Finsbury Park Athletics Track- Consultation Results 2012

Apologies if this was flagged earlier on HoL, but thought it worthwhile to keep up interest in  future prospects for the track, and momentum for the Olympic Legacy for Harringay.

Save Finsbury Park Track, reported by London Heathside.

http://www.londonheathside.org.uk/fpconsultation.htm?page=5

Club Background:

London Heathside was formed in the year 2000 from the merger of North London AC and Muswell Hill Runners. 

London Heathside as a club is very committed to seeing the changes proposed by Haringey implemented. The club has embarked upon an exciting partnership with a number of other sports clubs in a bid to save the track from closure. The formal decision to follow this course of action was taken at an Extraordinary General Meeting on 12th March 2012. Closure of the track is a very real possibility in the light of savings being implemented by Haringey council.

The full commitment of all club members is essential in the longer term in support of the changes that will be needed. Obviously the track is very important to the club, in terms of a training base and for developing club membership, but it is also, in the context of athletics and efforts to improve the levels of healthy activity in Haringey,  important to the borough and more broadly to Hackney and Islington and to athletics in Greater London, particularly in this, London's Olympic Year.

For full PDF Consultation result, visit: 

http://www.haringey.gov.uk/finsbury_park_consultation_results_report.pdf

Finsbury Park Consultation Report: P1 (only)

Proposed changes to track, gym and tennis facilities and 

extended opening hours 

The aim of the consultation was to explore:  

Public opinion on the principle of developing sports facilities within the park; 

and extending the opening hours to 10.00pm all year round (instead of the 

current closure at dusk).  

The Finsbury Park Track & Gym currently closes at 9.30pm on two nights a week, to 

accommodate the current sports programme. Extending the opening hours of the 

park, would enable a new operator to operate the track & gym facility and the tennis 

courts in a manner which is financially viable. 

Flowing from a change to the Management Plan a new operator would then be able to 

apply for capital funding and Planning Permission to carry out improvements to the 

sports facilities in the park (and other related improvements): 

_ refurbishment of the track and gym facilities  

_ installation of floodlights on the tennis courts 

_ building a small pavilion to accommodate tennis

_ introducing carriageway lighting in key areas  

 Purpose 

 The Council is seeking to ensure the continued provision of sports and leisure 

services in a challenging economic climate.  In order to do this it must explore 

different ways of providing the service, including transferring assets to the voluntary 

sector and supporting them to develop new and better facilities. In this way residents 

could continue to enjoy access to facilities. 

England Athletics recognises that Finsbury Park Track & Gym is an important facility, 

particularly for athletics, within Haringey and for a number of neighbouring boroughs 

where no tracks are available. However the track and gym facilities require substantial 

investment to continue to remain open.  

Cabinet took the decision in February 2011 to lease out the facility and work with 

other organisations to secure external investment. 

The Council believes that the tennis courts should be included in the facilities to be 

leased as this would significantly improve the overall potential for the facilities to be 

operated in a financially sustainable manner.  We proposed extending opening hours to

better cater for how local people will want to use the facilities and to 

create financial sustainability.  This is particularly important as athletics facilities can 

be expensive to operate and do not generate sufficient income to meet operating 

costs. 

From work undertaken to date, the Council believes that the proposed changes could 

provide an attractive and sustainable operation. 

Who was consulted 

 We consulted local residents, park users, organised sport clubs/groups, young 

people, Friends of Finsbury Park, Council Departments, local businesses, 

Neighbouring boroughs Hackney & Islington, stakeholders, Housing Organisations, 

Schools and Area Forums,  

Methodology 

The aim of the consultation was to gauge public opinion about the proposed changes.   

We consulted people using online and paper questionnaires, websites, emails, 

newspapers, area forum meetings, interviews and online forums. 

Our open days at Finsbury Park included additional images of other sites shown as 

examples. 

Consultation Sample:

A total of 404 responses were received via the online & paper questionnaire with the 

following demographic breakdown; 

 101 responded via the paper version questionnaire 

 303 responded using the online questionnaire 

Gender: 

- 250 (61.9%) Male,  

- 145 (35.9%) Female,  

- 9 (2.2%) No reply 

Residence:    

- 157 (38.9%) Haringey,  

- 83 (20.5%) Islington,  

- 49 (12.1%) Hackney, 

- 91 (22.5%) Another borough,  

- 24 (5.9%) No reply       

User type: 

- 199 (49.3%) A member of a sports club based at Finsbury Park 

- 97 (24%) A casual sports participant at the park (jogger, basketball, tennis etc.)  

- 5 (1.2%)  A visitor to a cultural event/activity 

- 45 (11.1%) Other 

- 3 (0.7%) No reply