Sports playing fields and facilities in England are at risk of being built over en masse with devastating consequences for local communities, sports stars and governing bodies have warned.
The former England footballer Jill Scott along with Olympic gold medallists Mo Farah, Alex Yee and Matthew Pinsent, are among 88 signatories to an open letter saying they are “deeply concerned” about proposed government planning reforms, and say they would hit poorest communities hardest.
The letter, which has also been signed by the Football Association, the RFU, the LTA and UK Athletics, comes amid proposals to end Sport England’s statutory right to be consulted on housing developments on playing fields as part of the government’s plans to hit its target of building 1.5m homes.
“We are deeply concerned that proposed planning reforms could remove the statutory protections that help safeguard England’s playing fields and sports facilities,” the letter warns. “These spaces are not just playing fields – they are vital infrastructure for health and wellbeing, community sport, and children’s play.
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“Playing fields are irreplaceable. Once built on, they are gone forever, and Sport England’s statutory consultee role is an important line of defence. Weakening this protection risks accelerating the loss of the very spaces that make grassroots sport and physical activity possible, at a time when participation is growing and demand has never been higher.”
The letter adds: “This is about social justice. The people who need green space the most often have the least access. Without these protections, the health and wellbeing of communities will suffer.”
About 10,000 playing fields were sold off in the 80s and 90s before protections were introduced in 1996 and 2001. Sport England’s figures also show it protected more than 1,000 playing fields in 2021-2022.
However that looks set to change, unless a public consultation that runs to 13 January is able to persuade the government to change its mind.
Fields in Trust, which put together the letter, has found that almost half of Britain already lives more than a 10-minute walk from a playing field, with the poorest areas continuing to lose most green spaces to development or closure.
Scott, the Fields in Trust president, urged the government to listen to the warnings from across sport.
“Too many communities risk losing these very spaces,” she said. “The playing fields where children first learn to play, the parks where families spend Sunday afternoons, the pitches for weekend kickabouts between friends. I wouldn’t be where I am today without that green space in Sunderland, where I spent countless hours as a kid, and every child deserves that same chance.
“I urge the government to listen carefully. We’re not asking for the impossible. We’re asking them to protect what already exists, for the generations who will come after us.”
The government has been approached for comment. This month a spokesperson said: “There are already strong protections in place for playing fields which we are proposing to keep and we are investing £400m into grassroots sport.
Sport England declined to comment.
