§ Mr. GreenwayTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many(a) playing fields and (b) green spaces available for public use have been lost to development in each of the past three years. [148695]
§ Ms Beverley Hughes[holding answer 6 February 20011: The English Sports Council, now Sport England, was made a statutory consultee on 5 August 1996 for planning applications involving the development of playing fields. The information requested is not available 534W as Sport England did not distinguish between public and private use of playing fields, which are the subject of planning applications, during the period specified.
The Government have introduced a number of new initiatives to meet their commitment to avoid the loss of playing fields. The Town and Country Planning (Playing Fields) (England) Direction 1998 requires referral to the Secretary of State of planning applications for development of local authority-owned playing fields and others in educational use, where Sport England has objected but the local planning authority is minded to grant permission.
The School Standards and Framework Act 1998 empowers the Secretary of State for Education and Employment to protect school playing fields in England from disposal or change of use.
The Government set up the Playing Fields Monitoring Group last year to oversee the effectiveness of these initiatives and to collate more reliable data on proposals to dispose of and develop playing fields.
No separate statistics are available relating to the development of green spaces.
A draft revised version of PPG17: "Sport and Recreation", to be issued shortly for consultation, will update national planning policy on the provision and protection of playing fields and other green space.