New controls to protect playing fields

New guidelines to save playing fields and sports centres from developers will be introduced this month.

The controls being drawn up by John Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister, will protect sports fields from development in all but exceptional circumstances. Local authorities will be forced to audit sporting facilities and estimate future demand when considering requests to build on sports sites.

The document, to be published before Parliament breaks up for the summer, will impose a "presumption against development". Ministers have been criticised for selling school playing fields, but they also want to save private sports grounds from development. They fear many company and social club sports grounds could be targets for development.

Separate reforms, likely to be produced in the autumn, are being drawn up to promote sport locally by giving councils the power to insist on playing fields and open spaces as part of "planning gain" deals with developers.

The policy changes reflect the Government's shift away from promoting national and international events in favour of a focus on the grass roots.