PlayZone consultation

Islington Council are bidding for funding through the Football Foundation PlayZone programme(External link) to refurbish a number of Multi-Use Games areas (MUGAs) in parks and council estates across the borough and a leisure centre.

This is an exciting project looking at renovating old MUGAs into PlayZone facilities. The Football Foundation aims to deliver 330 PlayZones nationally by 2025 by investing in communities with the greatest need, phased in over the next three years. The Islington PlayZones will provide access for residents to a variety of new activities that respond to community need.

PlayZones will be accessible to all communities. They will play an important role in helping to tackle inequalities in physical activity and will also help create opportunities for those from ethnically diverse communities, people from lower socio-economic groups, women and girls, and those with underlying health conditions to access and connect to sports they enjoy.

What is a PlayZone?

A PlayZone aims to deliver a safe, inclusive, and welcoming space for all. It is an outdoor space that is usually the size of one or two tennis courts or a five-a-side kick around area, which can be used for a range of sports and activities such as basketball, cricket, football, netball, and tennis.

PlayZones are:

• floodlit to enable year-round use for the community
• delivered with high-quality surfacing such as 3G, polymeric; the surface type will depend on the activities chosen
• can have three types of use: free to use, session-led and programmable by the community
• provided with associated line markings and equipment for the activities chosen
• subject to regular maintenance to retain the quality of the playing surface
• provided with accessible information on how to use the PlayZone site
• designed and operated based on feedback from the community

PlayZones come in all shapes and sizes and are developed in line with their future use, here are two examples:

Where are the proposed Islington PlayZone sites?

There are 12 potential PlayZone sites

• Caledonian Park(External link), Holloway ward
• Finsbury estate(External link), Clerkenwell ward
• Graham Street Park(External link), St Peter’s and Canalside ward
• Highbury Quadrant estate(External link), Highbury ward
• Kerridge Court estate(External link), Mildmay ward
• Mayville Red Pitch(External link), Mildmay ward
• Morton Road Park(External link), Canonbury ward
• New Orleans estate(External link), Hillrise ward
• Peregrine House(External link), St Peter’s and Canalside ward
• Sobell leisure centre(External link), Finsbury Park ward
• Spa Fields(External link), Clerkenwell ward
• St Paul’s Shrubbery(External link), Mildmay ward
• Wray Crescent Open Space(External link), Tollington ward

Have your Say

Community engagement and consultation are essential as we progress with the PlayZones funding bid. This funding is not guaranteed; it is currently only an application. We need to show that the community want the site to be upgraded, to be granted the funding to do so.

We are keen to gather views on the development of the PlayZones and future usage by residents. We ask you to fill in the feedback survey below and provide as much detail as possible to help us know what else needs to be included in the project to make it work for you and your community.

How to share your feedback

Fill in the feedback survey. This is the formal way to give your feedback to a set of questions that the team working on this project will use to make decisions on next steps. The survey closes on 31 October 2023.

You can also visit us at one of our drop-in events to give your feedback or discuss any questions or queries that you may have on the proposed PlayZone areas. These events are listed in the ‘Upcoming events where we will be consulting on PlayZones’ widget found on this webpage.

All feedback will be collated and used to inform a full funding application to the Football Foundation in December 2023.