THE COUNTY FACILITIES PLAN FOR RUGBY UNION IN HAMPSHIRE

2009-2012

15th May 2009

Contents

1.Introduction
Setting the Scene
HRFU Demographics
HRFU Rugby Development Plan & structure
Current Facility Situation
Background Data
RFU Investment to date
Future Investment
3. What Facilities are needed?
3.1  The activity v facility continuum
3.2  Model Venues
3.3  HRFU Activity v facility continuum
3.4  HRFU Club data and facility needs
4  Priorities for investment
4.1  The process
4.2  County Priority Projects
4.3  How will the facility requirements in HRFU be delivered
4.4  Principles of developing and funding a project
4.5  Conclusion
5  Appendices
5.1  HRFU Structure
5.2  Readiness Factors


1 Introduction

“Right reasons, Right facilities, Right places, Right Way”

This strategy builds upon the RFU National Facility Strategy and provides a framework for the sustainable development of facilities for rugby union in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. This covers the Hampshire RFU area including Isle of Wight Council (Unitary), Hampshire County Council, Gosport Borough Council, Fareham Borough Council, Winchester City Council, Havant Borough Council, East Hampshire District Council, Hart District Council, Rushmoor Borough Council, Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, Test Valley Borough Council, Eastleigh Borough Council, New Forest District Council, Southampton City Council (unitary), Portsmouth City Council (unitary).

In an ever changing climate of funding streams and structures, it is critical that Hampshire RFU (HRFU) is clear on where its priorities for investment lie, how these priorities are identified and the justification for them.

The strategy is designed to;

  • Identify what facilities are required to meet the needs of the Hampshire Rugby Development Plan/Strategy.
  • Support the prioritisation of investment and funding through a detailed set of developmental criteria, technical requirements, management / operational structures and potential financial viability.
  • Prioritise future investment to ensure that the right facilities are provided in the right locations and for the right reasons
  • Identify specific sites, clubs and geographical areas where priorities lie.
  • Identify and deliver a minimum standard for all facility provision

This strategy will help to answer the following questions:

  • Why are facilities important? (The Context) The Right Reasons
  • What facilities are needed in Hampshire? (The Rationale) The Right Facilities
  • Where should facilities be located? (The Priorities) The Right Places
  • How might the facilities be provided? (The Process) The Right Way

The plan should be used in conjunction with the following documents:

  • The RFU National Facility Strategy
  • Playing Pitch Strategies, Open/Green Spaces Strategies, PPG 17 Studies & Surveys, Local Development Frameworks, Sport and Recreation Strategies in the following Local Authority Areas;

Hampshire County Council

Gosport Borough Council

Fareham Borough Council

Winchester City Council

Havant Borough Council

East Hampshire District Council

Hart District Council

Rushmoor Borough Council

Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council

Test Valley Borough Council

Eastleigh Borough Council

New Forest District Council

Southampton City Council (unitary)

Portsmouth City Council (unitary)

Isle of Wight Council (unitary)

  • Hampshire & Isle of Wight Sports Partnership (County Sports Partnership) Strategies
  • Sport England South East Region Investment Strategy

2.1 Setting the Scene – The Context

To support the delivery of this Facilities Plan it is important to understand where it fits within the context of the county, region, the sport, and the wider role of rugby.

2.2 Hampshire RFU Ltd

Within the Hampshire RFU there are 44 clubs, 24 of whom have junior sections of varying sizes. 35 of these clubs are section 1 clubs who participate within the RFU league system. The clubs support 109 adult teams with 3750 players and 258 junior teams with 7695 players. The county supports 9 female teams. In support of these clubs there are 537 registered volunteers, 201 (3 female) registered referees, 792 registered coaches. 15 clubs have achieved the RFU Seal of Approval with a further 4 working towards. (ref Rugby First Jan 09)

Hampshire

The geographical county of Hampshire and Isle of Wight has a population in the region of 1,842,600 (mid year 2007), with a population density of approximately 444 people per square kilometre. Hampshire and the Isle of Wight cover a total area of 4151 km2 within the South East region. Hampshire is a popular holiday area, with tourist attractions including many seaside resorts, the maritime area in Portsmouth along with Southampton two of England’s largest Ports. The New Forest National Park lies with the borders as does a large area of the South Downs. The Isle of Wight has traditionally been treated as part of Hampshire for some purposes but is administratively independent becoming a full ceremonial county in 1974.

Hampshire is one of the largest areas in the country, stretching from Basingstoke on the Berkshire border in the North of the County, to Havant in the South on the Sussex boundary across the water to the Isle of Wight and West to the New Forest on the Dorset border. With the exceptions of the Unitary authorities of Portsmouth, Southampton and Isle of Wight, Hampshire is governed by a county council with 11 district or borough council’s and for the majority of the county parish or town councils at a local level.

The area is diverse 90% of the County is rural with Basingstoke and Deane, Portsmouth and Southampton being the largest urban areas, Hampshire is a relatively affluent county with a gross domestic product of £32.3 billion in 2005, with the overall economic activity about the same as the National average but Hampshire’s unemployment rate is lower that the average for the Country as a whole.

Across the County there are number of Local Authority wards designated as high socio economic deprivation wards (under the Indices of Multiple Deprivation) there are five in Southampton Bargate, Bitterne, Millbrook, Redbridge and Woolston, two in Portsmouth Charles Dickens and Paulsgrove, four in Havant: Bancroft, Warren Park, Battins and Bondfields and one in Rushmoor: Heron. There are a further fifteen wards on the Isle of Wight designated as high priory areas under the Indices of Multiple Deprivation.

The partnership has a relatively small population of Black, Asian and other Ethnic Minorities, the largest populations of which are situated within the Priority Wards of Portsmouth and Southampton. Currently 96.7% of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight’s population are classified as White.

Jersey and Guernsey

The islands of Jersey and Guernsey also lie within the administration of Hampshire RFU and are considered with the demographical information for the area. Both islands have RDO’s and we would look to them to recognise facilities requirements in their local clubs and to provide input into this plan during its review stages.

Local Authority / Mid year 2007 / Area
Km2 / Pop Density Km2 / 2016 population / Estimated Population Increase
Gosport / 79,200 / 25.59 / 3132 / 84,800 / +5600
Fareham / 109,500 / 74.24 / 1475 / 111,700 / +2200
Winchester / 111,300 / 660.97 / 168 / 117,200 / +5900
Havant / 116,900 / 55.33 / 2113 / 120,600 / +3700
East Hampshire / 111,000 / 514.44 / 216 / 114,400 / +3400
Hart / 89,900 / 215.27 / 418 / 100,500 / +10,600
Rushmoor / 89,400 / 39.04 / 2290 / 89,400 / 0
Basingstoke & Deane / 160,100 / 633.81 / 253 / 174,500 / +14,400
Test Valley / 114,700 / 627.58 / 183 / 123,100 / +8400
Eastleigh / 120,100 / 79.78 / 1505 / 128,100 / +8000
New Forest / 174,700 / 753.21 / 232 / 186,200 / +11,500
Southampton / 228,600 / 51.47 / 4454 / 249,900 / +21,300
Portsmouth / 197,200 / 40.25 / 4912 / 217,400 / +20,200
IOW / 140,000 / 380 / 368 / 152,000 / +12,200
Total / 1,842,600 / 4150.98 / 443.9 / 1,970,000 / +127,400
Jersey / 90,800 / 118 / 780 / n/a
Guernsey / 65,573 / 78 / 836 / n/a

Hampshire Clubs

* Note - The Clubs from the Islands of Jersey and Guernsey are not shown on this map.

2.3 Hampshire RFU Structure

A full diagrammatic structure of HRFU is included in Appendix 1

Within this structure, the Community Rugby Committee and more directly the Hampshire RFU Facility Coordinator’s are responsible for the creation of this facilities/plan. The coordinator’s key aims are as follows

  • To collate and maintain an accurate view of the current standard of club facilities available to the game in Hampshire RFU
  • To identify the current and future club facility development needs and proposals at all Hampshire rugby union clubs
  • To align the needs of individual clubs with the needs of the county as a whole
  • To prioritise individual clubs (and other strategic sites) for the support of Hampshire RFU when developing projects for submission to RFU and other relevant funding programmes

The Hampshire RFU Annual Action Plan

The Hampshire facilities plan is based on a strategic document called ‘The Hampshire Way’. This document is reviewed and updated on a regular basis. All of the elements that allow for the delivery of a quality rugby environment within Hampshire are addressed in the document. The County’s objectives and those of the RFU are complimentary helping the RFU professionals and County Volunteers to work closely together. Some of the objectives within ‘The Hampshire Way’ apply specifically to the development of rugby from a playing and facilities perspective:

·  Elite Rugby

o  To enable players to achieve their full potential

o  To enable coaches to achieve their full potential

·  Community Rugby

o  To increase enjoyable participation

o  To raise the standard of facilities in our Member clubs

o  To ensure open and two way communications

Working to continually increase the levels of participation in rugby needs to be done in conjunction with improving the quality and capacity of the associated facilities. As a first priority we must ensure that the basic facilities are in place across all of the clubs in the County. We will prioritise the needs of the players and the officials, as their ongoing retention and attraction is fundamental to us. To this end Hampshire will prioritorise facilities investment in the following way:

·  Player changing and showering facilities

·  Officials changing and showering facilities.

·  Toilet facilities

·  Pitch Improvement

·  Floodlighting

·  Clubhouse facilities

The Hampshire RFU Annual Action Plan reflects the national development strategies that have the following key aims. A number of these objectives contain inherent facility implications.

·  Increase the number of Adult participants playing the game by a minimum of 2% per annum over the plan period.

·  Increase the number of participants playing the game within the age grades of Under 17 to Under 24 by a minimum of 2% per annum over the plan period.

·  Increase the number of participants playing the game within the age grades of Under 13 to under 16 by a minimum of 2% per annum over the period of the plan period.

·  Achieve a minimum 3% increase in the number of volunteer administrators.

·  Increase by a minimum of 1% year on year throughout the plan period participation in all aspects of the game, by groups currently under represented in the game.

·  Increase the number of teams playing recreational Rugby events by a minimum of 5% per annum over the plan period.

·  Ensure that the Hampshire RFU complies with the Sport England/NSPCC `Standards for the safeguarding of young people in Sport`.

·  Maintain Ethos and Culture of our game at all levels as a differentiator to other sports.

·  Establish a clear planning cycle for the development of the Community game.

·  50% of Clubs to achieve Club Accreditation by the end of the plan period.

·  Increase awareness in all RFU Member organisations of their responsibilities under Health and Safety legislation.

·  Ensure that 50% of applicable Clubs are registered as C.A.S.C s by the end of the plan period

·  Increase the awareness and knowledge of insurance across the whole of the game.

·  Increase the number of adult coaches and referees by 5%

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HRFU Facility Plan

2.4 Current Facility Situation

Where is the Game Played in Hampshire? The table outlines the current range of rugby venues and the typical activity that takes place at each.

School Venues / 158 schools are affiliated to the Schools Union in Hampshire. There are currently 15 school sports partnerships in Hampshire that work with the Rugby Development Officers. All of the 15 school sports partnerships have a rugby element within them that offer teacher rugby coaching & refereeing courses and rugby festivals/tournaments to ALL Hampshire Schools (affiliated to the RFU or not).
Perins Schools have achieved Trust status, in partnership with the RFU, and provides for a closer relationship between the RFU, the County and the School.
There are 3,200 schools affiliated to the England Rugby Football Schools Union (ERFSU) many of which have good quality sporting facilities. Clubs that do not have their own ground often hire school pitches but issues such as declining maintenance of playing fields affects pitch quality. Provision within the state sector may be significantly influenced by current and future Government funding through Building Schools for the Future (BSF).
Club Venues / There are currently 35 RFU section 1 clubs in Hampshire RFU. Section 3.4 provides a complete breakdown of those clubs detailing locations, facilities and teams as well as governance and legal ownership. 4 clubs are freehold owners of their site, a further 23 own leased sites with the remaining 8 clubs not owning their facilities and operating in rented sites. However it must be noted that in a number of cases there is a combination of lease and rented arrangements which complicates issues (especially when considering the clubhouse and pitches) and that some leases are very short.
Eastleigh Rugby Club host a county wide disabled side (CRC driven), providing all playing and social facilities
79% of clubs responding in the 2005 questionnaire had security of tenure over their own ground. This obviously gives them an advantage in developing their facilities, subject to funding and planning issues. RFU Capital Investment is aimed at these community venues.
Stadia Venues / There are no Major Stadia venues based within Hampshire however Havant RFC have a capacity of 3000 and covered seating for 200, Basingstoke RFC have a capacity of 2500 and covered seating for 250, Jersey have a covered standing capacity of 250.