Plans for Prestbury Playing Fields

Prestbury Parish Council presentation to the residents of the Parish

The purpose of this post is to inform the residents of Prestbury Parish about the Council’s plans for the development of the playing fields.

• Details on why we have money available for improvements
• A reminder of the current facilities
• The facilities we are including in the development
• Progress to date
• Timescales and next steps

Plans for Prestbury playing fields

• Prestbury Parish Council (PPC) will be using Section 106 funds.
• This is a legal agreement for new developments where developers are required to provide funds (relative to the size of the development) to be used for the purpose of improving facilities in the local area.
• This project is seeking to use funds provided by the developers of Starvehall Farm (Bovis and Bloor Homes) that have been agreed with Cheltenham Borough Council.
• Now PPC has access to the funds there is an opportunity to improve the playing fields so that all of the residents of Prestbury can benefit.
• The money must be spent before November 2022; if the money is unspent it returns to the developer.

Current facilities owned by PPC

The playing fields are located between New Barn Close, off New Barn Lane, and Prestbury Road. Next to the recently acquired Barley Road Public Open Space.

The Parish Council Offices are situated in the Pavilion, top right of the playing field. The Parish Office is open Monday – Friday 9:00-12:00.

The Pavilion also houses the Little Explorers playgroup, and changing rooms and facilities used by the football club and tennis club.

Two tennis courts are also situated in this part of the field. The tennis courts are rented from PPC by a local tennis club, the Prestbury Tennis Club, but are open to all residents of the Parish between 4:00 – 6:00 pm Monday to Thursday and on an ad hoc basis when not in use by the club for league matches etc.  A poster giving that information is displayed at the courts by the tennis club.

Continuing towards the Prestbury Road there is an existing MUGA, without a playing surface and a fenced children’s play area.

Planned Facilities and Layout

• The red line on the aerial photo graph shows the new Daily Mile running track, each circuit is 1/3rd of a mile.
• The new Multi-Use Games Area (MUGA) will be constructed next to the existing MUGA and will have floodlights, there will be Activity Walls along the outside.

This link opens a PDF document showing the location of the new MUGA (opens a new tab) Prestbury PC – MUGA Location

• The existing MUGA will have new activity walls and playing surfaces constructed where there is grass at the moment.

• The new outdoor gym equipment, similar to that shown in the photograph below, will be close to the running track.

• A new car park will be built along the North edge of the playing field and will provide parking for forty cars.

Progress to Date

• PPC has established a subcommittee to manage this project.
• Quotes have been obtained from three providers for both the equipment and car parking surface following a number of site visits, discussions and negotiations. This has followed PPC due process to allow for comparison
• These quotes have been assessed to decide which partners are most suited to the project, with a recommendation presented to wider Council. This assessment was based on a number of criteria including cost, quality and customer service and support provided during implementation and build.
• These recommendations have been approved and the Council will be moving ahead with two providers: one for the provision of the car park and another for the other equipment.
• The subcommittee has started to develop a management plan to be implemented when the facilities are in place.

Management Plan

• The Daily Mile and outdoor gym equipment will be free to use and will need little to no maintenance once installed. This will also be the case for the improved existing MUGA walls.
• The new MUGA and floodlights will need to be managed, with the expectation that there will be a charge for using these facilities to cover the cost of maintenance and electricity. This MUGA will be fully lockable.
• We are investigating appropriate technology to manage this, with online booking and payment, token/code access and remote management of floodlights.
• The car park will also require some management. We are including gate barriers as part of the project budget and there will be agreement on how cars can access the field when needed.
• We will be encouraging others in the Prestbury community to join any management committee that is established PPC.

Timescales and next steps

• PPC will be submitting a planning application in Autumn 2019; this will be for the MUGA, floodlights and signage. A high level management plan will be part of that process.
• Building work will commence May 2020, and is expected to last for 6-8 weeks. This is the best weather window for the installation of the car park, running track and equipment and is realistic in terms of timing of planning consent.
• PPC will keep the Prestbury community appraised through future monthly Parish Council meetings  – details of these can be found on this website Events