North Tipperary Sports & Community Facilities Audit

Introduction

Sport is an important part of every community’s life, and requires pro-active encouragement and enhancement to ensure participation by all within the local community. The North Tipperary Sports Partnership and North Tipperary County Council are committed to enhancing the participation in sports and recreation by all in North Tipperary, and to improving the quality and services of these facilities.

In order for the North Tipperary Sports Partnership and North Tipperary County Council to identify what sports and community infrastructure currently exist in North Tipperary, and their condition, baseline data on each facility is required. Prior to this facilities audit, that data did not exist in one amalgamated and comprehensive database.

Briefly, the aim of the audit can be summarised as providing accessible sports/recreation information (contact details, location, condition, usage, access etc) to local people and those using the facilities. This baseline information will assist the North Tipperary Sports Partnership and North Tipperary County Council in identifying facility development and blackspots, and will enable improved targeting of development efforts in the future.

The Rural Development Department of the Tipperary Institute, in conjunction with the North Tipperary Sports Partnership and the Community and Enterprise Department of the North Tipperary County Council, has conducted an audit of sports and community facilities within North Tipperary.

The Lead Commissioning Organisation, the North Tipperary Sports Partnership (NTSP), was established by the Irish Sports Council in 2001. There are 16 Local Sports Partnerships in total around the country. The Local Sports Partnership programme aims to create greater opportunities for participation by all in sport, to ensure sports resources are co-ordinated at local level, and to augment and enhance the work of volunteers in local clubs and communities. As outlined in its Strategic Plan 2003-2006, it is the objective of the North Tipperary Sports Partnership:

· To increase levels of participation in sport in the County.

· To develop a vibrant working North Tipperary Sports Partnership, capable of providing a quality service to the citizens of North Tipperary.

· To articulate North Tipperary Sports Partnership priorities for sport development for the period 2003 – 2006

· To create a network of high-quality, indoor/outdoor facilities and amenities providing access to a wide ranging menu of sports activities, and ensuring that they are used to their maximum potential.

· To ensure that sport is an integral part of life in every community, and that every community pro-actively encourages meaningful participation in sport.

· To ensure that sporting opportunities are organised and delivered through a panel of well trained (voluntary and professional) leaders.

· To ensure that information regarding all aspects of sports development and provision is readily available to all.

The North Tipperary County Council’s mission is “to improve the quality of the economic, social, and cultural life of our communities…by the provision of the services in co-operation with other Statutory Agencies, Local Community Groups and the public”. The Community, Sport & Cultural Grants Scheme established by the North Tipperary Local Authorities provides financial assistance to community based clubs and voluntary organisations for the development of sporting, recreational, environmental and cultural facilities. This scheme not only seeks to increase the facilities available in the county, but also to encourage the provision of equal access by all to facilities and to examine ways in which barriers to use could be removed.

The Tipperary Institute, Europe's only Institute integrating third level education with rural and business development programmes, is promoting sustainable rural development by providing support and expertise to the businesses and communities of the region. In adherence to its mission to promote sustainable socio-economic development the Tipperary Institute, in conjunction with the North Tipperary Sports Partnership and the North Tipperary County Council, has carried out an audit of publicly and privately owned sports and community facilities within the county.

1.2 Project Aims

The main aims of the facilities audit are outlined below:

1. To identify sports and community infrastructure in North Tipperary and their condition.

2. To conduct a mapping of facilities and amenities in the county, in order to identify facility development and upgrading blackspots at a county, sub-county and community level.

3. To enable improved targeting of development efforts for sports and community facilities/amenities, through the collection of baseline information on existing infrastructure.

1.3 Project Objectives

As outlined in the original project brief, the objectives of the facilities audit are to:

1. Survey all existing sports and community facilities and amenities in North Tipperary in relation to – description of facility and overall condition, general usage and access issues, contact details for the facility;

2. Analyse the results of the survey identifying existing facilities/amenities, describing the condition of these facilities/amenities and outlining the extent of their usage, through a written report;

3. Analyse the results and identify infrastructural blackspots as well as common access problems associated with wider usage of facilities in the county;

4. Create a visual map of existing facilities and amenities using GIS.

By developing a comprehensive and user-friendly database of baseline information on existing sports and community infrastructure in the county, their condition, usage and access, the North Tipperary Sports Partnership and North Tipperary County Council will be able to:

Identify infrastructural blackspots in North Tipperary.
Make better judgements and decisions on funding certain programmes and targeting blackspots as well as areas/facilities where access needs to be opened up.
Generate baseline data for comparative purposes in years to come.
Determine what minimum facilities/amenities areas should have.

Principal Outcomes

The principal outcomes of the analysis of the audit that has been carried out on behalf of the North Tipperary Sports Partnership may be summarised as follows

- There is a wide range of both public and private facilities in the county

- Private facilities tend to be restricted to a narrow range of types and are located, in general, in the larger urban areas

- Facilities tend to be concentrated in certain areas and particularly in the larger urban located parishes- While there is a wide range of facilities, there are many developments that have a very limited range of facilities

- The distribution of high quality facilities varies widely by parish as indicated in the chart below. This chart indicates that there is a wide spread of facility quality in different parishes and that the quality ranges from about 30% of facilities in some parishes to 100% in others

- There is an acknowledgement that many facilities require improvement and many organisations are intending to develop their facilities, though they are discouraged by a range of barriers as outlined below

- Making application for and obtaining planning permission for improvements seems to be a difficulty for many groups that the Sports Partnership might assist with

- There is a wide variety of perceived quality of facilities with many pitches in particular being deemed to be of poor quality

- There is a wide range of barriers to the improvement of facilities as indicated in the attached chart

This chart indicates that the issues facing those wishing to improve their facilities are very variable. The five top issues, however, suggest that the scale of the facility and finance issues are the key factors that need to be addressed. The NTSP may well have a role in this matter

- Access to facilities is variable with many being restricted to members of specific clubs or sports

- Many facilities are lacking in basic amenities and there are some where the quality of provision is quite low, as indicated in the following chart. This clearly indicates a pattern where basic facilities are available in most centres but also indicating significant room for improvement

- Only about 50% of facilities have any organised booking system - Only about one third of facilities provided access to members of the general public - The heating systems for centres may need to be looked at. Given the current dependence on oil and its increasing price, consultation with the Tipperary Energy Agency would probably be beneficial in addressing the energy needs of facility providers. - The ownership of facilities is concentrated in quite a few sectors. The co-operation of these sectors will be critical in the future improvement of quality and access - The ownership and management of facilities are not always the same though there does seem to be considerable overlap between them - Facilities for those with a disability are limited. The perception that improvements are not needed may be a reflection of a failure of understanding of need rather than a reflection of the adequacy of facilities in this regard.

Concluding observation

This analysis is an outline only and further conclusions are possible from the data. However, it is not the purpose of this study to create a development strategy but to provide information on which such a strategic approach can be based. The study provides good quality information to facilitate conclusions and the development of a strategy that would provide guidance to the Sports Partnership in moving its strategy forward.