Open Space and Recreational Facilities

... or lack of in Stoughton

"What do you mean, lack of open space? We can always drive to Whitmoor Common, Chittys Common, or there's Johnston Green, Stoughton Rec, Cardwell's Keep, or the village green at QE Park ..." 

Well, that's just about it as far as Stoughton is concerned.  These are nice patches of green that give a feeling of open space which relieves the general feeling of 'crammed in' housing.

But what about recreational facilities?  Places to go, things to do?  Is it too far to walk?  Are they convenient?

Westborough is also lacking open space, and yet the council have proposed to build houses on the allotments off Aldershot Road.  There is a history of building on open space in Stoughton, with its allotments having been built over many years ago, and the facilities in QE Barracks being bull-dozed to make way for 525 houses and commercial property leaving only the minimum of open space. 

Once open space is built on it will never be converted back.  Please see Save Our Open Spaces which is the website of WBDRA – the Westborough, Broadacres & District Residents Association, a member of the North Guildford Alliance (for more details about the NGA, see SCA page on Whitmoor Common).

Furthermore, there is little the council can currently do about another form of building on open space - please see SCA's page on Garden Grabbing.

Government guidelines

Did you know there are government guidelines?  Everyone deserves to live within walking distance (400-800m) of decent public facilities.  There are guidelines on the quantity of open space, play grounds, playing fields, community buildings and other facilities that depend on the number of residents, and Stoughton and Westborough have the highest population density. 

This suggests Stoughton and Westborough should have the best facilities in Guildford!  Please read on to understand the different types of open space we are talking about, and then compare what we have with other parts of Guildford.

Population Density (People per hectare)

What are the Council doing to address the shortfall?

There are 9 classifications of 'open space' (see below) described in the GBC Open Space Audit February 2006, which highlights the massive shortfall which the whole of urban Guildford suffers, especially the town centre, North Guildford and Stoughton. 

What are the council doing about it?  They are doing nothing to address the shortfall.  They only have policies affecting new housing developments of 5 or more dwellings, to ensure the developer provides facilities or pays a contribution towards provision or improvements elsewhere.  Hence the green spaces in new developments at Cardwells Keep and QE Park, and the proposed Community Centre that might not happen.

The only land available for new open space or recreation facilities is brownfield, where there is overwhelming competition to build houses, from private developers as well as GBC who need affordable housing.

Unfortunately, GBC policies H10 and H11 (below) do not help.  Unless a site is large, GBC cannot force a developer to build affordable homes or provide recreation space.  The few large sites that remain are bound to be used for housing, and any smaller site including 'garden grabbing' will be used for private housing.   These schemes provide very little money towards improving existing facilities and whilst the majority of planning gain goes towards traffic schemes, much more is needed to improve conditions in Stoughton. 

SCA therefore believes the council will do nothing to provide new 'open space' where it is needed within walking distance of high density housing.

Believe it or not, the council (see Whitmoor Common) would have us drive to Riverside Park in Burpham or Chantry Wood south of Guildford!  Does everyone have a car?  How do you get a bus to these places?  Dare you cycle?

Site Allocations

The Site Allocations process provides an opportunity for residents to identify sites in North Guildford that might be used for alternative uses instead of 'yet more housing'.  Even if housing is not built on these sites, it will not stop new houses being built by 'garden grabbing' for smaller developments.  The only site currently 'allocated' by GBC in Stoughton is Stoughton Grange School, which will be used as a care home.  Are there any more?  See SCA's Site Allocations page.

Next door to Stoughton is Whitmoor Common, an SSI which was granted protected by the European Special Protected Area Status in March 2005 to protect three species of ground nesting birds.  This European Directive has a large on influence on housing plans in the area, as described in SCA's page on Whitmoor Common.

Classifications

Open space is the term used for various types recreational facilities that have public access.  Guildford Borough Council have the following 9 classifications, as defined in their Open Space Audit February 2006 (table 1 of section 2.1): 

The following is a list of facilities within walking distance of Stoughton, which shows that Stoughton has the lowest provision in 7 of the 9 categories. 

The numbers in brackets is the GBC reference, and the area is recorded in hectares as it appears in the Open Space Audit February 2006.  A hectare is 100m x 100m and is approx. the size of a full size football pitch. However a football pitch requires space around the edges, and so only a junior pitch can fit on the 1.66ha at Cardwell’s Keep, and 4 pitches of different sizes on 5ha at Stoughton Rec.

Locations marked with an asterisk * are those which the National Playing Fields Association are concerned about, see end of table for details of the massive shortfall in NPFA standard playing field and playground facilities.

Relevant council policies are discussed here.

* Locations in the above list marked with an asterisk, are those which the National Playing Fields Association (NPFA) are concerned about; the playground aspect of 'Amenity Open Space' and playing field aspect of 'Playing Field or Park'.  They are also concerned about school facilities. 

The NPFA provides standards for playing fields and playgrounds.  The NPFA have advice on protecting playing fields from being developed here.

The following table represents the shortfall in NPFA standard provision, which specifies a required amount per 1,000 head of population.  Onviously the densest wards require more provision.

The overall deficit for playing areas is - 85.9 hectares.  GBC policies R2 and R3 do nothing to redress this shortfall.  Their policy only seeks to provide NPFA '6 acre standard plus' facilities only for NEW developments of 5 or more houses.

GBC Policy R2/R3: NPFA standard is 2.4 ha (6 acres) per 1000 population.  Developers are expected to provide an additional 0.4 ha (1 acre) of amenity space. Therefore, the total amount of open space to be provided will be 2.8 ha (7 acres) per 1000 population.

Therefore, for the council to create a new playground of, say, one half hectare size, they require developers to build 71 new houses!!!!!!  And the playground is supposed to be within 400m walking distance of the houses.  Are they trying?

GBC Open Space Policy (April 2002)

Guildford Borough Council's Open Space Audit

Council Policies

GBC Planning Policies

GBC Open Space Policy (April 2002)

Chapter 13 of the Local Plan 2003 deals with recreational policies, one of which is R5.

Chapter 15 of the Local Plan 2003 deals with community facilities, one of which is CF2

Below are some key policies which affect open space and garden grabbing.