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\u201cPlaying fields are irreplaceable. Once built on, they are gone forever, and Sport England\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
The letter adds: \u201cThis 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
About 10,000 playing fields were sold off in the 80s and 90s before protections were introduced in 1996 and 2001. Sport England\u2019s figures also show it protected more than 1,000 playing fields in 2021-2022.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Scott, the Fields in Trust president, urged the government to listen to the warnings from across sport.<\/p>\n
\u201cToo many communities risk losing these very spaces,\u201d she said. \u201cThe playing fields where children first learn to play, the parks where families spend Sunday afternoons, the pitches for weekend kickabouts between friends. I wouldn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI urge the government to listen carefully. We\u2019re not asking for the impossible. We\u2019re asking them to protect what already exists, for the generations who will come after us.\u201d<\/p>\n
The government has been approached for comment. This month a spokesperson said: \u201cThere are already strong protections in place for playing fields which we are proposing to keep and we are investing \u00a3400m into grassroots sport.<\/p>\n
Sport England declined to comment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
#Stars #urge #government #scrap #Sport #England #brake #playing #field #selloff #Sport #England<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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