Planning policy for the protection of playing fields

Summary Concerns about the loss of playing fields to built development resulted in the Scottish Office introducing new planning controls in 1997. This followed the publication of National Planning Policy Guideline 11 (NPPG 11) Sport, Physical Recreation and Open Space which highlighted this issue and made sportscotland a statutory consultee on all planning applications for development affecting playing fields. Despite these guidelines, development pressures on playing fields have not abated. This paper reviews our experience as a consultee and sets out a policy which sportscotland has adopted for the protection and improvement of playing fields.