Lucy Abell

As we start the new season, football today is a vast and lucrative business, generating millions of pounds and sticking its fingers in the pies of merchandising, sponsorships, technologies and more. But at its core, even the behemoths of the premiership are based on a simple and traditional act – fans going to a football ground to watch a match. The fact that the planning and design of stadiums – racing out of town to join ‘leisure complexes’, conferencing developments and shopping centres – is making this hard work is symptomatic of the blinkered thinking that can often scupper efforts to build truly sustainable towns.
The football stadium as part of the community has been a staple for many (often working class) towns for decades. The image of people sociably walking to the game has been painted by Lowry, captured in countless films and indelibly imprinted in the memories of generations. But now, in places as far afield as Shrewsbury, Bolton and Reading, walking links to these major leisure amenities are being given short shrift. The worry is that this is a reflection of a planning process that simply does not recognise walking as a significant enough transport mode.
The problem is not specific to football, of course. Pedestrians will have a job getting to the newly developed Rose Bowl cricket ground – formerly in Southampton and now most definitely on its outskirts. Living Streets also has concerns that in the excited rush to get the Olympic site in Stratford developed, a lack of proper consideration to pedestrian access will leave a series of missed opportunities for local residents for generations to come. There is something particularly obtuse about sporting venues that actively discourage the use of active travel to get there.
At Living Streets, we think planners are absolutely vital to the development of truly sustainable communities. As much as focus has been rightly given on the impact of out of town supermarkets and shopping facilities, so it should be given to out of town leisure facilities. By moving sporting facilities out of walking reach, we are disenfranchising a significant part of the community – those without cars – from participating. By encouraging reliance on driving to get there, the planning process has automatically flown in the face of the recognised need to cut congestion, cut emissions, and increase activity.
Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium, still within its urban heartland, with good transport links and a well thought through travel plan catering for pedestrians, shows that it can be done successfully. But other clubs all too quickly plump for an out of town option when their current facilities start feeling the strain.
We know it’s a complicated process and a complicated matter, but contrast out of town Bolton with in town Fulham, or out of town Chester with in town Blackburn, and you can see the benefits for the local economy and community that are brought when the stadiums stay local. As the photos of scores of disgruntled fans precariously weaving their way along the grass verge of a busy main road back into town, after a recent Shrewsbury Town match (available to see on their fans’ message board) show, people who love their football will still try to walk to the match. But the question should be – why is it increasingly becoming such a trial?

Lucy Abell is press and parliamentary officer at Living Streets