§ Mr. LoveTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what assessment he has made of the advantages of issuing(a) National Playing Fields Association and (b) Local Planning Authority Guidance on the provision of open spaces below 2 hectares in inner city areas where local residents do not have access to green spaces within 0.4 kilometres of their homes. [45633]
§ Mr. RaynsfordGovernment guidance to local planning authorities on the provision of open space is contained in Planning Policy Guidance note 17: Sport and Recreation, which was published in 1991. We have recently reviewed the effectiveness of this guidance, and a report will be published shortly.
The current advice does not propose a single standard for the whole country but gives as examples the National Playing Fields Association's and the Greater London Development Plan/London Planning Advisory Committee's standards.
The National Playing Fields Association's longstanding approach of seeking 6 acres per 1,000 population does not address the issue of accessibility. The GLDB/LPAC standards are more pertinent to large urban areas and address directly the accessibility issues.
I would expect London Boroughs to assess open space deficiency using the standards in Table 7.1 of the Strategic Guidance for London Planning Authorities.