Southampton’s Outdoor Sports Centre

Southampton’s Outdoor Sports Centre first opened in 1938 with a far-sighted objective to “promote health to untold numbers and prove to be one of the outstanding assets of a town”.

After World War II broke out in September 1939, the Outdoor Sports Centre was used for military occupation and as a temporary base ahead of D-Day. During the war, the Outdoor Sports Centre was also the location of a great open-air service of prayer and intercession as well as providing a military store for food and vegetables. With the end of the War and Victory in Europe celebrations, it is said that ‘the Outdoor Sports Centre could justifiably claim to have affected, in a small way, the great military events of the Second World War.’

The 150-acre Outdoor Sports Centre is often described as a “green lung” in the West of the city and attracts a variety of sports clubs and recreational users ranging from dog walkers to informal joggers.

Since the Outdoor Sports Centre opened in 1938, a number of changes, improvements and modifications have been made. We recognised that there was considerable interest in establishing a future vision for the Outdoor Sports Centre by developing key areas for improvement to enhance its offer for both competitive sports and leisure users. Over recent years, a number of community engagement activities have taken place to inform a masterplan of improvements that have directed us to where we are now.

2013

In November 2013, a series of ten drop-in sessions were held at a range of community venues with the aim of engaging local people and sports clubs to identify what they liked and disliked about the Outdoor Sports Centre. This engagement provided valuable feedback where key themes and ideas came to light. This included:

• Development of Club Hub and Sports facilities to include: changing and toilet provision, meeting rooms, Café/refreshment provision, indoor sports provision
• Creation of Physical Activity Opportunities to include: Marked running/jogging route, cycling circuit, outdoor gym
• Infrastructure Improvements: increase and improve car park provision, improve lighting on access routes or footpaths within the site
• Open Space: develop the existing woodland walks, consider options for dog walking areas and other recreational activities

Following this, we developed a draft improvement plan which covered key topics including car parking, recreational activities, sports facilities, and the ski centre.

2015

In 2015, this improvement plan along with a proposed vision for the Outdoor Sports Centre went through a 12-week public consultation where local residents, sports clubs and organisations, Friends of Southampton Sports Centre (FOSSC) and a wider audience could review and comment on the proposals. With over 1,200 responses, 89% of respondents agreed with the suggested priority areas for improvement which were listed as: Development of Hub(s), Sports facilities, Creation of physical activity opportunities, Infrastructure improvement, with a large majority, who currently use the Outdoor Sports Centre once a month or less, stating that they would use the facility more if improvements were made.

2016

The next milestone in the project was the appointment of ‘Places for People’ in 2016 who carried out further work to take the project forward by refining the proposals in line with the consultation responses and developing a viable plan.

2017

In 2017, we expanded our feasibility work to include all elements of the scheme including a detailed evaluation of the football elements and a new ‘Club Hub’. This work generated a list of recommendations which were then incorporated into the improvement plan to form the masterplan of improvements.

2018

With the initial improvement plan developing into a masterplan for the whole site, we undertook a review in 2018 to identify whether there was a need for further public consultation. It was concluded that a final public consultation on the masterplan of improvements would be conducted to ensure the proposals satisfy public need and support.

The scheme has to go to cabinet for approval to implement the revised designs from those presented for public consultation in 2021, cabinet approval in 2022, and the planning application in 2023. The revised designs are due to the scheme going through an exercise to seek to ensure it remains within budget.

The scope of improvements at the Outdoor Sports Centre remains predominantly the same as the one presented in 2021.

The planning requirements are still being clarified and the nature of the application will be determined based on the finalised design and agreement with the Planning Officer prior to submission.

This could result in a planning consultation process; however, this has been agreed as only limited to the areas of the scheme that have been adjusted and not the full scheme which received planning consent in 2023.

The project team have carried out engagement with several stakeholders to discuss the changes to the scheme. Approved areas of the project that have not changed from the original planning application can be progressed.

The most significant changes include a size reduction to The Hub building and a reduction in the number of cover courts to two courts. There will also be changes to the Alpine Ski Lodge together with a relocation of the learner slope and changes to the building material and palette selection.  

The increased costs have originated from market fluctuations across the construction industry over the last 24 months. Costs have varied across trades and materials, primarily due to a lack of availability caused by global supply problems. There have also been additional items as part of the planning process which were not envisaged at the time of costing before submission.

There is still a need to move forward with the project at pace to benefit from the Football Foundation and the Levelling Up funding. The programme is still planned for main works to commence on site in summer/autumn this year. 

The Outdoor Sports Centre remains open for business for people to visit and enjoy. Whilst works are ongoing, the Sports Centre will be open as much as possible, allowing for people to still use certain facilities.

More information on the closure of specific facilities will be available at a later date.