Skip to content

Playing fields policy

Playing fields are one of the most important resources for sport in England. They provide the space for team sports on outdoor pitches, and form part of a network of open spaces and wider green infrastructure in an area.

To help protect the spaces where people get active, local planning authorities are required by law to consult us on planning applications they receive that affect playing fields.

As a result, we've put in place a Playing Fields Policy to help us assess and respond to these applications.

We also provide publicly-available guidance alongside our Playing Fields Policy to give clarity and advice to external parties on how we make individual assessments.

This include details on the definition of key terms and how we interpret them, how the policy relates to government policy, how we apply the policy and its five exceptions, along with how to consult with us.

Young boy practicing american football tackle using cushion

Additionally, we publish annual figures on the planning applications we’re consulted on as a statutory consultee. The latest figures are available to view below.

  • Playing field stats tables 2023-24

    Table 1 - planning applications affecting playing fields by outcome
      2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24
    Applications Total/% Total/% Total/% Total/% Total/% Total/% Total/% Total/% Total/% Total/%
    Received 1281/- 1235/- 1219/- 1274/- 1209/- 1160/- 1038/- 1182/- 1141/- 1161/-
    Approved¹ 1114/87 1060/86 1054/86 1100/86 1005/84 973/84 839/81 964/82 921/81 968/83

    Refused or withdrawn¹

    		 140/11 140/11 133/11 130/11 139/11 120/10 139/13 156/13 154/13 136/12
    Yet to be decided 27/2 35/3 32/3 44/3 65/5 67/6 60/6 62/5 66²/6 57/5

    Notes

    1. Of those applications received during the financial year
    2. As at 30/11/25
     Read less

  • Playing field stats tables 2023-24

    Table 2 - approved applications by category
      2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24
      Total/% Total/% Total/% Total/% Total/% Total/%
    E5 246/24 203/21 199/24 183/19 204/22 222/23
    E4 76/8 75/8 61/7 68/7 65/7 80/8
    E3 349/35 328/34 313/37 343/35 294/32 282/29
    E2 258/26 296/30 214/25 319/33 290/32 315/33
    E1 10/1 6/1 4/1 4/1 0/0 3/0
    Maintained objection 1 55/5 44/4 30/4 37/4 55/6 35/4
    Maintained objection 2 11/1 21/2 18/2 10/1 13/1 31/3
    Total 1,005/100 973/100 839/100 964/100 921/100 968/100

    Notes

    • E5=New/improved sports facilities with overall benefit to sport
    • E4=Replacement playing field provision incorporated as part of proposals
    • E3=Development involving playing field land but where usable playing field not materially affected
    • E2=Ancillary facilities such as changing rooms and sports lighting that support use of playing field
    • E1=Development where a robust assessment of need and playing pitch strategy showed a strong case for releasing the land from playing field use
    1. Applications where Sport England maintained an objection and following referral to the National Planning Casework Unit the application was subsequently approved
    2. Applications where Sport England maintained an objection but referral to the National Planning Casework Unit was not required and the application was subsequently approved
     Read less

  • Regional breakdown 2023-24

    Planning applications affecting playing fields, by region

    East

    • 178 out of 186 (96%) concluded planning applications affecting playing fields resulted in improved or safeguarded sports provision
    • Despite formal objections from Sport England, the number of applications which led to a detrimental impact on sport was 8 (4%)

    East Midlands

    • 123 out of 129 (95%) concluded planning applications affecting playing fields resulted in improved or safeguarded sports provision
    • Despite formal objections from Sport England, the number of applications which led to a detrimental impact on sport was 6 (5%)

    London

    • 77 out of 81 (95%) concluded planning applications affecting playing fields resulted in improved or safeguarded sports provision
    • Despite formal objections from Sport England, the number of applications which led to a detrimental impact on sport was 4 (5%)

    North East

    • 49 out of 52 (94%) concluded planning applications affecting playing fields resulted in improved or safeguarded sports provision
    • Despite formal objections from Sport England, the number of applications which led to a detrimental impact on sport was 3 (6%)

    North West

    • 151 out of 170 (89%) concluded planning applications affecting playing fields resulted in improved or safeguarded sports provision
    • Despite formal objections from Sport England, the number of applications which led to a detrimental impact on sport was 19 (11%)

    South East

    • 184 out of 188 (98%) concluded planning applications affecting playing fields resulted in improved or safeguarded sports provision
    • Despite formal objections from Sport England, the number of applications which led to a detrimental impact on sport was 4 (2%)

    South West

    • 88 out of 96 (92%) concluded planning applications affecting playing fields resulted in improved or safeguarded sports provision
    • Despite formal objections from Sport England, the number of applications which led to a detrimental impact on sport was 8 (8%)

    West Midlands

    • 87 out of 94 (93%) concluded planning applications affecting playing fields resulted in improved or safeguarded sports provision
    • Despite formal objections from Sport England, the number of applications which led to a detrimental impact on sport was 7 (7%)

    Yorkshire

    • 101 out of 108 (94%) concluded planning applications affecting playing fields resulted in improved or safeguarded sports provision
    • Despite formal objections from Sport England, the number of applications which led to a detrimental impact on sport was 7 (6%)
     Read less

  • Opposing the granting of planning permission

    We'll oppose the granting of planning permission for any development which would lead to the loss of, or would prejudice the use of:
    • All or any part of a playing field
    • Land that has been used as a playing field and remains undeveloped
    • Land allocated for use as a playing field.

    This is unless, in our judgement, the development as a whole meets with one or more of five specific exceptions. For more information on these exceptions, please refer to our Playing Fields Policy and Guidance above.

     Read less

  • Model conditions

    In our response to an application we’ll, where appropriate, suggest conditions that should be attached to any planning permission and/or measures that should be secured by a legal agreement.

    We have a suite of model conditions which we recommend are used in appropriate circumstances.

    The model conditions meet the six tests on the use of planning conditions set out in the government's National Planning Policy Framework (paragraph 56).

     Read less

The design of where we live and work plays a vital role in encouraging activity in our everyday lives.

Learn more about Active Design

Additional resources

See our planning applications advice and guidance, and our assessing needs guidance, by clicking on the buttons at the top or button of this page.

You can also take a look at:

Contact our planning team

We have a network of town planners working across the country.

Get in touch

Sign up to our newsletter

You can find out exactly how we'll look after your personal data, but rest assured we'll only use it to make sure you receive our newsletter, to understand how you interact with our newsletter, and to provide administrative information about our newsletter.