All FAQs

Should you no longer require access to www.activeplacespower.com please send a request to the Active Places Team via App.Enquiries@sportengland.org. Alternatively, within the My Account tab, users can configure their email notification preferences and delete their own account.  

By removing / deleting an account you will be removed from any future Active Places Power notifications and all personal data will be deleted.  

Be Inspired is Sport England’s consumer engagement platform.  It has 4.1 million registered users to whom Be Inspired provides information on how to get involved with sport through promoting major sport events and trumpeting opportunities to take part in sport or activity.  Registered users mainly comprise those who registered to buy tickets for London 2012. 

For a limited period the Be Inspired website had a sport and fitness finder tool, previous piloted through a Sport England pilot called spogo, but this has been withdrawn due to the underlying data becoming out of date and not being maintained.   

For more information see http://www.beinspireduk.org.  The Be Inspired project team at contacted via beinspired@sportengland.org.

(Last Update: 22/02/2023)

Active Places represents the current provision of sports facilities. This aligns with the primary use case of the database as a strategic planning tool. Given this focus, on the current provision of sports facilities, the analysis of trends over time, particularly facility counts, should to be treated with a high level of caution and is not recommended. Further investigation to understand the circumstances which may influence any trends observed is required. Active Places data considerations are outlined below. These do not consider wider influencing factors that should also be investigated.

a) Snapshots

Snapshots of the Active Places database, where held, should be used solely for backup purposes. Snapshots are not appropriate for temporal analysis as:

• Sport England and our data partners continue to add facilities, irrespective of their build year to the dataset. These “found” facilities would not be represented in a historic cut, even though they were open at that time.

• The data model has changed over time introducing new facility types/subtypes and changing the way some facilities are recorded.

b) Approximating temporal change from the database

No sites/facilities are deleted from Active Places. Sites/facilities are closed or in the case of grass pitches identified as “Not Currently Marked Out”.

Active Places facilities each have a “Build Year”.

These “temporal” attributes can, in some use cases, support an estimation of the change in facility provision over time.

The approach, which should use the most current version of the database, assumes that facility supply in any given year can be estimated by considering those facilities with a “Build Year” prior to that year and a “Closed Year” (if applicable) after that year.

Where using “Build Year” and “Closure Year” to estimate change over time, it is important to remember:

• Active Places is updated via an annual audit cycle as a result, it can take up to 1-year to identify site/facilities closures. Recent change will have a high degree of uncertainty and should be treated with caution.

• The “Build Year” for a facility may be estimated. This is indicated by a flag in the database.

• Closed sites/facilities may reopen. The “Closure Reason” is a good indicator of whether a site/facility is being replaced.

• The approach does not consider temporary closures, for example, a facility currently operational may have been temporarily closed, due to refurbishment, in earlier time periods.

• Sites/facilities which were closed prior to the establishment, and routine collection of facility data, by Active Places will not be included in the database.

• Site/facilities have been added to Active Places over time. Facilities added to the platform most recently will not have the same temporal depth.

• The appropriate time-period for any temporal analysis of Active Places data is a function of when that facility type was added to the database and the completeness of the dataset that was added for that facility type.

• Some facility definition and attributes have changed over time this may result in temporal inconsistencies.

• Facility counts should not be used where there is a one-to-many relationship between the facility and the number of courts, pitches or rinks.

• Facility, court, pitch or rink counts should not be considered in isolation. Other attributes which describe the size or type of facility may be applicable.

The approach outlined above is most appropriate for built facilities. It cannot be used to estimate changes in the provision of grass pitches over time as:

• “Build Year” is known to be missing and/or to contain high levels of uncertainty for grass pitches.

• The pitch configuration detailed in Active Places reflects the current markings. These markings may not represent those at any earlier time period.

• Pitch types identified as “Not currently marked out” may have been operational in earlier time periods. Active Places does not identify when a pitch configuration was changed, and pitches of a given size no longer marked out at a site.

• Active Places does not include information on the change in pitch configuration at a site over time (i.e. an increase/decrease in the count of adult football pitches).

• Active Places does not include information on the relationship between pitches. For example,

      ▪ Adult grass pitch provision may decrease to allow for the marking of multiple junior grass pitches or rugby pitches

      ▪ Junior grass pitch provision may increase due to an increase in overmarking on adult pitches.

      ▪ Grass pitch provision may decrease to enable the creation of an Artificial Grass Pitch at the site.

In conclusion, while the most recent version of the database can be used to approximate a temporal analysis, this is applicable only for a subset of facility types. As with all analysis based on the Active Places data, it is important to understand the data model and key attributes (i.e. Facility Status, Ownership, Access), but to also carefully consider the caveats stated above.

The following provides a guide to using Active Places open data in JSON format.

1. How to access Active Places data in JSON format

The Active Places data in JSON format can be accessed via the "Open Data" section of Active Places Power (https://www.activeplacespower.com/opendata). A link is also available on the site's footer.

This page has the options of:

• Data Download: Where a full file of Active Places data in JSON format can be accessed
• API Docs:  Where the API and related documentation for ongoing JSON API requests can be accessed
• Change Log: Where details of open data related changes and known issues are published

2. How to get the data to establish a local copy of the Active Places data

A full file of Active Places data is generated on a daily basis, this represents the current data at that point in time. The latest version can be downloaded by accessing https://www.activeplacespower.com/OpenData/download and selecting the "Download JSON" option. Once downloaded, the JSON data file can be used to establish a local copy of Active Places data.  

There is no specified JSON schema for the data format; in order to translate and use this information it is highly recommended that users of the data familiarise themselves with the Sports Data Model and supporting documentation (see SDM FAQs).

3. How to maintain a reference to a local copy of the Active Places data

Once a local copy of Active Places data has been established, using the JSON data download file, data updates can be maintained by using Rest API GET requests.   

The request URL for the API, which does not require any authentication, is https://api.activeplacespower.com/api/v1/sites. Further information to outline the API and a harness to test requests is available at https://www.activeplacespower.com/OpenData/Api/Docs#!/Sites/Sites_Get.

The JSON data provides a "modified" value per record, which is treated as a timestamp. This does not directly map to a time or date, but is an incremental value that reflects changes in the database (i.e. for every change in the database, the "modified" timestamp value increments by one). The JSON data download file provides results in ascending order, so the "modified" value of the final record in the download file needs to be identified. This can then be used as the "afterTimeStamp" input parameter for the API request. The number of results to be returned per page is set to a default of 10 and the "limit" input parameter can be used to modify this (up to a maximum of 100).

The API response results should be applied as updates to the local copy which was established based on the full file data download. The process can then be repeated on an ongoing basis at the user defined frequency (i.e. identify the last "modified" value returned in the previous response and use this as the input criteria for the next request). In this way Active Places data can be maintained.

Active Places Power is part of a continuous program of enhancements and development. Development to create new tools/reports, improve functionality and/or data coverage periodically results in a change to the Sports Data Model (SDM) and/or existing site and facility records. 

For existing facilities, changes might include: 

- The definition of a new facility subtype.  

- Updates to the attributes used to describe a facility. 

Defining a new facility subtype 

Each facility type (e.g. Grass Pitches) is made up of a series of facility subtypes (e.g. football pitches, rugby pitches…). As more data is collected, the SDM may be adapted to include a new facility subtype.  

Where a new facility subtype is added, the Active Places Power team must: 

1. Review existing facility subtypes and determine whether there is a need to define a set of rules to reclassify existing Active Places facilities. 

2. Work to populate the new facility subtype. 

By working with facility providers and National Governing Bodies, the team will seek, where possible, to implement data changes as quickly as possible after the SDM changes go-live. However, where the impact is small and/or data unavailable, changes may be implemented as part of ongoing data auditing. In this instance, we would expect all required changes to have been made and verified within approximately one-year through the annual audit cycle. 

Updating the attribute(s) used to describe a facility (and facility subtype) 

Facilities (and their associated subtypes) are described by a set of attributes. To enhance the richness of Active Power Places, additional attributes will, periodically, be added to the SDM. 

By working with facility providers and National Governing Bodies, the Active Places Power team will seek, where possible, to populate new attributes as quickly as possible after the SDM changes go-live. However, where the impact is small and/or data unavailable, changes may be implemented as part of ongoing data auditing. 

Where attribute changes are deemed to be significant or the risk of misinterpretation is high, a flag will be added to the facility subtype to confirm whether an attribute has been checked and verified.  

This flag implies solely whether a site has been asked to complete the specified attribute(s). It does not imply any assessment against a specified standard or certification. The presence of a “checked” flag does not invalidate a facility record, it implies only that attributes have been added to the facility following the most recent update to / audit of information held for that site. 

All changes to the SDM will be documented and users alerted. Where required, additional information will also be provided as a FAQ. 

The Rural Urban Classification is an official statistic, provided by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, that is used to distinguish rural and urban areas. The Classification defines areas as rural if they fall outside of settlements with a resident population of more than 10,000.

For more information on this dataset see https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/2011-rural-urban-classification.

Within Active Places Power, the Rural Urban Classification (RUC) is a single map layer classifying each Lower Super Output Area (LSOA) with its RUC setting.  See Map > Map Layers > Environment Data > Rural Urban Classification. 

Eight classifications are defined within the single map layer.  They are: 

• A1 - Urban major conurbation
• B1 - Urban minor conurbation
• C1 - Urban city and town
• C2 - Urban city and town (sparse)
• D1 - Rural town and fringe
• D2 - Rural town and fringe (sparse)
• E1 - Rural village and dispersed
• E2 - Rural village and dispersed (sparse)

Sport England has developed a new online tool called the Active Places Data Platform (https://dataplatform.activeplacespower.com).  The (password protected) platform is used to manage and maintain the national sport facility database (Active Places) in real-time.  

Data records are collected, validated and maintained by Adetiq - Sport England's appointed (November 2015) Active Places Data Validation Team contractor. In addition, the fully self-service platform allows individual facility owners and managers to self manage their facility data.  This enables the data to be maintained by those who know their facilities the best and ensures data is as up to date as possible. 

For any queries regarding the Active Places Data Platform contact Adetiq on 01273 202212 or activeplaces.data@sportengland.org. 

The English indices of deprivation is an official statistic provided by the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government and are statistics on relative deprivation in small areas in England. The English indices of deprivation ranks every small area in England from 1 (most deprived area) to 32,844 (least deprived area).  The Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) combines information from seven domains to produce an overall relative measure of deprivation.  For more information on this dataset see https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/english-indices-of-deprivation-2019.

Within Active Places Power, the English indices of deprivation consist of the IMD, 7 domains and two additional Income Indexes each as dedicated map layers.  See Map > Map Layers > Population Data > Indices of Deprivation (2019).  

Seven domains of deprivation are combined to produce the overall Index of Multiple Deprivation, each of which contains a number of component indicators.

The criteria for inclusion of these indicators are that they should be ‘domain specific’ and appropriate for the purpose of measuring major features of that deprivation; up-to-date; capable of being updated on a regular basis; statistically robust; and available for the whole of England at a small area level in a consistent form.

Income Deprivation Domain

The Income Deprivation Domain measures the proportion of the population in an area experiencing deprivation relating to low income. The definition of low income used includes both those people that are out-of-work, and those that are in work but who have low earnings (and who satisfy the respective means tests).  A combined count of income deprived individuals per Lower-layer Super Output Area is calculated by summing the following six non-overlapping indicators:

• - Adults and children in Income Support families
• - Adults and children in income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance families
• - Adults and children in income-based Employment and Support Allowance families
• - Adults and children in Pension Credit (Guarantee) families
• - Adults and children in Working Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit families not already counted, that is those who are not in receipt of Income Support, income- based Jobseeker’s Allowance, income-based Employment and Support Allowance or Pension Credit (Guarantee) and whose equivalised income (excluding housing benefit) is below 60 per cent of the median before housing costs
• - Asylum seekers in England in receipt of subsistence support, accommodation support, or both.

In addition an Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index and an Income Deprivation Affecting Older People Index were created, respectively representing the proportion of children aged 0-15, and people aged 60 and over, living in income deprived households.

Employment Deprivation Domain

The Employment Deprivation Domain measures the proportion of the working age population in an area involuntarily excluded from the labour market. This includes people who would like to work but are unable to do so due to unemployment, sickness or disability, or caring responsibilities. A combined count of employment deprived individuals per Lower-layer Super Output Area is calculated by summing the following five non-overlapping indicators:

• - Claimants of Jobseeker’s Allowance (both contribution-based and income based), women aged 18 to 59 and men aged 18 to 64
• - Claimants of Employment and Support Allowance, women aged 18 to 59 and men aged 18 to 64
• - Claimants of Incapacity Benefit, women aged 18 to 59 and men aged 18 to 64
• - Claimants of Severe Disablement Allowance, women aged 18 to 59 and men aged 18 to 64
• - Claimants of Carer’s Allowance, women aged 18 to 59 and men aged 18 to 64.

Education, Skills and Training Deprivation Domain

The Education, Skills and Training Domain measures the lack of attainment and skills in the local population. The indicators fall into two sub-domains: one relating to children and young people and one relating to adult skills. These two sub-domains are designed to reflect the ‘flow’ and ‘stock’ of educational disadvantage within an area respectively. That is, the ‘children and young people’ sub-domain measures the attainment of qualifications and associated measures (‘flow’), while the ‘skills’ sub-domain measures the lack of qualifications in the resident working age adult population (‘stock’).

Children and Young People sub-domain

• - Key Stage 2 attainment: The average points score of pupils taking reading, writing and mathematics Key Stage 2 exams12
• - Key Stage 4 attainment: The average capped points score of pupils taking Key Stage 4
• - Secondary school absence: The proportion of authorised and unauthorised absences from secondary school
• - Staying on in education post 16: The proportion of young people not staying on in school or non-advanced education above age 16
• - Entry to higher education: A measure of young people aged under 21 not entering higher education.

Adult Skills sub-domain is a non-overlapping count of two indicators:

• - Adult skills: The proportion of working age adults with no or low qualifications, women aged 25 to 59 and men aged 25 to 64
• - English language proficiency: The proportion of working age adults who cannot speak English or cannot speak English well, women aged 25 to 59 and men aged 25 to 64.

Health Deprivation and Disability Domain

The Health Deprivation and Disability Domain measures the risk of premature death and the impairment of quality of life through poor physical or mental health. The domain measures morbidity, disability and premature mortality but not aspects of behaviour or environment that may be predictive of future health deprivation.

•  - Years of potential life lost: An age and sex standardised measure of premature death
•  - Comparative illness and disability ratio: An age and sex standardised morbidity/disability ratio
•  - Acute morbidity: An age and sex standardised rate of emergency admission to hospital
•  - Mood and anxiety disorders: A composite based on the rate of adults suffering from mood and anxiety disorders, hospital episodes data, suicide mortality data and health benefits data.

Crime Domain

Crime is an important feature of deprivation that has major effects on individuals and communities. The Crime Domain measures the risk of personal and material victimisation at local level.

•  - Violence: number of reported violent crimes (18 reported crime types) per 1000 at risk population
•  - Burglary: number of reported burglaries (4 reported crime types) per 1000 at risk population
•  - Theft: number of reported thefts (5 reported crime types) per 1000 at risk population
•  - Criminal damage: number of reported crimes (8 reported crime types) per 1000 at risk population.

Barriers to Housing and Services Domain

This domain measures the physical and financial accessibility of housing and key local services. The indicators fall into two sub-domains: ‘geographical barriers’, which relate to the physical proximity of local services, and ‘wider barriers’ which includes issues relating to access to housing such as affordability.

Geographical Barriers sub-domain

• - Road distance to a post office
• - Road distance to a primary school
• - Road distance to a general store or supermarket
• - Road distance to a GP surgery.

Wider Barriers sub-domain

• - Household overcrowding: The proportion of all households in a Lower-layer Super Output Area which are judged to have insufficient space to meet the household’s needs
• - Homelessness: Local authority district level rate of acceptances for housing assistance under the homelessness provisions of the 1996 Housing Act, assigned to the constituent Lower-layer Super Output Areas
• - Housing affordability: Difficulty of access to owner-occupation or the private rental market, expressed as the inability to afford to enter owner occupation or the private rental market.

Living Environment Deprivation Domain

The Living Environment Deprivation Domain measures the quality of the local environment. The indicators fall into two sub-domains. The ‘indoors’ living environment measures the quality of housing; while the ‘outdoors’ living environment contains measures of air quality and road traffic accidents.

 Indoors sub-domain

•  - Houses without central heating: The proportion of houses that do not have central heating
•  - Housing in poor condition: The proportion of social and private homes that fail to meet the Decent Homes standard.

Outdoors sub-domain

•  - Air quality: A measure of air quality based on emissions rates for four pollutants
•  - Road traffic accidents involving injury to pedestrians and cyclists: A measure of road traffic accidents involving injury to pedestrians and cyclists among the resident and workplace population.

Each individual map layer has a standard symbology in which each Lower Super Output Area (LSOA) has a colour based upon its decile classification. ‘Deciles’ are published alongside ranks within the raw data.  (Deciles are calculated by ranking the 32,844 small areas in England from most deprived to least deprived and dividing them into 10 equal groups).

Active Places records are checked on an annual basis (either by the Active Places Data Validation contractor or individual facility owners and managers who have taken responsibility to self-maintain information on their own facility records).  This has traditionally provided the appropriate balance between data quality (currency, accuracy and completeness) and the effort/cost required to check over 33,000 sites at which over 135,000 facilities are located (November 2020).

However, the annual check does not provide a sufficient frequency to reflect the immediate and short term impact of the Covid-19 restrictions (such as local and national lockdowns) on facilities.  This is having a significant impact on data accuracy,  specifically to attributes such as operational status (planned, under construction, operational, temporary closed etc), access policy (free public access, pay and play, club membership etc) and opening times.

For the vast majority of Active Places records these attributes remain unchanged from pre Coivid-19 and therefore may not reflect the current status.  The exception will be where a facility is known to have permanently closed.  

Sport England are exploring options to update these attributes on a more frequent basis to reflect the impact of Covid-19.  If you are aware of any data updates, please provide them via activeplaces.data@sportengland.org.

The National Statistics Socio-economic Classifications (NS-SeC) is a measure of employment relations and conditions of occupations. These are central to showing the structure of socio-economic positions in modern societies and helping to explain variations in social behaviour and other social phenomena.  For more information on this dataset see http://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks611ew .

Within Active Places Power NS-SeC of usual residents aged 16 to 74 are a series of map layers at Lower Super Output Area (LSOA) geographies. 

See Map > Map Layers > Population Data > Socio-economic (NS-SeC). 

Nine classifications (each as individual map layers) can be displayed showing the percentage of population within each classification or classification grouping.  They are: 

• - Managerial combined (1-2)
• - Intermediate occupations (3)
• - Small employers and own account (4)
• - Lower supervisory and technical (5)
• - Intermediate, Small and Lower (3-5)
• - Routine combined (6-7)
• - Never worked and unemployed (8)
• - Routine and not working  (6-8)
• - Not classified (9)

Each individual map layer has a standard symbology showing the percentage of population within the classification (one or more) divided by total population. 10% intervals up to 100% (deciles) are used. 

Note, Comments function is currently restricted to Sport England users only.

The Comments tab is used to view and submit local intelligence information relevant to either a site as a whole (if it is relevant to all facilities at that site) or for individual facilities located at the site. 

Local intelligence information will be used to help Sport England and its partners track trends and inform related strategic planning work. 

Note, Sport England will endeavour to moderate comments, where necessary editing or deleting any comment at any time should it be deemed inappropriate or unrelated to the purpose of this function. 

It should also be noted that submitted comments may need to be disclosed by Sport England in accordance with the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act 2000. 

To provide knowledge of any edits to site and facility attribute details (i.e. the size dimensions of a sports hall) please use the “feedback” links located in the top right corner of the Site Details pages.  

Active Places currently holds the following Facility types:

• • Artificial Grass Pitch
• • Athletics Tracks
• • Cycling
• • Golf
• • Grass Pitches
• • Health & Fitness Suite
• • Ice Rinks
• • Indoor Bowls
• • Indoor Tennis Centre
• • Outdoor Tennis Courts
• • Ski Slopes
• • Sports Hall
• • Squash Courts
• • Studios
• • Swimming Pool

These facilities represent where 70-80% of formal sport takes place and they also tend to be large land users.

A data collection schedule has been developed to expand the number of new facility types held within Active Places. These will be added to the live database and website once collected to the required standards.

Active Places Power uses small area geographies designed by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) to improve the reporting of small area statistics in England and Wales. They are known as Super Output Areas (SOAs) and were developed as an alternative to Wards for calculating small area statistics. Unlike Wards and Postcode geographies, all SOA represent a similar number of people allowing for comparability across smaller geographic areas. The SOA layers form a hierarchy based on aggregations of Output Areas (OAs).

The relationship of OA and SOA during the 2011 census was as follows:

OAs

Population: 100 to 625

Average Population: 309

Households: 40 to 250

Number of records (England): 171,372

Lower SOAs

Population: 1,000 to 3,000

Average Population: 1,500

Households: 400 to 1,200

Number of records (England): 32,844

Middle SOA

Population: 5,000 to 15,000

Average Population: 7,500

Households: 2,000 to 6,000

Number of records (England): 6,791

Club data is no longer included with Active Places having been removed in October 2017.  Prior to this club data within Active Places Power was a beta function.  It was a snapshot sample of data that had been included to demonstrate how club data may be used within the websites tools. However, as there are no plans to update and expand club data within Active Places Power the decision was taken to remove it.

The aerial photography used within the Active Places Power website is supplied via the Aerial Photography for Great Britain (APGB) contract; a pan-government agreement, managed by the Geospatial Commission.

Aerial photography is captured, processed and delivered by a consortium which includes Bluesky International Ltd, Getmapping Plc and Airbus.

Aerial photography, included within Active Places Power, is captured at a spatial resolution of 25cm. Photography will, in most regions, have been captured within the last 3-years although some variation is possible due to multiple factors including the weather and air-traffic restrictions.

To access the aerial photography when using the interactive maps, go to Map Tools tab > Map Layers > Basemaps and Aerial Photography.

The Active Places Power interactive mapping component displays several different Ordnance Survey datasets, which are styled and set to display at different zoom levels.

Datasets range from broad-scale location maps (for example, Miniscale) to highly detailed contextual mapping (for example, Vector Map Local and OS MasterMap).

All datasets are owned and maintained by Ordnance Survey © Crown copyright and database rights 2021. OS 100033111.

The data are supplied to Active Places Power via a series of Esri UK hosted web services . These services are updated on a quarterly basis.

Uses can choose between the following basemap styles.

 Grey

Greyscale map with no labels, provides a minimal level of contextual detail. Does not display at scales of 1:2,500 or 1:1,250

(References: OS_Open_Greyscale)

Simple

An uncluttered and clean map consistent between all viewing scales. Does not display at scales of 1:2,500 or 1:1,250

(References: OS_Open_Background)

Detailed

A comprehensive contextual map showing OS MasterMap level detail at the largest scales. This is the default basemap. Displays at all scales.

(References: OS_VML_MM_Carto Premium Service)

Traditional

Displays the OS 1:50,000, 1:25,000 and 1:10,000 raster products at larger scales. Does not display at scales of 1:2,500 or 1:1,250

(References: OS_Premium_Rasters Premium Service).

Active Places Power displays point based data for sport facility locations on the interactive map using balloon shaped map markers.  

To display map markers either run a search or report and swtich to the map tab to view results via a map interface.  Alternatively run a Map Search.  For all map interfaces the Map Tools tab (displayed on the left side of the map) has two sections.  Use Map Search to navigate the map or Map Layers to add and remove map data layers including, individual faciliity types.  

Due to the potential to represent a large number of facilities geographically on a map, a visual representation technique known as clustering is used. 

Clustering reduces the number of map markers displayed on the map by grouping those in close proximity to each other in an aggregate form.  Each map marker cluster contains a summary count of the number of facilities set to display.  

Clustered map marker balloons have four sizes:

• Small – no count represents a single count

• Small – with count represents between 2 to 9

• Medium – with count represent between 10 to 99

• Large – with count represents between 100 to 999

Zooming in to a more detailed large scale map will result in the dispersion of markers into individual marker locations.  The opposite is also true that zooming out to a small scale map will result in markers grouping together.  

Map markers that continue to display a count value at large map scales will represent sites with more than 2 facilities.  

It should be noted that a cluster map marker is generally located at the geographic centre for those dispersed individual locations grouped within the cluster. 

Only when the cluster represents a collection of facilities at a single site or the cluster representation is turned off will the map markers represent the exact geographic location of a site with multiple facilities.  

1. Why?

Active Places is being redeveloped on modern technologies to ensure the system can support growing demand for a wider range of data types and reporting tools. Moving to new technologies will improve your user journey with data discovery and analysis supported by a modern mapping interface. Establishing the ecosystem on these technologies will also provide the foundation from which we can continue to build and enhance the data and tools provided by Active Places Power.

2. When?

The redevelopment will commence in April 2023. 

3. Will data quality be impacted?

No. 

Sport England, Site Owners and the Data Validation Team (Adetiq) will be able to update/audit, add and/or close sites and facilities at ALL TIMES during the redevelopment. At no point will redevelopment activities impact our ability to maintain data to current standards.

4. Will the data model change?

No.

There will be no changes to the data model because of the redevelopment. We may however release planned new facility types or facility specifics.

5. Will I be able to access the Active Places data through the redevelopment?

Yes.

The Active Places data will be accessible at ALL TIMES during the redevelopment. 

6. Will I lose access to the reporting and mapping tools on Active Places Power?

In the long-term, no. While the new Active Places Power will have a different look and feel, all existing functionality will be replicated and, in many instances, enhanced.

While we are redeveloping Active Places Power, it may be necessary to take some reporting tools offline for short periods. Where tools are taken offline, we will provide alternative options to ensure we can support you in your business-as-usual processes.

We anticipate being able to share more detail in February on how users will access Active Places data and tools during the redevelopment.

7. Where can I find out more?

Over the next month, we will be establishing a dedicated page to update users on the redevelopment project. We will also send regular e-mails and notifications to ensure users are kept informed on the project and progress.

8. What it I want to be more involved in the redevelopment?

The Active Places redevelopment will be inclusive. In addition to regularly sharing information, we will seek to include users in the development process. If you would be interested in joining our stakeholder groups, please contact the Active Places Team (App.Enquiries@sportengland.org).

9. I still have a question regarding the redevelopment?

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the Active Places Team (App.Enquiries@sportengland.org).

Hybrid grass pitches are natural grass pitches that are reinforced with synthetic turf to allow the natural grass to grow and reduce wear and tear of the pitch. 

It is important to understand the differences between contrasting Artificial Grass Pitches (AGPs). The subtype descriptions are:

• Long Pile Carpet - A longer pile artificial grass carpet, often referred to as a ‘third generation’ or ‘3G’ pitch. Most pitches have a rubber crumb and sand infill within the pile, some may have organic infills such as cork or timber pellets. Rarely, there will be no infill. Used predominantly for football but can be used for other sports such as rugby. Pile length is typically 55-60mm for football and 60-65mm for rugby however, some carpets can be as short as 40mm.

• Sand Dressed - This has sand base rather than sand infilling. A sand dressed pitch has a heavier amount of fibres which are more exposed, giving it a greener appearance. This is the preferred surface for club hockey.

• Sand Filled - 20-25mm tufted carpet covered filled with graded sand laid over a rubber shock pad and engineering base. Most common surface for STP's, used in particular for hockey & football, but can be used by other activities, such as American Football, Lacrosse, and training for Rugby and Athletics.

• Water Based - Similar pile to sand based, very dense synthetic sports surfaces that are irrigated with water. Combined with some form of underlay/shock-pad, sometimes integral. The carpets or the pad are typically designed to hold up the water flow at a specific rate. This is the preferred surface for Hockey and is used for first class games.

The facility type specifics will detail dimensions of the facility and a pitch count.

A full size AGP will be marked out for adult football (11 a side football match) and will have dimensions typically around 100x60m, with a minimum size of  88x53m. Full size AGPs will only have a pitch count of one even if small pitches are overmaked. See screenshot below;

A small size AGP will be solely used for smaller sided matches. There will be multiple dedicated pitches therefore the pitch count for that facility will be greater than one. The screenshot below shows an example of a site that would have the ‘small AGP’ flag ticked, with the pitch count showing as six and the dimensions relating to what one pitch measures. In this instance 35x15m.

If a site has separate artificial grass pitch sizes within one structure, they will be referenced as different facilities as the sizes are different. For example, a site may have multiple ‘5 a side’ pitches, but then have a ‘9 a side’ pitch or ‘full sized’ pitch alongside. This would class as two separate facilities. The below facility would be logged as two artificial long pile (rubber crumb fill) facilities, one with a pitch count of four, and the other with a pitch count of one. The dimensions would then display the common dimensions of each pitch type.

The pitch count within a facility will not include those from a facility that is at a different location on the site. The example below shows a site that has multiple AGP facilities and pitches. Even though there are multiple long pile carpet pitches, there should be three different AGP facilities registered on site (one sand filled and two rubber crumb filled). Again, the rubber crumb filled pitches in this instance will be referenced as having a pitch count of six on one facility, and four on the other, including the common dimensions of each pitch, and not the whole size of the facility.

Access Types are defined as:

AccessibilityID 1 - Free Public Access - There is no charge to use the facility

AccessibilityID 2 - Pay and Play - The main means of public access to the facility is on payment of a charge.  The facility may also have a membership scheme, and it may be possible to block book the facility for a specific activity or for lessons, but during the public opening hours anyone can just turn up, pay and play.

For example, local authority swimming pool or health and fitness facility, where the casual user pays per session, although there is also a membership scheme.

AccessibilityID 3 - Sports Club/Community Association use - The main means of public access to the facility is via sports clubs or community associations, which book it for use by their members.  Membership of the club or association is based on a particular sport or community group, and is not based on performance criteria or on a particular facility.  The club or association may use several different facilities.

For example: Access to indoor bowls greens is through a bowls club, or to athletics tracks through an athletics club.  School swimming pool that can be used by a swimming or sub-aqua club, but cannot be used by the general public.

AccessibilityID 4 - Registered Membership use - The main public access to the facility is by membership.  Members usually pay a joining fee as well as a monthly or annual subscription.  Membership is controlled by the owner or manager of the facility.

For example: Fitness First health and fitness facility can only be used by registered members.

AccessibilityID 5 - Private use - The facility cannot be used by the public, either on a pay and play basis or through a recreational club, except when playing against the owner of the site.  It may be available for use by elite clubs or development squads.   

For example: School grass pitches that are only available for the school teams and the teams they are playing against.  University, prison, MOD etc facilities that are not available for public use.

AccessibilityID 6 - Not Known

Access Types are grouped into the following categories:

• Public Access (AccessibilityID 1 to 4)
• Private (AccessibilityID 5 only)
• Not Known (AccessibilityID 6 and NULL)

Generally there is one management type for each site.  Sometimes there may be more than one (e.g. outdoor facilities are managed by the LEA but indoor facilities are handled by a private contractor).  

Management Types are defined as:  

MgmtTypeID 1 - School/College/University (in house) - Managed by the school/college themselves.  Community access to these facilities are often limited to fit around curriculum/University use.

MgmtTypeID 2 - Local Authority (in house) - Managed by Local Authority using their own staff. 

MgmtTypeID 3 - Private Contractor (PPP/PFI) - Facility managed by a private contractor as part of the Public Private Partnership / Private Finance Initiative. PPP/PFI  is a partnership between the public and private sector for the purpose of delivering a project or service traditionally provided by the public sector.  This is an arrangement whereby the public sector pays the contractor to build and run a facility for a set period (25 years), after which the facility is handed back to the public sector.  This arrangement is increasingly common with the development of new schools and some Local Authority Leisure Provision.

MgmtTypeID 4 – Trust - Charitable Trust set up to run sports facilities.  A number of Local Authorities have set up Leisure Trusts to run their leisure centres.  These Trusts benefit from charitable status and work outside the Local Authority structure.  The Local Authority remains the owner of the facility.

MgmtTypeID 5 - Sport Club - Where the facility is managed by a sports club.

MgmtTypeID 6 - Commercial Management - Where the facility is managed by a commercial company, such as commercial health clubs.  There are also Local Authority Facilities which have been contracted in to manage Local Authority Leisure Centres. 

MgmtTypeID 7 - CSSC - Civil Service Sports Council provides sports facilities for employees in Government departments and agencies, the Post Office, BT and many other public bodies and in many companies carrying out ex-civil service work. The CSSC is the largest corporate provider of sport and leisure in the UK and have a network of sports facilities across the country.

MgmtTypeID 8 - Community Organisation - Facilities that are managed and run by Community Organisations, such as community associations and user groups. 

MgmtTypeID 9 - Industry Sports Club - Facilities which are managed by an Industrial/Commercial Company for the benefit and use by its staff.  Use of these facilities are often limited to family members of employees.

MgmtTypeID 10 - Health Authority - Facilities which are managed by the Health Authority.

MgmtTypeID 11 – MOD - Facilities on MOD sites managed by the Armed Forces.  Limited community availability.

MgmtTypeID 12 - Other - Other types of management

MgmtTypeID 13 - Not Known - Facilities where the management type is not known.

Management types are grouped into the following categories:

• Education – (MgmtTypeID 1)
• Local Authority– (MgmtTypeID 2)
• Trust – (MgmtTypeID 4)
• Commercial – (MgmtTypeID 6)
• Others – (MgmtTypeID 3, 5, 7 to 12)
• Not Known – (MgmtTypeID13 and Null)

Operational Status means the functional status of a facility.  The Operational Status of a facility is defined as:

FacStatusID 1 - Planned - A sport facility which has received planning permission, but construction is yet to commence.  For example, a new school sports hall that has been granted planning permission, but where construction has not started. 

FacStatusID 2 - Under Construction - A new sport facility in the process of being built. For example, a new local authority leisure centre that is currently being built, but not yet opened. 

FacStatusID 3 - Operational - A sport facility that is currently operational and in use.   For example, an AGP at a College site that is currently in use. Facilities that are operational do not necessarily need to be available for public use.  

FacStatusID 4 - Temporarily Closed  - A sport facility that is not in use for a limited period of time. The closure is temporary and the facility will reopen. For example, an AGP that is temporarily closed in order to replace the carpet.  

FacStatusID 5 - Closed - A sport facility that is permanently closed.  For example, a commercial health & fitness facility that has permanently closed and ceased trading.  

FacStatusID 7 - No Grass Pitches Currently Marked Out - An area of grass that has previously been marked out for sports pitches but is no longer. For example, a park which used to have a football pitch marked out, but the pitch is no longer marked out.  

FacStatusID 8 - Not Known - The Facility Status is not known.

UPDATE April 2020:  As of 1st April 2020 the facility operational status of “Does not appear to meet Active Places criteria” (FacStatusID 6) was removed as a status option and a new separate "Meets Active Places Criteria" flag was introduced.    

The separate "Meets Active Places Criteria" flag allows for facilities with specifications outside of expected ranges to be recorded in Active Places.  For example, the facility type of Athletics Tracks is expected to have between 4 and 12 lanes.   When a facility has a specification outside of these expected ranges then the "Meets Active Places Criteria" flag will be set to ‘no’. 

This allows Active Places to record a broader range of facilities, the benefit being to capture operational facilities even if they are of a non-standard specification. It is not a reflection of the quality or it failing to meet a certain design standard.

Note, Active Places Power reports set the default settings of the "Status" criteria to 2 (under construction), 3 (operational) and 4 (temporary closed) as this is consistent with Sport England's own reporting of "operational" facilities.  Further it should be noted, within the interactive maps that the “All Facilities” map layer includes all facilities irrespective of operational status or "Meets Active Places Criteria" flag.

The definitions of the facility types can be found under Help > Sports Data Model (SDM).

Ownership Types are defined as:  

(Note, for educational establishments the education type is taken from the Type of Establishment code in Edubase).  

OwnerTypeID 1 - Local Authority - Facilities owned by the Local Authority, to include District, Borough, County and Unitary Councils

OwnerTypeID 2 - Community school - Similar to former County schools. LEA employs the school’s staff, owns the school’s land and buildings and is the admissions authority (it has primary responsibility for deciding the arrangements for admitting pupils).

OwnerTypeID 3 - Voluntary Aided School - Similar to former aided schools. The governing body is the employer and the admissions authority. The school’s land and buildings (apart from playing fields which are normally vested in the LEA) will normally be owned by a charitable foundation.

OwnerTypeID 4 - Voluntary Controlled School - Very similar to former controlled schools. The LEA is the employer and the admissions authority. The school’s land and buildings (apart from the playing fields which are normally vested in the LEA) will normally be owned by a charitable foundation.

OwnerTypeID 5 - Foundation School - At foundation schools the governing body is the employer and the admissions authority. The school’s land and buildings are either owned by the governing body or by a charitable foundation.

OwnerTypeID 6 - City Technology College - Independent all- ability, non fee-paying schools for pupils aged 11-18. Their purpose is to offer pupils of all abilities in urban areas across England the opportunity to study successfully a curriculum geared, with the help of private sector sponsors, towards the world of work. Also encouraged to innovate in the development, management and delivery of the curriculum.

OwnerTypeID 7 - Community Special School - Is the special school equivalent of mainstream Community schools yet are catered wholly or mainly for children with statutory statements of special educational needs.

OwnerTypeID 8 - Non-Maintained Special School - Independent special schools approved by the Secretary of State for Education and Skills. They are run on a not-for-profit basis by charitable trusts and normally cater for children with severe and/or low incidence special educational needs.

OwnerTypeID 9 - Independent School approved for SEN Pupils - A special school equivalent of Other Independent catering wholly or mainly for children with statutory statements of special educational needs. Has been approved by the DfES for SEN provision.

OwnerTypeID 10 - Other Independent Special School - A special school equivalent of Other Independent catering wholly or mainly for children with statutory statements of special educational needs.

OwnerTypeID 11 - Other Independent School - Any school which provides full time education for 5 or more pupils of compulsory school age, which is not maintained by a local education authority or a non-maintained special school.

OwnerTypeID 12 - Foundation Special School - A special school equivalent of the mainstream Foundation school catering wholly or mainly for children with statutory statements of special educational needs.

OwnerTypeID 13 - Pupil Referral Unit - Any school established and maintained by a local authority which Is specially organised to provide education for children who are excluded, sick or otherwise unable to attend mainstream school and Is not a county or special school.

OwnerTypeID 14 - LEA Nursery School - Is maintained by a local education authority and is not a special school, providing education for children who have attained the age of 2 but are under compulsory school age.

OwnerTypeID 15 - Playing for Success - Through Playing for Success, the DfES is establishing out of school hours study support centres within top football clubs and at other sports’ clubs grounds and venues. The centres use the environment and medium of football to help motivate pupils identified by their schools, as being in need of a boost to help them get back up to speed in literacy and ICT.

OwnerTypeID 16 - Academy Sponsor Led - Academies are all-ability, state-funded schools established and managed by sponsors from a wide range of backgrounds, including high performing schools and colleges, universities, individual philanthropists, businesses, the voluntary sector, and the faith communities.

OwnerTypeID 17 - EY Setting - Early Years settings include private and voluntary day nurseries, pre-schools, playgroups, childminding networks, portage services and Local Authority day nurseries. The database only lists EY Settings that are registered with the Early Years Development Plan and Childcare Partnerships.

OwnerTypeID 18 - Further Education

OwnerTypeID 19 - Higher Education Institutions

OwnerTypeID 21 - Miscellaneous Education

OwnerTypeID 22 - Secure Units

OwnerTypeID 23 - Sixth Form Centres

OwnerTypeID 24 - Commercial - Site owned by a commercial company.

OwnerTypeID 25 - Sports Club - Site owned by a sports club.

OwnerTypeID 26 - Community Organisation - Facilities that are owned and run by Community Organisations, such as community associations and user groups. 

OwnerTypeID 27 - Government - Sites which are owned by Government Departments, excluding Local Authority site & MOD sites.

OwnerTypeID 28 - Industry (for employees) - Facilities which are owned by an Industrial/Commercial Company for the benefit of and use by its staff.  Use of these facilities are often limited to family members of employees.

OwnerTypeID 29 - Health Authority - Facilities which are owned by the Health Authority.

OwnerTypeID 30 - MOD - Facilities owned by the MOD. 

OwnerTypeID 31 - Other - Other types of ownership

OwnerTypeID 32 - Not known - Sites where the ownership is not known

OwnerTypeID 33 - Academy Convertors - All schools that have chosen through Governing Body Resolution and application to the Secretary of State to become an Academy under the Academies Act 2010.

OwnerTypeID 34 - Academy Free Schools - Free Schools are all-ability state-funded schools set up in response to parental demand. The most important element of a great education is the quality of teaching and Free Schools will enable excellent teachers to create schools and improve standards for all children, regardless.

OwnerTypeID 35 - Academy Specials - Special Schools that have chosen through Governing Body Resolution and application to the Secretary of State to become an Academy under the Academies Act 2010. These will be handled differently to Academy convertors and will follow a different process which is currently being developed.

OwnerTypeID 36 - Special College

Ownership types are grouped into the following categories:

• Local Authority – (OwnerTypeID 1)
• Education – (OwnerTypeID 2 to 23 and 33 to 36)
• Commercial – (OwnerTypeID 24)
• Sports Club – (OwnerTypeID 25)
• Community Organisation – (OwnerTypeID 26)
• Others – (OwnerTypeID 27 to 31)
• Not Known – (OwnerTypeID 32 and Null)

All artificial grass pitches that host ‘contact’ rugby union must be tested upon installation and then retested every two years to comply with World Rugby Regulation 22. 

WR22 compliance is recorded as ‘yes’ or ‘no’ and if compliant the next WR22 test due date is also provided.   

For more information on WR22 specifications please visit:

https://www.englandrugby.com/participation/running-your-club/facilities/artificial-grass-pitches

The WR22 status of all artificial grass pitches was last updated to reflect their status as at 31/03/2022.

Please note annual audit cycles, or the inclusion of new artificial grass pitches, may provide a more recent record for an individual facility.

From 4th November 2021, studios were no longer represented as a single facility type within Active Places. 

Studios are now be represented by two subtypes: 

Fitness Studio: A purpose-built studio where classes are held for one or more activities such as group exercise classes, martial arts, yoga etc. Usually has a sprung floor, mirrors and air conditioning. The room may have a partition (a removable, dividing wall) to cater for additional classes or extra space. 

Cycle Studio: A purpose-built studio where spinning classes are held. These studios have stationary exercise bikes within them and normally have mirrored walls, television/projection screens and air conditioning. Cycle Studios are permanently set up as a cycle/spin studio. Does not include static bikes that are in a general gym area. Cycle studios may also have tiered flooring so class members can see teachers/screens more easily. 

To enable this SDM change, all existing studios, within Active Places, were recategorised as a “Fitness Studio”. This change was deemed appropriate as studios recorded within Active Places tended to align with this category, that is, Active Places contained a low number of dedicated cycle studios. Where an existing studio was dedicated to cycling or has changed to this function since the last date of site update/audit a misclassification may occur. This impact is thought minimal and will be resolved as part of continued site updates/audits. 

Fitness Studios 

A new attribute “partitionable spaces” was added to fitness studios as part of the November 2021 SDM update. This information was not held for existing studios and will be populated as part of continued site updates/audits. This is to reflect that Fitness Studios are often designed to include purpose-built partitions, which can be used to subdivide the Fitness Studio to give greater flexibility of the studio and to create smaller studio spaces for varying sized classes/sessions. This new attribute will help to improve data quality by removing ambiguity with the count of studios, and studio spaces.  This new attribute will count the number of separate activity spaces that could be created. For example, a Fitness Studio with purpose-built partition that divide the studio into two separate spaces should be recorded as ‘Partitionable Spaces =2’.                     

 Cycle Studios 

The Active Places Power team are working with facility providers to identify sites which contain dedicated cycle studios. These are studio spaces that are permanently setup as dedicated cycle/spin studios. This new subtype is not intended to include static bikes that are in a general gym area.  Facilities will be added as data is received and/or cycle studios identified as part of continued site updates/audits. 

Users should note that the introduction of a second facility type could result in the original number of studio (now termed fitness studios) decreasing. This could be a result of data being recategorised and may not represent the closure or loss of facilities.

The "Meets Active Places Criteria" flag allows for facilities with specifications outside of expected ranges to be recorded in Active Places.  For example, the facility type of Athletics Tracks is expected to have between 4 and 12 lanes.   If an Athletics Track facility has fewer than 4 or more than 12 lanes then it is outside of the expected range and the "Meets Active Places Criteria" flag will be set to ‘no’. 

The flag allows Active Places to record a broader range of facilities, the benefit being to capture operational facilities even if they are of a non-standard specification. It is not a reflection of the quality or it failing to meet a certain design standard. 

Note, Active Places Power reports set the default setting to “Yes” while the interactive map layer for “All Facilities” shows facilities that do and don’t "Meet Active Places Criteria"

It can be common for junior and mini football and rugby pitches to be marked out over full-sized adult pitches. Mini soccer pitches may also be marked out over junior football pitches. 

To highlight that these pitches are marked out over a larger pitch type e.g. over an adult pitch, Active Places Power includes an ‘Overmarked flag’. 

Overmarked pitches are counted as separate pitches in Active Places Power but they share the same grass/area as the larger pitch they are marked out over e.g. the adult pitch. 

The overmarked flag is only applied to junior and mini pitches that are marked out over a larger pitch type e.g. the adult pitch they are marked out over would not have the flag applied to it.

Overmarking does not apply to seasonal changes in pitch layouts e.g. where football and rugby pitches (both adult and junior/mini) are marked out on the outfield of a cricket field. 

The Overmarked ‘Flag’ is only applicable to the following junior and mini pitch sub-types: 

• Junior Football 11v11

• Junior Football 9v9

• Mini Soccer 7v7

• Mini Soccer 5v5

• Junior Rugby

• Mini Rugby League 

• Mini Rugby Union

As an example, if a site has one adult football pitch with two mini soccer 7v7 pitches marked out over it then all three pitches should be recorded on the site as separate facilities with sperate facility IDs (1 adult and 2 mini-soccer 7v7 pitches). The facility records for both the mini soccer 7v7 pitches should then have overmarked box ticked.

Here is the one adult football pitch, with 2 mini 7v7 pitches overmarked on the adult pitch.  This would appear on Active Places as:

• 1 Adult Football Pitch

• 2 Mini Soccer 7v7 - with overmarked flag.

The Active Places database is structured so that a single site may have one or more facilities associated with it (a one to many relationship). 

A site is a location (normally addressable) at which one or more sport facilities are located.  Typically, a site will be located at a unique addressable location and both the site and all facilities associated with it have the same owner organisation.  Occasionally more than one site may exist at a location/address if two or more facilities at the location have different owner organisations.

A sport facility is either a wholly or partially built place such as a grass pitch, swimming pool, ice rink or similar where physical activity, exercise or competition takes place.

Each site and each individual facility sub type will have a unique ID.  As the below example shows these numbers may be very similar but never the same.

The below example for Aireville School shows a single site (i.e. Aireville School - unique id of 1010263), which has three sports hall facilities - one main hall (2008384) and two activity halls (2026284 and 2026285).

Where a facility sub-type has a unit of pitches or courts and all attributes of each facility sub-type are the same, then a single FacilityID will exist with a Number count of 2 or more.

Where more than one of the same facility sub-type exists but attributes are different then the facility sub-types will be recorded with individual FacilityIDs. 

The attributes will vary depending on facility sub-type but can include one or more of the following:  operating status, management or access type, opening hours, floodlighting, year built or refurbished date. 

The below example for Woodbridge Town FC shows a single site (i.e. Woodbridge Town FC - unique id of 6015401), which has two grass pitches each recorded as a separate facility record due to different facility attributes (3012446 being floodlit where as 20000813 is not).

Note, where pitch markings are reconfigured for the same facility sub-type resulting in the count of pitches increasing or decreasing but with no other attribute changes then the pitch count would simply be adjusted to reflect the change.  Should the pitch marking reconfiguration result in different facility sub-types being marked out then then new records with new FacilityIDs will be created.  

The Active Places sport facility database is a complex relational database.  The individual database tables, their contents and relationships are defined within the Sport Data Model (SDM).   

The SDM is available for download as an Excel spreadsheet (see Help menu > SDM) and should be referenced by users of the data in particular those who download and use the data for local analysis or integration with other applications.  

The Active Places Database currently holds information on 15 facility types, each of which has one or more subtypes. 

Facility types are summarised below. Fuller definitions can be found in the Sports Data Model

Facility Type: Athletics

Permanently constructed running facilities (indoors and outdoors) and/or field event facilities (horizontal, vertical jumps, throws).

Facility subtypes:

- Standard Oval Outdoor

- Mini Outdoor

- Compact Outdoor

- Standalone Field

- Standalone Oval Indoor

- Indoor Training

Facility Type: Health and Fitness Gym

Normally a minimum of 5 stations, although some small health & fitness gyms may be included.

Facility subtypes:

- Health and Fitness Gym

Facility Type: Indoor Bowls

Permanent indoor facility which contains a carpeted bowls green area. Can be a purpose-built bowls centre or dedicated bowls area within a sports facility. The bowls green area must be specifically constructed for bowls use. Does not include short mat bowls areas, which are temporarily laid out in multi-purpose halls. 

There are no subtypes for this facility type. 

Facility Type: Indoor Tennis Centre

Covered or indoor tennis courts includes standalone indoor tennis structures, purpose built tennis centres and indoor courts connected to other sports facilities, such as sports clubs. To only include dedicated indoor tennis courts, and not multi use halls or outdoor multi-use games areas (MUGAs) which are marked out as tennis courts. 

Facility subtypes:

- Airhall

- Airhall (seasonal)

- Framed Fabric

- Traditional

Facility Type: Grass Pitches

Area of grass that is marked out for at least part of the year as a pitch, for a particular sport, upon which a match could be played. Does not include synthetic turf pitches (these should be included in AGPs).

Facility subtypes:

- Adult Football

- Junior Football 11v11

- Cricket

- Senior Rugby League

- Junior Rugby League

- Senior Rugby Union

- Junior Rugby Union

- Australian Rules Football

- American Football

- Hockey

- Lacrosse

- Rounders

- Baseball

- Softball

- Gaelic Football

- Hurling

- Polo

- Cycling Polo

- Mini Soccer 7v7

- Mini Rugby Union

- Junior Football 9v9

- Mini Soccer 5v5

- Mini Rugby League

Facility Type: Sports Hall

Indoor multi-sports hall where a range (two or more) of sport and recreational activities are carried out, one or more of which must be on at least a weekly basis.  One hall per site must be at least 18x10m, which equates to the size of one badminton court including surrounding safety area. Includes specifically designed sports halls, such as leisure centres and school sports halls, and also halls where activities can take place on a regular basis, such as school assembly halls, community buildings and village halls. Specialist centres, that are dedicated to a single sports and activities e.g. indoor cricket or gymnastic centres, are not included. Includes other structures which may have been developed for other purposes but are now being used as a permanent sports hall (Barn).

Facility subtypes:

- Main

- Activity Hall

- Barns

Facility Type: Swimming Pool

Enclosed area of water specifically maintained for all forms of water based sport & recreation. Includes general swimming, teaching, training, diving, club use and school use. Includes indoor and outdoor pools, freeform leisure pools, specific diving tanks. Where an area of a pool is normally cordoned off as a purpose-built off-shoot of the main rectangular tank, e.g. diving section off a main pool, it is treated as a separate pool. Includes outdoor swimming ponds which are positively managed for swimming. 

Facility subtypes:

- Main/General

- Leisure Pool

- Learner/Teaching/Training

- Diving

- Lido

Facility Type: Artificial Grass Pitch

Synthetic alternative to grass, providing an all-weather surface for pitch sports, in particular, hockey and football, but increasingly being used for other sports such as rugby and athletics. All sizes of pitch included. Does not include other non-turf surfaces, such as tarmac, concrete, Redgra (natural aggregate dressing). Where there are two pitches within one site of the same sub type but different measurements, these should be entered as separate facilities. 

A full size AGP will have dimensions typically around 100x60m, and for the purposes of APP is defined as having minimum dimensions of 88m x 53m. Pitches that are smaller that 88m x53m will be recorded as 'Small Size AGPs'.

Facility subtypes:

- Sand Filled

- Water Based

- Long Pile Carpet

- Sand Dressed

Facility Type: Golf

All golf courses and golf driving ranges. Courses normally have a minimum number of 9 holes and driving ranges a minimum of 5 bays.

Facility subtypes:

- Standard

- Par 3

- Driving Range

Facility Type: Ice Rinks

An artificially frozen body of water where people can ice skate or play winter sports. Includes all permanently constructed ice rinks. Where there are two rinks within one site, these will be entered as separate facilities. Does not include temporary ice rinks such as the one at Somerset House. 

There are no subtypes for this facility type. 

Facility Type: Ski Slopes

A slope for skiing; natural slopes may be seasonal. Does not include cross-country skiing tracks.

Facility subtypes:

- Outdoor Artificial

- Outdoor Natural

- Indoor

Facility Type: Studio

A purpose-built studio where classes are held for one or more activities such as yoga, aerobics, spinning, martial arts etc. Normally has a sprung floor, mirrors and air conditioning. 

Facility subtypes

- Fitness Studio

- Cycling Studio

Facility Type: Squash Courts

Purpose built court(s) designed for playing squash. A squash court is a rectangular box with four vertical walls of varying height, being the Front Wall, Side Walls and Back Wall. It has a level floor and a clear height above the court area. 

Facility subtypes:

- Glass-backed

- Normal

Facility Type: Outdoor Tennis Courts

Marked out for tennis, these should be a minimum of one full size court with safety margins and be fenced. May be floodlit. May be overmarked. 

There are no subtypes for this facility type. 

Facility Type: Cycling

Permanently constructed facilities to support cycling. Excludes facilities to support everyday cycling such as cycle lanes (including long distance cycleways), cycle parking etc.

Facility subtypes:

- Track - Indoor Velodrome

- Track - Outdoor Velodrome

- BMX - Race Track

- BMX - Pump Track

- Mountain Bike - Trails

- Cycle Speedway – Track

- Road - Closed Road Cycling Circuit

The facility refurbished flag (with associated date) are only set if significant improvements have been made to the facility to ensure it meets current standards. These improvements must represent a significant investment which improves the quality of the facility.  If there has only been general maintenance, repair of lighting, painting, cleaning etc, then the flag would be set to ‘No’. 

If there have been significant improvements to the changing rooms but not to the facility itself, then the facility refurbished flag would be set to ‘No’ and the Changing Room Facility Refurbished Flag would be set to ‘Yes’. Works to the changing room facility must represent a significant investment and improvement to meet current standards.

If the refurbishment covers both changing facilities and the sports facility, then both flags would be set to ‘Yes’ and the date specified.

The following examples detail what are considered significant improvements.

Fuller definitions can be found in the Sports Data Model

Changing Facilities

Examples of improvements:

- Retiling of changing facilities

- New shower systems, including boiler replacement

- Provision of changing facilities where they did not exist previously

Improvements does not include:

- General maintenance and repair such as cleaning, painting and repairs to lighting.

Athletic Tracks

Examples of improvements:

- Resurfacing of running track.

- Improvements of field sport areas, e.g. throwing circles, landing pits/areas, run up areas.

- Replacement of floodlights to meet current lighting standards for athletics tracks. Complete replacement of all existing lamps, or replacement with complete lighting columns.

- Improvements to drainage system.

Improvements does not include:

- General maintenance and repair of track, cleaning, line marking.

Health & Fitness

Examples of improvements:

- Installation of lighting and wiring to meet current standards.

- Provision of new equipment and exercise stations, but only where complete sections of machines are replaced, e.g. all treadmills.

- Replacement of structural elements of building, such as roof, walls and floor.

- Improvements to, or provision of new water treatment system.

- Major improvements to, or new provision of, reception/community/social areas.

Improvements does not include:

- General maintenance and repair of building, such as repairs to lifting floors, repairs to lighting, painting of walls, floor polishing, addition/replacement of single exercise stations.

Indoor Bowls

Examples of improvements:

- Resurfacing of green by replacement of carpet. 

- Replacement of structural elements of building, such as, roof, walls and floor.

- Replacement of mechanical and electrical plant, e.g. boilers or ventilation fans.

- Major improvements to, or new provision of, reception/community/social areas, to service the indoor bowls, to make the facility more welcoming for users.

Improvements does not include:

- General maintenance and repair of centre.  Repair of lighting.  Painting.

Indoor Tennis

Examples of improvements:

- Replacement of structural elements of building, such as roof, walls and floor. For air halls, replacement of fabric.

- Resurfacing of courts, e.g. replacement of carpet.

- Replacement of mechanical and electrical plant, e.g. boilers or ventilation fans.

- Installation of lighting and wiring to meet current standards

Improvements does not include:

- General maintenance and repair of courts.   Repair of lighting.  Painting.  Remarking of lines for courts.  Replacement of nets.

Outdoor Tennis

Examples of improvements:

- Resurfacing of court. This could include a change of surface type.

- Replacement of whole fencing structure, or addition of perimeter fencing.

Improvements does not include:

- General maintenance and repair of courts.  Repair of floodlights, replacement of damaged bulbs. Repairs to fencing. Remarking of lines for courts.  Replacement of nets.

Grass Pitches

Examples of improvements:

- Pitch drainage schemes.

- Pitch levelling schemes.

Improvements does not include:

- General maintenance and repairs to localised areas of the pitch, such as goal mouths, centre circle.  Grass cutting, post replacement/painting.  Reorientation of pitches.  Resting of pitches.

Sports Halls

Examples of improvements:

- Replacement of structural elements of building, such as roof, walls and floor.

- Installation of lighting and wiring to meet current standards.

- Provision of new equipment within hall to meet current standards recommended for individual sports, e.g. wall mounted basketball hoops.  Includes removal of original wall bars and other projections which could give rise to injury.

- New floor to halls, or improvement to existing, e.g. installation of shock absorbing flooring system.

- Major improvements to, or new provision of, reception/community/social areas, to service the sports hall, to make the facility more welcoming for users.

Improvements does not include:

- General maintenance and repair of building, such as repairs to lifting floors, repairs to lighting, painting of walls, floor polishing.   

Swimming Pools

Examples of improvements:

- Replacement of structural elements of building, such as roof, walls and floor.

- Replacement of mechanical and electrical plant, e.g. boilers.

- Improvements to, or provision of new water treatment system.

- Retiling of pool area.

- Installation of lighting and wiring to meet current standards.

- Replacement of pool side heating system.

- Major improvements to, or new provision of, reception/community/social areas, to service the pool. 

Improvements does not include:

- General maintenance and repair of pool, such as repairs to tiles and lighting, painting of walls, cleaning.  Changes to chlorine levels.

Artificial Grass Pitches (AGPs)

Examples of improvements:

- Resurfacing of pitch, e.g. replacement of carpet.

- Replacement of floodlights to meet current lighting standards for AGP.  Complete replacement of all existing lamps, or replacement with complete lighting columns.

- Replacement of whole fencing structure, or addition of perimeter fencing.

- Improvements to drainage system.

Improvements does not include:

- General maintenance and repair of pitch, such as sweeping of carpet, dressing carpet with additional sand.  Repair of floodlights, replacement of damaged bulbs. Repairs to fencing.  Remarking of lines for pitches.

Golf

Examples of improvements:

- Widespread reprofiling of greens.

- Widespread tee replacement.

- Installation or replacement of driving range floodlighting.

- Replacement of driving range shelters.

Improvements does not include:

- General maintenance and repair of the golf course.  Replacement of flags.  Repair of individual tees or greens.  Replacement of driving range mats.

Ice Rinks

Examples of improvements:

- Replacement of refrigeration units.

- Significant improvements to the reception and spectator areas.

Improvements does not include:

- General maintenance and repair of the ice rink, such as cleaning and re-icing.

Ski Slopes

Examples of improvements:

- Replacement of refrigeration units for snow domes.

- Installation or replacement of tow facilities.

- Re-matting of dry ski slope.

- Significant improvements to the ski hut/reception building.

Improvements does not include:

- General maintenance and repair of the slopes.

Studios

Examples of improvements:

- New floor to studios, or improvement to existing, e.g. installation of shock absorbing flooring system.

- Installation of lighting and wiring to meet current standards.

Improvements does not include:

- General maintenance and repair of the building, such as repairs to lighting, painting of walls, floor polishing.

Squash

Examples of improvements:

- Replacement of structural elements of building, such as roof, walls and floor.

- New floor to halls, or improvement to existing.

- Installation of lighting and wiring to meet current standards.

Improvements does not include:

- General maintenance and repair of the building, such as repairs to lighting, painting of walls, floor polishing.

Pool hoist attributes were moved from a site level descriptor to individual Swimming Pool facilities during December 2022. This change was implemented to allow a better understanding of accessibility at each pool.

Each pool facility now has the specific “Access to Pool Hoist”. This specific can be attributed as Yes, No, or Don’t Know.

This attribute captures whether the Swimming Pool has access to a hoist. This equipment may/may not be dedicated to an individual Swimming Pool, that is, the hoist may be moveable and shared between different pools at a site.  Alternatively, fixed hoists will be recorded against the specific individual pool.

By working with facility providers and National Governing Bodies, the Active Places team will seek to populate this new attribute as quickly as possible after go-live. However, information will also be gathered as part of ongoing data auditing by the Data Validation Team on the Active Places Data Platform. 

At go live, the following rules were used to populate the specific “Access to Pool Hoist”:

- Sites with multiple Swimming Pool facilities, “Access to Pool Hoist” is set to “Don’t Know”.

- Sites with a single Swimming Pool facility, “Access to Pool Hoist” is set to “Yes” if one or more hoists are recorded in the existing Site Equipment attribute. The values of “No” and “Don’t Know” are used for sites with zero hoists or no information, respectively.

During the initial update period, care should be taken in interrogating and interpreting Swimming Pool accessibility. Until all Swimming Pool facilities have been subject to their latest audit (as part of the continual rolling audit of Active Places data), this attribute will be a partial dataset within Active Places Power.

Detailed information on the gymnastic equipment used within Sports Halls (Main, Activity and Barn) and Fitness Studios will be collected from December 2022.

Gymnastic equipment was previously captured but as a site level descriptor. This change to include the equipment within the individual Sports Hall and Fitness Studio facility records, allows a better understanding of gymnastic use within these non-dedicated spaces..

Where a sports hall or studio is used for Gymnastics/Trampoline activities, the range of gymnastics equipment used is recorded in ‘Facility specifics’ (Yes/No). Equipment categories include:

Floor Matting: Floor matting 25-40mm in thickness and suitable for vertical or rolled storage.

Moveable Balance Apparatus: Includes benches, padded/timber planks, and low/floor beams.

Moveable Large Apparatus: Includes agility tables, vaulting boxes, and coaching blocks.

Moveable Rebound Apparatus: Includes springboards and trampettes.

Moveable Trampolines: Includes individual trampolines, synchronized trampolines, and double mini- trampolines.

Small Apparatus: Includes ribbons, scarves, bean bags, hoops, balls, quoits, and skipping ropes.

Swinging and Hanging Apparatus: Includes wall bars, mini apparatus (i.e. scaled down bars or rings), ladders or ropes.

The facility specifics capture whether a facility has access to an equipment type. This equipment may/may not be dedicated to the space. For example, equipment could be moved between the Activity Hall and Fitness studio at a site. In this example, the same equipment types could be recorded against each facility i.e. both have access to and use the equipment. Noting that only equipment used in the facility is recorded.

To reduce recording inaccuracies, the count of individual pieces of equipment is not recorded.  Rather, the facility specific records only whether the facility does (yes) or does not (no) have access to the specified equipment type.

Please note, at no point is the suitability of a space for use of a given equipment type assessed nor can it be implied.

By working with facility providers and National Governing Bodies, the Active Places Power team will seek to populate these new attributes as quickly as possible after go-live. However, information will also be gathered as part of ongoing data auditing by the Data Validation Team on the Active Places Data Platform. At release all gymnastic equipment specifics in non-dedicated spaces (Sports Halls and Fitness Studios) will be attributed as “Don’t Know”. As data is captured, the proportion of “Don’t Know” records in the database will decrease.

During this initial collection period, care needs to be taken in interrogating and interpreting information on gymnastic provision in non-dedicated spaces. Until all Sports Hall and Fitness Studio facilities have been subject to their latest audit (as part of the continual rolling audit of Active Places data), this attribute will be a partial dataset within Active Places Power. Updates are taking place through the existing Active Places Power annual audit cycle.

Please note information on dedicated gymnastics spaces is currently being collected and will be added as a new facility type. This will be released into Active Places Power once a complete dataset has been achieved.

Information on spectator accommodation will be collected for the Athletic and Swimming Pool facility types from January 2022. This facility specific was identified as important in supporting the Swimming and Athletics National Governing Bodies and hence they were prioritised for an initial release. Where appropriate, these attributes may be added to additional facility types in the future.

By working with facility providers and National Governing Bodies, the Active Places Power team will seek to populate this new attribute as quickly as possible after go-live. However, information will also be gathered as part of ongoing data auditing.

A flag, “Spectator Accommodation Checked”, has been added to indicate whether the spectator accommodation attributes for the facility type have been collected and checked.

This flag indicates solely whether the spectator accommodation attributes for a facility have been collected and checked. It does not imply any assessment of the spectator accommodation against a specified standard or certification. The absence of spectator accommodation information does not invalidate the remainder of a facilities record, it indicates only that the spectator accommodation attributes have been added following the most recent update to / audit of information held for that site.

Care of interpretation is required when interrogating and interpreting information on seating and/or designated accessible provision. Until all Athletic and Swimming Pool facilities have been subject to their latest audit (as part of the continual rolling audit of Active Places data), this attribute will be a partial dataset within Active Places Power. Until this time the “Spectator Accommodation Checked” flag should be used/considered carefully in all reporting. A seating type specified as zero may indicate zero seats or that the information is not yet available within Active Places for the facility (as indicated by a value of “no” against the corresponding “Spectator Accommodation Checked” flag).

 Spectator accommodation attributes vary according to whether a facility is indoor or outdoor.

Outdoor facilities

Spectator accommodation attributes:

- Spectator Accommodation Checked

- Total Capacity

- Seating – Covered; Uncovered

- Standing – Covered; Uncovered

- Designated Accessible Provision – Covered; Uncovered

- Shared Flag

Facilities and facility subtypes for which these attributes will be collected:

- Swimming Pool: Lido (Subtype ID: 7005)

- Athletics: Standard Oval Outdoor (Subtype ID: 1004)

- Athletics: Mini Outdoor (Subtype ID: 1005)

- Athletics: Compact Outdoor (Subtype ID: 1006)

- Athletics: Standalone Field (Subtype ID: 1007)

Indoor facilities

- Spectator accommodation attributes:

- Spectator Accommodation Checked

- Total Capacity

- Seating

- Standing 

- Designated Accessible Provision

- Shared Flag

Facilities and facility subtypes for which these attributes will be collected:

- Swimming Pool: Main/General (Subtype ID: 7001)

- Swimming Pool: Leisure Pool (Subtype ID: 7002)

- Swimming Pool: Learner/Teaching/Training (Subtype ID: 7003)

- Swimming Pool: Diving (Subtype ID: 7004)

- Athletics: Standard Oval Indoor (Subtype ID: 1008)

- Athletics: Indoor Training (Subtype ID: 1009)

Full definitions for each of the spectator accommodation attributes are included within the Sports Data Model.

In December 2022, the following changes were made to the specifics previously recorded as site equipment:

Gymnastic Equipment

The recording of gymnastic equipment against a site was removed. To allow for more accurate recording, reporting and analysis, gymnastic equipment is now recorded as a facility specific in non-dedicated spaces (see FAQ).

Pool Hoist

The recording of pool hoists (count) against a site was removed. To allow for more accurate recording, reporting and analysis, pool hoist information is now recorded as a facility specific.

All Swimming Pool facilities include the specific “Access to Pool Hoist” (see FAQ)

Table Tennis Tables and Cricket Bowling Machines

The site equipment types of Table Tennis Tables and Cricket Bowling Machines were updated to:

- “Has Cricket Bowling Machine(s)?”

- “Has Table Tennis Table(s)?”

These attributes will be recorded as Yes, No or Don’t Know.

Table Tennis Tables and Cricket Bowling Machines continue to be recorded at the site level. However, the number of Table Tennis Tables and Cricket Bowling Machines will no longer be recorded. This decision was taken to ensure accuracy and consistency in the reporting of these specifics.

If, at implementing this change, the count of bowling machines or Table Tennis Tables at a site was one or greater, then the attribute has been set to Yes. A count of zero was set to No.

The artificial grass pitch (AGPs) sub-type of "Rubber crumb pile (3G)" changed to "Long Pile Carpet” in July 2020 to allow the capture of different infill types. 

The fill surface type options are: "None" (Id 0), "Yes - Rubber" (Id 1), "Yes - Other organic" (Id 2), or "Yes - Not known" (Id 3).  For more information see the https://www.activeplacespower.com/sdm. 

It is firmly our desire to enable users to take offline the analysis and reporting outputs generated within active places power.  Every table, chart and map within the website can be exported.  Tables to Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Word.  Charts to PNG and JPEG image formats.   Maps to PNG, JPEG and PDF formats.  

Note, report result lists are not considered tables and therefore cannot be exported to Excel or Word.  These lists can be exported in csv format, via the Table Tab and report download button, which can then be opened within a number of different software packages including Excel.

To export tables and charts simply move the mouse cursor over the table or chart to display the export format options in the top right corner.  Click on the desired format to commence an export.  A download will be available through the browser’s download function; this will vary depending upon the browser used.  Note only the chart or table will be exported.  No other text (i.e. heading or supporting information) will be included.  

To export maps use the "Print Tools" menu list located above the map window.  Choose whether to include the legend and click on the desired format to commence an export.  A download will be available through the browser’s download function; this will vary depending upon the browser used.  

When building a report there are a number of parameters that can be set.  The report queries are constructed using a combination of operator functions.

The AND operator displays a record if both the first condition AND the second condition are true.  The AND operator is used when values are set between different options.  For example:

 I want a list of:

•  - Area of Interest = National (AND)
•  - Facility Type = AGP (AND)
•  - Facility Sub Type = 3G Rubber Crumb (AND)
•  - Pitch Count => 2 (AND)
•  - Small AGP Flag ticked

This would generate a report output of only small sided 3G APGs facilities with more than 2 pitches located in England.

The OR operator displays a record if either the first condition OR the second condition is true.  The OR operator is used when multiple values within a single option.  For example:

 I want a list of:

•  - Area of Interest = Kent (AND)
•  - Facility Type = Grass Pitches (AND)
•  - Ownership = Local Authority (OR) Education (OR) Sports Club

This would generate a report output of Grass Pitches in Kent that are either owned by the Local Authority sector or the Education sector or Sports Clubs.

It should be noted that no results may be generated if certain options are used e.g. for GOLF.  Unlike most facility types Golf has sub types that do not share the same attributes (i.e. Driving ranges do not have the same attributes as par 3 or standard courses).  For example:

 I want a list of:

•  - Area of Interest = National (AND)
•  - Golf (AND)
•  - Bays = >4 (AND)
•  - Holes = >4

 This would generate a report output of no results as no single facility has both Bay and Hole attributes. 

In broad terms calculations are based upon the smallest unit definable for a facility type.  For example, the total number of Grass Pitches at a site will be based upon the number of individual pitches for all Grass Pitch sub types (of which 20 sub types currently exist ranging from Adult Football to Rounders).  Should a site have four Adult Football pitches, two Junior Football pitches and three Rounder pitches a total count of nine pitches would be calculated. 

The method for calculating counts by the number of units applies to small Artificial Grass Pitches (AGPs), Grass Pitches, Squash Courts and Tennis Courts.  Note 'full size' AGPs will only have a pitch count of 1.  See separate FAQ for more details.

All other facility counts are based upon the number of facility sub types rather than unit value.   For example, the total count of Swimming Pools at a site will be based upon the number of individual facility sub types only (of which there are five).  Should a site have one Main/General Pool, one Diving Pit and one Learner pool a total of three facilities would be calculated. 

 *Please note that between the re-launch of Active Places Power in November 2012 and a fix release in June 2013 Artificial Grass Pitches (AGPs), Grass Pitches, Squash Courts and Tennis Courts were incorrectly calculated as a count of facility type rather than a count of units.  The result being that counts for these facilities types were significantly less than normally reported by Sport England.*

The Playing Pitch Calculator can help local authorities with estimating the likely demand that may be generated for the use of playing pitches by a new population. It has been developed to assist local authorities with assessing the needs for playing pitches when developing and/or implementing a playing pitch strategy (PPS).

For more information see http://www.sportengland.org/facilities-and-planning/planning-for-sport/planning-tools-and-guidance/playing-pitch-calculator/. 

If you work for a local authority which has an up to date PPS in place or are in the process of developing one, then to access the PPC firstly register with the Active Places Power (APP) website (if you are not already registered) then email planningforsport@sportengland.org to request access. Once access is enabled the PPC will be added to your list of available reports on APP.

The “Compare Area of Interest” is an optional parameter that can be defined for the following reports:

- Detailed Report – Facilities

- Summary Report – Facilities

The “Compare Area of Interest” enables up to 15 comparator AOIs to be selected.  To facilitate the selection of AOIs they have been grouped according to the following relationships:

 - Hierarchical Relationship - The hierarchical neighbour AOIs available for selection will be those administrative authorities in ascending hierarchy from the initial AOI selected. For example: Active Partnerships, County, Region and National for a selected Local Authority.

-  Geographical Relationship  - The AOIs whose geographic boundaries adjoin that of the selected AOI. 

-  Core Cities - England’s eight largest city economies outside London.

-  Full listing - All AOIs as listed within the default AOI list enabling the user to choose their own unique combination of comparison AOIs; Region, County, Active Partnerships and Local Authority AOIs.

(Note CIPFA relationships were removed (August 2019) due to Sport England not maintaining a subscription to the data.)

Active Places Power uses one of Esri’s Network Analyst routing solvers to provide dynamic Origin to Destination (OD) routing analysis. This is achieved via the ArcGIS Server Network Analyst extension geo-processing web service. The solver type used in the Access Analysis is the OD Matrix Analysis. It performs the cost of travel in time or distance from multiple origins to multiple destinations. 

Two separate network datasets (driving model or walkingmodel) are used to compute the routing from multiple Output Area Centroids to multiple Facilities given a set of conditions. For the Drive option Ordnance Survey's Highways Network - Roads data is used whereas for the Walk option, OS Highways Network - Road is combined with the OS Highways Network - Path data. 

In the walking option motorways are avoided and all traversable roads are assigned a speed of 3 MPH. In the driving option the OS Highways road speed limits have not been used. Instead the entire OS Highways dataset has been assigned articulated speed limits determined through Sport England's Facility Planning Model (FPM). This includes for example junction delay factor of 10% (of the total Drive Time) and an additional 90 Secs (1.5 Mins) to factor in parking delays at start and end of each journey. This ensures a consistent calculation of drive times used within both Active Places Power and the Facility Planning Model.

With the Network Analyst OD Matrix solver, you can create an origin-destination travel time/distance cost matrix from multiple origins to multiple destinations. An OD cost matrix result contains the network impedance from each origin to each destination in accordance to specified cut-off criteria. 

The best network path is discovered for each origin-destination pair, and the cost (travel time or distance) is stored in the attribute table of the output lines. Even though the map shows straight lines from origins to destinations for performance reasons, the attributes of the lines store the actual traversed network route cost, not the straight-line cost. 

The user journey involves selecting an Area of Interest from the available list. The user can then choose to show population data and subsequently set the travel parameters. Parameters include choice of driving or walking and whether time or distance it to be used as a cut-off parameter. The system then submits this information to the ArcGIS Server Network Analyst solver to compute. When the process is completed the user gets notification to view the result. 

The resulting map shows the lines of connection between the origin, which are Output Area Population Weighted Centroids and the destination Facility that were reachable given the cut-off parameters. Output Area Population Weighted Centroids that were unable to reach a Facility due to the cut-off parameters are shown as red dots. 

The OD Matric calculation is an intensive process and thus the larger the Area of Interest, the more time it takes to compute the results. 

The below table defines the “operators” used to create basic calculations within the Active Places Power reports.

For example to create a detailed report of Sports Halls of the equivalent size to 5 or more badminton courts set Badminton Courts >= 5.

The Active Places Power interactive map includes a "Map Identify" tool (blue circle with "i") that returns information for a given location on the map.  To use the tool click on the Map Identify icon, which will change the mouse marker to include a question mark and display a tool tip.

Click anywhere on the map to return information.  A set of location information will be returned by default (see table below).  Other map layers must be set to display (within the left side Map Layers section) in order for the tool to return information on them.  The tool will automatically drill down through all map layers displayed on the map in addition to the default information. 

If multiple results are returned for a given data layer (i.e. Census Output Areas) zoom in to a larger scale and repeat the Map Identify action.  This will return a more specific set of results.