see floodlit artificial turf pitches installed - so pitches could be used at night - and better drainage so grass pitches would not become waterlogged during winter.
He urged more councils to end the ‘no balls game’ culture and help give children and young people out-of-school sports provision by opening up local facilities such as parks, playgrounds, basketball and tennis courts for longer hours.
And he launched a new strategy leaflet which sets out how the Government will build on the 86 per cent of young people already doing two hours of high
quality PE and sport each week - compared to just 62 per cent in 2003/4 and only 25 per cent in 2002. Nearly three quarters of pupils now take part in house matches and leagues and almost all schools have a competitive sports day.
He also challenged more local authorities to import activities like so-called ‘Midnight Basketball’ from the US to give young people positive activities in the early evening to reduce disengagement and anti-social behaviour.
Ed Balls said “We have some great sports facilities in schools. But at this time of year some young people find their local pitches are unlit and waterlogged. And even if they do function the gates are locked at sundown.
“We want to encourage everyone to take part in sport - and making sport an attractive option for all young people is especially important if we are to tackle obesity and give young people enjoyable and positive activities they can take part in after school hours.”
... meanwhile, over the border in Scotland
THERE is increasing dismay throughout the country at the loss of easily accessible open space, not least the number of sports pitches that have been bulldozed in the cause of “development”. A total of 130 in the past 10 years. As sports groups, teachers and parents have become weary of pointing out, this is does not fit with the countless initiatives to improve health and stem the obesity epidemic.
Groups such as Fields in Trust (formerly the National Playing Fields Association) had been pinning their hopes on Scottish Planning Policy 11: Open Space and Physical Activity guidelines for local authorities.
They are deeply disappointed that it does not strengthen the previous guidance to councils, which was merely that “open space should not be lost - by setting minimum standards”. Many people who have seen their local tennis courts or bowling greens disappear under new housing will agree with them.
In future, however, Sportscotland will have to be consulted on developments that would involve the loss of such small-scale facilities, as well as on the loss of
playing fields. That is good news, because such grounds are sometimes the only outdoor recreational facilities in a neighbourhood, yet their supporters often do not have the resources to stand up to developers.
Involving Sportscotland as a statutory consultee in the planning process helps to restore the balance. Similarly welcome is the change that zones school sports pitches as green, giving them continued protection if the land is no longer used for education. Too many school playing fields have been lost in PPP school-building contracts which provide new schools on green space while the former school site, including the sports pitches, is developed for housing. In the process, the space for playing fields tends to shrink.
Grounds Maintenance Equipment for Professionals
+44 (0)1332 824777
www.dennisuk.com PROUDLY BRITISH 5
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