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Sandwell Green Space Audit

Quantity Analysis

December 2013

Issue number: 2

Status: DRAFT

Date: 20 December 2013

Prepared by: Neil Eccles

Authorised by: Adrian Spray

Sandwell Green Space Audit

Quantity Assessment

Contents

1 Understanding the Supply .................................................................................................................. 1

1.1 Introduction................................................................................................................................... 1

1.1 Borough Level Quantity Analysis................................................................................................ 3

1.1.1 All Sites ....................................................................................................................................... 3

1.1.2 Green space with Unrestricted Access................................................................................ 7

1.1.3 Quantity of Unrestricted Green space per 1000 Population......................................... 11

1.1.1 Comparison over time ............................................................................................................ 16

1.1.2 English Nature Accessible Natural Green space Standard............................................. 18

1.1.3 Play Provision ....................................................................................................................... 22

1.2 Consultation Results ................................................................................................................... 24

Sandwell Green Space Audit 2013 – Quantity Analysis 1

1 Understanding the Supply

1.1 Introduction

Analysis of the quantity of green space has been undertaken by using the GIS and population

data as discussed above. The total amount of green space identified within Sandwell Borough

has been quantified and the average amount of unrestricted green space per 1000 population

calculated. Quantity of green space by typology and size has also been calculated for both

unrestricted and restricted sites at both a Town and Ward level. The results of the public

consultation have also been used to compare the results of the analysis of quantity with the

views of the local community.

Figure 1 overleaf shows the distribution of green space across Sandwell Borough. A full list of all

identified green spaces within Sandwell Borough can be found at Appendix A.


1.1 Borough Level Quantity Analysis

This section of the report considers supply of green space in Sandwell Borough with regard to

the typology, hierarchy and accessibility.

1.1.1 All Sites

Table 1 below shows the total amount of green space (across all levels of accessibility) within the

Borough that was recorded through this study.

Level 1 Typology Number Area (Ha) % of Total (Area)

Allotments 34 43.7 2.14% Amenity Green space 214 275.42 13.48% Cemeteries & Churchyards 21 80.60 3.94% Green Corridor 22 75.77 3.71% Institutional Land 89 223.44 10.93% Natural & Semi-Natural Green space 73 725.96 35.52% Outdoor Sports Facilities 50 338.05 16.54% Parks & Gardens 33 272.54 13.34% Provision for Children & Young People 12 8.08 0.40% Total 548 2043.58 100.00%

Table 1 Distribution by Green space Type

Table 1 shows that in Sandwell, there are 548 sites that cover an area of 2044 hectares,

equivalent to 24% of the total land area of the Borough.


Town Number of Sites

Area (Ha) % of Total (Area)

Oldbury 101 257.21 12.6% Rowley Regis 110 340.05 16.6% Smethwick 57 203.48 10.0% Tipton 78 223.29 10.9% Wednesbury 70 157.48 7.7% West Bromwich 132 862.07 42.2% Total 548 2043.58 100.0%

Table 2 Green space by Town

Table 2 above sets out the amount of green space across the six towns and also expresses this as

a percentage of the supply of total green space.

West Bromwich has the greatest number and area of green space with 132 sites and 862.07

hectares contributing 42% of all the green space in the Borough. Rowley Regis has 110 sites and

340 hectares of green space making up 16.6% of all green space in the Borough. These figures

reflect the impact of Sandwell Valley and the Rowley Hills.

Wednesbury has the smallest amount of green space with 157 hectares making up only 7.7% of

the total green space in the Borough. However, it is Smethwick, which has the lowest number of

green space sites recorded through the study.


Typology Level 1 Oldbury Rowley Regis

Smethwick

Tipton Wednesbury

West Bromwich

Total

Allotments 9 4 8 2 7 4 34 Amenity Green space 50 47 10 37 17 53 214 Cemeteries & Churchyards 1 4 6 4 3 3 21

Green Corridor 0 1 3 9 6 3 22 Institutional Land 22 16 9 11 13 18 89 Natural & Semi-Natural Green space 6 20 3 7 11 26 73

Outdoor Sports Facilities 8 11 6 3 8 14 50

Parks & Gardens 4 5 8 4 4 8 33 Provision for Children & Young People

1 2 4 1 1 3 12

Total 101 110 57 78 70 132 548

Table 3 Distribution by Type and Town (Number)

Table 3 above shows the number of green spaces by type across the six Towns.

West Bromwich, Oldbury and Rowley Regis have 53, 50 and 47 Amenity Green space sites

respectively. Tipton has 37 sites while Wednesbury and Smethwick have significantly fewer

Amenity Green space sites.

West Bromwich has the greatest number of Natural and Semi-natural Green spaces with 26,

followed by Rowley Regis with 20. Smethwick has only 3 green spaces of this type.

Parks and Gardens are fairly evenly spread across the six towns, with Smethwick and West

Bromwich having eight such sites.

Oldbury has only 1 Cemeteries and Churchyards and no Green Corridors.


Typology Level 1 Oldbury

Rowley Regis

Smethwick

Tipton Wednesbury

West Bromwich

Total

Allotments 7.14 1.48 17.57 3.68 7.01 6.84 43.72 Amenity Green space 64.98 67.14 6.73 45.43 24.28 66.86 275.42 Cemeteries & Churchyards 3.29 12.67 20.62 11.09 12.79 20.14 80.6 Green Corridor 4.81 18.35 20.4 18.98 13.23 75.77 Institutional Land 64.78 23.74 12.32 22.87 26.5 73.23 223.44 Natural & Semi-Natural Green space

20.84 118.87 2.53 72.86 27.41 483.45 725.96

Outdoor Sports Facilities 68.28 61.82 34.41 13.86 22.46 137.22 338.05 Parks & Gardens 27.69 48.67 88.8 30.82 16.71 59.85 272.54 Provision for Children & Young People

0.21 0.85 2.15 2.28 1.34 1.25 8.08

Total 257.21 340.05 203.48 223.29 157.48 862.07 2043.58

Table 4.2.1.4 Distribution by Type and Town (Area)

Table 4 above shows the area of green space by type and Town.

Rowley Regis, Oldbury and West Bromwich each contain over 60 hectares of Amenity Green

space, with significantly less of this type of green space in the other towns.

West Bromwich and Oldbury each contain around 64 – 73 hectares of Institutional Land which is

significantly more than the other towns.

In terms of Natural and Semi-natural Green space, West Bromwich contains over 480 hectares

equivalent two thirds of all such green space in the Borough. This is more than 3 times more

than Rowley Regis which is the Town which ranks second with regard to this type of green space

provision.

West Bromwich also has twice as much provision of Outdoor Sports Facilities as Oldbury and

Rowley Regis (137 hectares compared to 68 and 62 hectares respectively), all other towns have

significantly lower levels of provision.

Smethwick has the greatest number of Parks and Gardens and the greatest area of this type of

provision with nearly 89 hectares of provision.


Size Range (Ha) Number % >20 20 3.6% 10 to 20 26 4.7% 5.0 to 9.9 45 8.2% 2.0 to 4.9 110 20.1% 1.0 to 1.9 100 18.2% 0.5 to 0.9 111 20.3% < 0.5 136 24.8% Total 548 100.0%

Table 5 Distribution of all sites by size

Table 5 above shows the size distribution of all green spaces within Sandwell Borough. The table

shows that the provision based on size follows a “pyramid” distribution with greater numbers of

smaller sites and fewer large sites.

Around one in four sites recorded are less then 0.5 hectares in size. Nearly six out of ten sites are

between 0.5 and 5 hectares. There are 46 sites greater than 10 hectares.

1.1.2 Green space with Unrestricted Access

This section of the report considers only those green spaces with unrestricted access. Sites with

limited access and those that are not accessible have been removed from the analysis since these

sites typically have less recreational value than sites, which are freely available for public use.

Accessibility Number of Sites Unrestricted 331 Limited 169 Not Accessible 48 Total 548

Table 6 Accessibility of Green spaces in Sandwell Borough

Table 6 above shows the accessibility of the green spaces in Sandwell Borough. Of the total of

548 green spaces, 331 (60.4%) have unrestricted access, 169 (30.8%) limited access and 48 (8.8%)

are not accessible.


Typology Level 1 Number Area (Ha) % of Total (Area) Amenity Green space 184 224.83 18.66% Cemeteries & Churchyards 19 79.76 6.62% Green Corridor 19 60.65 5.03% Natural & Semi-Natural Green space 45 457.33 37.95% Outdoor Sports Facilities 21 103.19 8.56% Parks & Gardens 32 271.76 22.55% Provision for Children & Young People 11 7.43 0.62% Total 331 1204.95 100.00%

Table 7 Distribution by type – Unrestricted Green space

Table 7 above shows the number and area of green spaces with unrestricted access by green

space type.

Overall there are 331 green spaces covering just over 1200 hectares that have been recorded

which have unrestricted access. This equates to 60.4% of all sites having unrestricted access and

59.0% of the green space area being accessible. Overall 14.1% of the total land area of the

Borough is accessible green space.

Amenity Green space continues to be the predominant green space type with the greatest

number of sites with unrestricted access (184). Amenity Green space covers an area of

approximately 225 hectares, making up 18.7% of all unrestricted green space. There are 45

Natural and Semi-natural Green space sites with unrestricted access covering 457 hectares,

around 38% of all accessible green space. Parks and Gardens with 32 sites and covering over 270

hectares are the second most significant green space type, making up over 22% of all accessible

green space (by area).

Many Outdoor Sports Facilities have limited access, requiring membership or payment of fees.

Consequently, 29 sites of the 50 sites have been removed from this analysis. Similarly most

Institutional Land (which includes school grounds) are not freely accessible and no sites were

found to have unrestricted access.


Town Number of Sites

Area (Ha) % of Total (Area)

Oldbury 55 119.72 9.94% Rowley Regis 69 213.56 17.72% Smethwick 32 145.53 12.08% Tipton 52 170.21 14.13% Wednesbury 39 86.03 7.14% West Bromwich 84 469.90 39.00% Total 331 1201.66 100.00%

Table 8 Green space area by Town

Table 8 above shows the area of green space with unrestricted access by Sandwell Town.

West Bromwich has the largest number of green spaces with unrestricted access and also the

greatest area of green space. Overall, unrestricted green space in West Bromwich makes up

39.0% of the total supply of accessible green space. Rowley Regis is ranked second in terms of

number of sites and area of green space with unrestricted access contributing nearly 18% of the

total supply (by area). By contrast, Wednesbury has 39 sites with unrestricted access, amounting

to around 7% of the total amount of unrestricted green space.

Typology Level 1 Oldbury

Rowley Regis

Smethwick

Tipton Wednesbury

West Bromwi

ch

Total

Amenity Green space 41 46 9 28 14 46 184 Cemeteries & Churchyards 1 4 5 3 3 3 19 Green Corridor 1 3 9 3 3 19 Natural & Semi-Natural Green space

4 9 1 7 9 15 45

Outdoor Sports Facilities 4 2 3 5 7 21 Parks & Gardens 4 5 8 4 4 7 32 Provision for Children & Young People

1 2 3 1 1 3 11

Total 55 69 32 52 39 84 331

Table 9 Distribution by Type and Town (Number)

Table 9 above shows the number of green space sites with unrestricted access by Town and

green space type.


West Bromwich has the greatest number of green space sites with unrestricted access, of these

84 sites, 46 (54.8%) are Amenity Green space. Rowley Regis, however, has a similar proportion of

sites in this category with two thirds of unrestricted green space in this town being Amenity

Green space.

West Bromwich and Rowley Regis account for 53.3% of all Natural and Semi-natural Green

spaces with unrestricted access. Smethwick has little provision of this type.

Table 10 Distribution by Type and Town (Area)

Table 10 above shows the area of accessible green space by type across each Town by green

space type.

Rowley Regis, West Bromwich and Oldbury have similar quantities of Amenity Green space with

between 48 to 62 hectares of this type of provision. Smethwick has relatively little of this green

space type.

West Bromwich has the greatest amount of Natural and Semi-natural Green space with over 270

hectares of unrestricted green space of this type. Approximately 56% of all the Natural and

Semi-natural Green space in West Bromwich has unrestricted access. Smethwick, Oldbury and

Wednesbury have relatively little provision of this type.

Typology Level 1 Oldbury Rowley Regis Smethwick Tipton Wednesbury West Bromwich Total

Amenity Green space 48.73 62.21 5.46 33.07 18.95 56.41 224.8

3 Cemeteries & Churchyards 3.29 12.67 20.09 10.78 12.79 20.14 79.76

Green Corridor 0.00 4.81 18.35 20.4 3.86 13.23 60.65 Natural & Semi-Natural Green space

13.78 77.01 1.27 72.86 22.34 270.07 457.33

Outdoor Sports Facilities 26.02 7.34 10.06 0.00 10.04 49.73 103.1

9

Parks & Gardens 27.69 48.67 88.8 30.82 16.71 59.07 271.76

Provision for Children & Young People

0.21 0.85 1.5 2.28 1.34 1.25 7.43

Total 119.72 213.56 145.53 170.21 86.03 469.9 1204.

95


West Bromwich and Oldbury account for 73.1% of all the accessible Outdoor Sports facilities in

the Borough. There is relatively little provision in the other towns and Tipton has no Outdoor

Sports Facilities with unrestricted access (Tipton Sports Academy has limited access).

Parks and Gardens are available in all six Towns although Smethwick has the greatest quantity of

provision with nearly 89 hectares which is more than five times the provision in Wednesbury

which has the smallest quantity of green space of this type.

Size Range (Ha) Number % >20 10 3.0% 10 to 20 22 6.6% 5.0 to 9.9 30 9.1% 2.0 to 4.9 57 17.2% 1.0 to 1.9 46 13.9% 0.5 to 0.9 66 19.9% < 0.5 100 30.2% Total 331 100.0%

Table 11 Distribution of Unrestricted Sites by Size

Table 11 above shows the size distribution of green space with unrestricted access. Again the

provision of sites by size follows a pyramid distribution with greater number of smaller sites and

fewer larger sites. When the accessibility of green space is considered the effect is to exaggerate

this distribution (compared to Table 10).

Around 30% of unrestricted sites are less than 0.5 hectares, and nearly one third are between 1

and 5 hectares. Over one in ten sites is greater than 10 hectares.

1.1.3 Quantity of Unrestricted Green space per 1000 Population

The 2011 Census recorded a resident population of 308,063 for Sandwell Borough. This figure

has been used to calculate the amount of accessible green space per 1000 population for

Sandwell Borough. This data has also been broken down by green space type as shown in Table

12 below.


Typology Level 1

Amount of Unrestricted Green

space (Ha)

Amount of Unrestricted

Green space (Ha) per 1000

Population Amenity Green space 224.83 0.73 Cemeteries & Churchyards 76.47 0.25 Green Corridor 60.65 0.20 Natural & Semi-Natural Green space 457.33 1.48 Outdoor Sports Facilities 103.19 0.33 Parks & Gardens 271.76 0.88 Provision for Children & Young People 7.43 0.02 Total 1201.66 3.90

Table 12 Quantity of Unrestricted Green space per 1000 Population

Overall Sandwell Borough has an average of 3.90 hectares of unrestricted green space per 1000

population. The largest proportion of this is Natural and Semi-Natural Green space with 1.48

hectares per 1000 population. There are 0.88 hectares of Parks and Gardens per 1000 population.

Amenity Green space contributes 0.73 hectares per 1000 population.

Other Green space Studies Hectares of unrestricted green space per 1000 population

Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council 7.51 hectares per 1000 population Stoke-on-Trent City Council 6.60 hectares per 1000 population Coventry City Council 5.86 hectares per 1000 population Gateshead Council 5.64 hectares per 1000 population Walsall Council 4.96 hectares per 1000 population Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council 4.51 hectares per 1000 population Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council 3.90 hectares per 1000 population Wolverhampton City Council 3.60 hectares per 1000 population Oldham Council 3.14 hectares per 1000 population Hull City Council 1.78 hectares per 1000 population Knowsley Council 1.50 hectares per 1000 population

Table 13 Quantity of provision in other local authority areas

Table 13 above shows the quantity of provision in Sandwell and that of a sample of other local

authorities. Sandwell has approximately 21% less accessible green space using this measure than

the neighbouring borough of Walsall. Compared to many of the large metropolitan authorities

from similar urban areas Sandwell has relatively little provision of unrestricted green space.


Town Amount of

Unrestricted Green space (Ha)

Town Population Amount of Unrestricted Green space

(Ha) per 1000 Population West Bromwich 469.90 75,405 6.23 Rowley Regis 213.56 50,257 4.25 Tipton 170.21 38,777 4.39 Borough Average 1201.66 308,063 3.90 Smethwick 145.53 55,166 2.64 Oldbury 116.43 50,641 2.30 Wednesbury 86.03 37,817 2.27

Table 14 Quantity of Unrestricted Green space per 1000 Population by Town

Table 14 above shows the quantity of unrestricted green space by Town. It can be seen that

there is considerable variation from the Borough wide average.

West Bromwich has 6.23 hectares per 1000 population which is approximately 60% more

provision than the Borough average of 3.90 hectares. Rowley Regis and Tipton also have more

provision than the Borough average.

Smethwick, Oldbury and Wednesbury all have significantly less provision of unrestricted green

space than the Borough average.


Ward Amount of

Unrestricted Green space (Ha)

Ward Population

Amount of Unrestricted Green

space (Ha) per 1000

Population West Bromwich Central 187.50 13,290 14.11 Great Barr with Yew tree 85.34 12,597 6.77 Newton 76.88 11,558 6.65 Great Bridge 79.76 12,962 6.15 Tividale 68.66 12,616 5.44 Rowley 60.97 11,784 5.17 Cradley Heath and Old Hill 55.66 13,565 4.10 St. Pauls 58.12 14,226 4.09 Borough Average 1201.66 308,063 3.90 Hateley Heath 53.03 14,227 3.73 Princes End 45.92 12,981 3.54 Tipton Green 44.53 12,834 3.47 Langley 42.63 12,969 3.29 Abbey 38.13 11,752 3.24 Oldbury 43.82 13,606 3.22 Charlemont with Grove Vale 37.76 11,964 3.16 Wednesbury North 32.39 12,682 2.55 Greets Green and Lyng 29.39 11,769 2.50 Blackheath 28.27 12,292 2.30 Wednesbury South 26.98 12,510 2.16 Friar Park 26.66 12,625 2.11 Smethwick 25.15 14,146 1.78 Soho and Victoria 24.13 15,042 1.60 Bristnall 19.38 12,151 1.59 Old Warley 10.60 11,915 0.89

Table 15 Quantity of Unrestricted Green space per 1000 Population by Ward

Table 15 above shows the amount of unrestricted green space per 1000 population at a Ward

level. The level of variation with respect to the Borough wide average is significantly greater at

Ward level than Town level. This can also be seen geographically in figure 2 overleaf.

West Bromwich Central has the greatest quantity of unrestricted green space per 1000

population with 14.11 hectares which is three and a half times the Borough wide average level

of provision. Old Warley has less than one hectare per thousand population.


1.1.1 Comparison over time

Between audits carried out in 2006 and 2013, table 16 shows that an additional 24.92 hectares of

accessible green space have been identified. The largest variance were in sites classified as Parks

& Gardens, rising from 29 sites in 2006 to 32 sites in 2013 (an increase of 8.27 hectares). The

number of sites classified as Provision for Children & Young People has decreased from 12 to 11

with the amount of space falling from 10.46 hectares to 7.43 hectares – however this does not

consider the play provision that may be present in sites that classified as Parks & Gardens for

example.

2013 2006

Level 1 Typology Number Area (Ha) Number Area (Ha) Variance (Ha)

Amenity Green space 184 224.83 181 219.28 +5.55 Cemeteries & Churchyards 19 79.76 18 76.05 +3.71 Green Corridor 19 60.65 17 56.96 +3.69 Natural & Semi-Natural Green space 45 457.33 44 455.58 +1.75

Outdoor Sports Facilities 21 103.19 20 98.21 +4.98 Parks & Gardens 32 271.76 29 263.49 +8.27 Provision for Children & Young People 11 7.43 12 10.46 -3.03

Total 331 1204.95 321 1180.03 +24.92

Table 16 Variance in Quantity of Unrestricted Green space


Table 17 below shows that the Oldbury Ward has lost the most amount of green space between

2006 and 2013, with 3.36 hectares lost in this time period. Conversely, over 7 hectares of

additional green space has been identified in the West Bromwich Central ward. Over 4 hectares

of green space has been identified in Soho and Victoria which includes a revision of the

boundary of Black Patch Park and new space created through the development of the Cape Hill

Brewery. Despite this and unlike in West Bromwich Central, the Soho and Victoria ward only has

1.60 hectares per 1000 population, down from 2.7 hectares per 1000 population in 2006 due to

an increase in population (105% increase since 2001). On average across all wards, the amount

of green space has increased by 0.08. The amount of green space per 1000 population across

Sandwell Borough has however, fallen from 4.24 hectares per 1000 population in 2006 to 3.90

hectares per 1000 population, largely as a result of an increase in the Borough's population.

2013 2006

Ward

Amount of Unrestricted Green space

(Ha)


(Ha) per 1000 Population


(Ha)


(Ha) per 1000 Population

Variance (ha)

West Bromwich Central 187.50 14.11 180.41 17.21 7.09 Great Barr with Yew tree 85.34 6.77 85.32 6.88 0.02 Newton 76.88 6.65 74.47 6.54 2.41 Great Bridge 79.76 6.15 78.39 6.26 1.37 Tividale 68.66 5.44 68.59 5.56 0.07 Rowley 60.97 5.17 59.30 6.26 1.67 Cradley Heath and Old Hill 55.66 4.10 56.81 4.56 -1.15 St. Pauls 58.12 4.09 58.08 5.06 0.04 Borough Average 1201.66 3.90 1199.78 4.24 1.88 Hateley Heath 53.03 3.73 49.66 4.03 3.37 Princes End 45.92 3.54 45.92 3.58 0 Tipton Green 44.53 3.47 42.61 2.66 1.92 Langley 42.63 3.29 43.14 3.45 -0.51 Abbey 38.13 3.24 38.13 3.34 0 Oldbury 43.82 3.22 47.18 4.36 -3.36 Charlemont with Grove Vale 37.76 3.16 38.58 3.43 -0.82 Wednesbury North 32.39 2.55 29.94 2.42 2.45 Greets Green and Lyng 29.39 2.50 29.32 2.85 0.07 Blackheath 28.27 2.30 28.30 2.29 -0.03 Wednesbury South 26.98 2.16 27.20 2.27 -0.22 Friar Park 26.66 2.11 23.87 2.1 2.79 Smethwick 25.15 1.78 25.15 2.29 0 Soho and Victoria 24.13 1.60 19.76 2.7 4.37 Bristnall 19.38 1.59 19.30 1.55 0.08 Old Warley 10.60 0.89 10.60 0.97 0

Table 17 Quantity of Unrestricted Green space per 1000 Population by Ward


1.1.2 English Nature Accessible Natural Green space Standard

The provision of Natural and Semi-natural Green space recorded using the Level 2 typology has

been mapped and can be compared against the English Nature Accessible Natural Green space

(ANGSt) Standard.

The ANGSt model includes the following measures against which an assessment has been made;

• “No person should live more than 300m from their nearest area of natural green space

of at least 2 ha in size

• Provision of at least 1 ha of local nature reserve per 1000 population

• There should be at least one accessible 20 ha site within 2 km from home”

Figure 3 below shows the accessibility of Natural and Semi-natural Green space over 2 hectares

based on a 300 metre buffer. It can be seen that Sandwell Borough does not achieve this part of

the ANGSt Standard since there are large areas of the Borough with no access to natural and

semi-natural green space. Sandwell Valley and it’s component green spaces cover a large area of

West Bromwich but even with this level of provision there are large areas of West Bromwich

Town where households do not have access to accessible natural green space. Similarly, there are

significant areas within each town where residents do not have access to accessible natural

green space within 300m.

Figure 4 illustrates the proximity to natural and semi-natural green spaces over 20 hectares in

size where the sites are buffered at 2 Km. There are three areas of provision under this measure,

Sandwell Valley and north east West Bromwich, Rowley Regis and Tipton.

Sandwell Valley and the sites in north eastern West Bromwich are accessible to large areas of the

Town and smaller areas of Wednesbury and Smethwick. This green space also serves part of

Birmingham to the east.

The second largest area of the Borough with access to semi-natural green spaces over 20

hectares is centred around the Rowley Hills. Sheepwash, located to the north of this area also

forms part of, and extends the buffer into Tipton. This area of provision is accessible to the


northern half of Rowley Regis, the north west of Oldbury, the south east of Tipton and parts of

Wednesbury and West Bromwich.

However, approximately two thirds of the Borough does not have access to semi-natural green

space and consequently this part of the ANGSt standard is not met.

There are a total of 14 designated Local Nature Reserves in Sandwell Borough. The total area

amounts to 295.39 hectares which equates to 0.96 hectares per 1000 population which is 0.04

hectares per 1000 population below the ANGSt Standard of 1.0 hectares per 1000 population.

Therefore, Sandwell requires an additional 12.68 hectares designated as Local Nature Reserves to

meet the Standard.


1.1.3 Play Provision

Figure 5 shows all outdoor equipped play areas with buffers plotted at 240 meters from the

boundary of the play facility. The radius of the buffer is based on the guidance in the NPFA 6

Acre Standard (2001) which suggests that the most relevant measure for access to play space was

walking time rather than distance. It is suggested that the 240m walking distance is an

approximation of 5 minutes walking time. This shows that nearly 3,000 hectares of the Borough

have access to play areas within 240m of their household, which equates to 34.3% of the total

area of the Borough.

Town Sites with play provision Oldbury 16 Rowley Regis 12 Smethwick 11 Tipton 8 Wednesbury 9 West Bromwich 16 Total 66

Table 18 Distribution of outdoor play equipped play areas by Town

The table above shows that West Bromwich and Oldbury have the most play areas in Sandwell

(16) whilst Tipton has the least with just 8.

Town Area of sites that

have play provision (ha)

Town Area (ha) % of land area catered

for by play provision

Oldbury 38.25 1445.95 2.6% Rowley Regis 40.22 1353.72 3.0% Smethwick 63.49 1144.20 5.5% Tipton 73.57 960.81 7.7% Wednesbury 33.89 1153.43 2.9% West Bromwich 165.64 2473.99 6.7% Total 415.26 8532.10 4.6%

Table 19 Land area with catered for by play provision by Town

Whilst Tipton was shown in Table 18 to have the fewest number of play areas, the table above

shows that the sites that contain play areas in Tipton account for the highest proportion of land

area (7.7%) of all the Sandwell Towns. Conversely, despite Oldbury having double the amount of

sites with play provision (16), sites with play provision are shown above to only account for 2.6%

of the land area, the smallest proportion of all Sandwell Towns.


1.2 Consultation Results Level Quantity of

Parks & Gardens Quantity of

Outdoor Sports Facilities

Quantity of Children’s Play

Provision

Quantity of Provision for

Teenagers Oldbury About right Too Little Too little Too little Rowley Regis About right Too Little About Right Too little Smethwick About right Too Little Too little Too little Tipton About right About Right Too little Too little Wednesbury About right Too Little About Right Too little West Bromwich About right Too Little About Right Too little Borough Wide About right Too Little About Right Too little

Table 20 Household Survey Consultation Results

The above household consultation shows that respondents feel that all Town areas are lacking in

provision for teenagers. Respondents from Oldbury and Smethwick believed that there is not

only too little provision for teenagers, but also children's play provision and outdoor sports

facilities. Respondents from all areas believed that the amount of Parks and Gardens were about

right.

sandwell green space audit · sandwell green space audit 2013 – quantity analysis 3 1.1 borough...

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