Protecting playing fields - Wales

The Chief Planning Officer for Wales has written to Planning Authorities to remind them that the agent of change should be used to protect playing fields and other sports facilities. He states there have been cases where new development consented and built adjacent to cricket pitches or golf clubs, have led to statutory nuisance complaints either due to ball strikes or noise from clubhouses, leading to costs to the clubs. Planners are reminded that Planning Policy Wales sets out the national policy framework guiding land use, including the protection of playing fields, recreational facilities, and other community assets, highighting the importance of recreational facilities to the health, well-being and social development of communities. He draws attention to the relevance of using the agent of change principle to avoid  placing unnecessary constraints on adjacent existing businesses and activities, where noise sensitive development might be proposed. The agent of change principle says that a business or person responsible for introducing a change is responsible for managing that change. In the context of developing adjacent to sports pitches or playing fields, this means a developer would have to ensure that solutions to prevent physical ingress into their site, or noise from nearby pre-existing infrastructure such as club houses, can be found and implemented as part of the development, and Planning Authorities should seek to ensure that any potential developments located near sports pitches, recreational facilities or similar uses, prioritise design and mitigation measures to avoid conflict between land uses.