This will be particularly so where these are likely to encourage visitor spending in the Borough, support economic development and widen the choice and opportunities for Tameside residents.

Leisure and tourism continue to be one of the country's growth industries and a major contributor to the local economy in many parts of the country. However, the Borough has not shared in the type of larger scale leisure and entertainment projects which are under way or proposed in some other parts of Greater Manchester and the North West, and has seen relatively little in the way of hotel development.

This overall policy is intended to make it clear that in general the development of recreation, leisure and tourism facilities and services is welcomed in Tameside. However, conflicts can sometimes arise with other worthwhile objectives, such as those relating to the countryside, and the policy therefore points to the main factors which will influence the degree of acceptability of any particular proposal. Most forms of leisure development should benefit residents by increasing the choice of recreational activities whilst at the same time creating jobs for local people, broadening the employment base and bringing spending into the Borough. Whilst sites in various parts of Tameside should be suitable, including in most cases those zoned or allocated for employment use, concentration of leisure developments in or adjacent to town centres would in addition consolidate the role of the centres, help to promote urban regeneration and ensure accessibility of the facilities not just to car users but to all sections of the community.

Whilst recognising that a range of locations will be acceptable, the Council would particularly encourage and support the location of built leisure and entertainment developments in or adjacent to town centres.

Facilities and amenities which cannot be saved as part of a development should be replaced or relocated.

The Council wishes to encourage hotel development in suitable parts of the Borough, in order to accommodate more of the area's existing visitors locally and to attract them in greater numbers if possible. Further hotel development should help to capitalise on the benefits, such as increased spending and job creation, that additional visitors could bring to the area, and contribute both directly and indirectly to local economic growth and enhancement of Tameside's external image. Although hotel building has been affected by the recession, certain major proposals in or adjoining Tameside should improve the climate for development later in the plan period, notably the completion of the M66 Manchester Outer Ring Road and the upgrading of the Woodhead road route from South Yorkshire. The proximity to both the Peak District scenery and Manchester city centre should also be favourable factors. Several sites are already identified as having potential for hotel use and these are the subject of proposals in Part 2 of the Plan. In general, sites close to the proposed M66, the M67, the town centres of Ashton and Hyde, and the eastern fringes of the Borough may be particularly appropriate, whilst other employment and residential areas will also often be suitable. 

(a) The proposal being in sympathy with the character of the local landscape, particularly in the river valleys, and

(b) The proposal being compatible with the conservation of areas of wildlife or natural history value, and

(c) Suitable arrangements for protection of public access, and

(d) Suitable arrangements for management of retained and new landscape elements, and

(e) Protection of the best and most versatile agricultural land.

An improved provision of golf facilities should make this sport, which is popular but often unable to meet demand, available to more Tameside residents and perhaps contribute indirectly to economic growth by improving the image and appeal of the Borough. Golf courses could also provide a suitable way of maintaining open countryside where this is of increasingly marginal value for agriculture, although there may well be a number of other important factors to take into account if landscape, wildlife and access value is not to be sacrificed. It should be appreciated that this general support for golf course development does not imply any weakening of established policy on control of built development in the Green Belt. Whilst a golf clubhouse could be regarded as a reasonable exception, further associated development such as a hotel must be subject to the same criteria as it would in any Green Belt location.

A golf driving range would be regarded as "golf practice facilities" for the purposes of this policy, although consideration might additionally need to be given to such issues as the effects of floodlighting and fencing. The criteria listed in this policy would have some flexibility in their application for example scope may exist in certain circumstances to retain public access by an acceptable diversion of a public footpath, or to upgrade the habitat value of nearby areas in compensation for those which might be endangered within parts of a golf course or golf driving range.

(a) Be subject to the primary operational needs of maintaining water supply, and

(b) Be consistent with water quality and nature conservation requirements, and

(c) Be consistent with the amenity and informal recreational value of the reservoir, and

(d) Not cause undue disturbance to adjoining residents and other land users nearby, and

(e) Ensure that appropriate access and car parking arrangements can be incorporated.

Those features and areas which are identified as attractive or potentially attractive to tourists will be protected and enhanced.

The Council wishes to further the undeveloped areas of tourism in the Borough, in the context of the Regional Strategy of the North West Tourist Board (which seeks to guide tourism development over a five year period) and as part of a county-wide portfolio of attractions. It is equally important that the existing tourism base be protected, so that as the tourism strategy progresses it can build on that base and guide future development. The benefits are similar to those described in the justification to the hotel policy L4, i.e. increased local spending, job creation, and economic growth and diversification. The Council's own tourism strategy has identified five growth areas which offer potential for Tameside, these being business tourism, visiting friends and relatives, day trips, short holidays and overseas tourism. 

(a) The interpretation and exhibition of the Borough's heritage, along with associated urban form and socio-political history.

(b) Conference and exhibition facilities.

(c) Cultural and entertainment facilities in the main town centres.

(d) Sports and recreational facilities both for participants and spectators.

(e) Countryside leisure facilities, including information, education and interpretation.

The attractiveness of the canals to residents and visitors will continue to be enhanced.

The Ashton-under-Lyne and Lower Peak Forest Canals were reopened for navigation some years ago and form part of the Cheshire Ring canal system, which is developing into an increasingly popular cruising waterway connected to the national network. The Huddersfield Narrow Canal is undergoing restoration and when complete will link into the Cheshire Ring at Portland Basin in Ashton, an important node on the network which is already the venue of a popular annual festival, and across the Pennines to the Yorkshire waterways. Several elements of the restoration scheme in Stalybridge are included as specific proposals in Part 2 of the Plan. The Hollinwood Branch Canal is abandoned for navigation but its remains provide an attractive footpath route and the centre-piece of a country park. Sections of this and most of the Huddersfield Narrow Canal are designated as Sites of Special Scientific Importance.

In terms of new development in canalside locations, there may be a need for off-line basins in order to avoid the problem of linear moorings causing congestion. New water space can typically be most viable in conjunction with other waterside opportunities including hotels, public houses, restaurants, facilities for fishing, cycling and walking, and visitor centres. 

(a) Restore the Huddersfield Narrow Canal to through navigation, including the use by boats of the River Tame through Stalybridge along with provision of a river / canalside path where practical, and to overcome obstructions at other points along the original line of the canal.

(b) Improve and enhance public access and signposting to/from the canalside, including car parking where appropriate, and to link the canals to other areas or points of interest.

(c) Conserve and enhance canalside buildings of historic or architectural merit.

(d) Conserve and enhance areas of nature conservation interest, particularly the stretch of the Ashton and the Huddersfield Narrow Canals from Portland Basin to Lock 16 in Mossley, which is designated as an S.S.S.I.

(e) Ensure that new development in the vicinity of the canals enhances the environment of the waterway and where appropriate contributes positively to restoration, use and maintenance.

(f) Maintain and enhance the canal towpaths and promote their use as part of a recreational access network.

(g) Promote or support waterside development schemes which will improve the setting of the canal and the provision of facilities which enhance the appeal of the canalside, both to Tameside residents and to canal users, as an area for leisure pursuits, especially where vacant or under-used sites adjoin the canals.

(i) Promote or support the provision of one or more mixed residential boat, recreational and repair sites on the canal network.

(j) Promote or support the provision of other suitable areas for boat moorings and related facilities and for boating activities, including the provision of canalside mooring rings and off-line mooring facilities, in particular where demand may be generated by canalside development.

Existing local facilities will be improved where necessary and additional provision will be sought in areas of deficiency.

An extensive survey of existing public open space and playing fields in Tameside has been undertaken, so as to establish an information base for the operation of this policy. Most of the land identified is zoned as urban green space on the Proposals Map, with some sites also having specific Part 2 proposals for upgrading or additional landscaping. Analysis has been carried out under the categories of (1) children's playgrounds and informal playspace, (2) sports pitches, courts and greens, and (3) informal public open space and park land, which serve different although sometimes overlapping needs.

The guidelines to be employed by the Council in broadly assessing the adequacy of local recreational land and sports pitch provision in any particular area of the Borough for the purposes of this policy are:

(a) Children's playgrounds and informal playspaces - 0.6 hectares per 1000 population.

(b) Sports pitches - 1.6 hectares per 1000 population for the Borough as a whole (all playable area, public and private) inclusive of 1.0 hectare per 1000 in each district.  (Sports pitches in the ownership of the education authority or other education establishments will be counted as a part of the provision if, as a matter of policy and practice, they are available for public use on a regular and sustained basis.)

(c) Informal public open space and park land - 1.0 hectare per 1000 population.

These guidelines are based on the widely recognised National Playing Fields Association standards, but have been considered in the light of the previous local standards established in the Borough in 1975. Matched against these targets, the overall amount of open space in Tameside is adequate, but there are various deficiencies at district and local level, generally poor provision of playgrounds and specifically designed children's playspace, and substantial under provision of playing fields. 

Exceptions may be permitted in connection with land used for recreation or sports purposes:

(a) Where such facilities are over-provided and under-used, or

(b) Where equivalent or enhanced facilities can be provided on other suitable replacement sites, or

(c) Where an existing facility is under-used and can be rationalised and improved by virtue of development of a small part of the land, or

(d) Where it can be demonstrated that there is no demand for the re-use of vacant or redundant facilities.

In areas which are identified as deficient in local recreational land, or where a recognised Borough-wide deficiency in a particular type of sports activity could be rectified, the Council will, where possible, provide additional land for local recreational use. Where appropriate, the Council will negotiate with developers of land in the area to try to secure new provision to meet local recreational needs, where such requirements directly relate to, or are reasonable in location, scale and kind to a development.

New or improved provision for children's play will be sought in areas of the Borough where a deficiency is identified and also where extensive areas of new housing are to be built.

Whilst the amount of informal playspace is more than adequate in most parts of Tameside, considerations of its accessibility to neighbourhoods reveal a number of local deficiencies. In addition, many playgrounds have suffered from vandalism and some now have little or no equipment in place. With inadequate resources to bring all of them up to standard, the Council is currently removing potentially dangerous equipment from certain sites. However, over a longer period it is hoped to improve a number of the existing sites and to tackle the most serious deficiencies, whilst at the same time seeking greater involvement of the local community, which should help to reduce vandalism. It is reasonable that new housing development schemes which generate additional demand should provide or contribute to play area provision, although whether this should contain equipment or be informal in design should be subject to negotiation in the light of particular local circumstances.

Traditional town parks which originated in the late 19th or early 20th Century often have a distinctive character which is worthy of protection. The most important of these is Stamford Park, the first part of which was opened in 1873 and which has an interesting history of donation, public subscription and joint municipal control. Many of the park's attractive features have survived quite well to the present day, and its registration by English Heritage, along with only five others in Greater Manchester, as a park and garden of special interest, is recognition of its importance as part of the nation's heritage.

This will be achieved through improving areas of attraction or potential, providing open space by means of derelict land reclamation, promoting existing areas as an integrated network, and continuing the emphasis on the use and development for this purpose of Tameside's river valleys, country and town parks.

The ability to achieve this is obviously affected to a large extent by the remaining presence of open land, as well as by the resources which can be applied, and there are some extensively built up parts of the Borough with few surviving natural attractions. The policy therefore puts forward a range of measures which should be employed. Part 2 of the Plan contains a number of site specific proposals for new or improved areas for informal recreation. However, the best means of extending overall availability lies in the continued development of Tameside's river valleys and canal networks linked by greenways, which penetrate deep into urban areas and residential suburbs and offer connecting routes to other facilities, and by promoting existing and new areas as an integrated network.

As part of the efforts to extend the availability of informal recreation facilities, the Council will also encourage and support the provision of attractive and convenient public transport access to areas of recreational interest, particularly river valleys and country parks. This should enable more people to take advantage of the facilities Tameside has to offer, in particular those local residents who might otherwise be disadvantaged, but also visitors from outside the Borough, and help to reduce the parking congestion which can sometimes occur at popular attractions.

The ability in practice to influence the provision of public transport in any particular area is limited under the present system, with the Council having no direct control over bus services. It is however in a position to lobby the Passenger Transport Executive to subsidise improved services or alternative routes, and where public transport access is impeded by physical factors it may sometimes be possible for the Council to carry out highway improvements, depending on the scale of the problem.

This will incorporate new and existing public footpaths, concessionaire routes, bridleways, cycleways, canal towpaths, river valley paths and disused railway lines, making use of greenways wherever possible. The provision within the Borough of sections of proposed long distance recreational routes will be supported.

The intention to establish the "Tameside Recreational Access Network", as part of a rights of way strategy for the Borough, follows the carrying out of field survey work to determine the condition and availability of many existing paths, and the practical possibilities of creating desirable new links. The network will incorporate all types of paths, serving several functions where appropriate and utilising roads where unavoidable, and will set out to link features of both urban and countryside interest, through attractive, green surroundings wherever possible.

A number of specific routes criss-crossing the Borough will be identified, along with a round-Tameside route joined to these and taking in much of the varied countryside on the periphery of the built up area. Not all the routes will be achievable at once, and financial resources will be a major determinant of progress. In some instances it will be necessary to secure sections of the network within future development schemes. Whilst the prime purpose of the network will be recreational, with the additional benefit of improving access to and use of other recreation and leisure facilities, it is hoped that use for other journey purposes will also be encouraged.

It is inevitable that many of the routes involved will cross private land, which may be in use for farming or other purposes, although often on an existing right of way. It is important therefore that the network should be promoted and developed through negotiation with the owners and occupiers of this land, and that efforts should be made in the process to, as far as possible, reconcile or lessen conflicting interests (which may already exist to some extent).

(a) The Pennine Bridleway, currently being promoted as a future National Trail by the Countryside Commission.

(b) The Trans Pennine Trail, where the Council will press, along with other Local Authorities on the route, for National Trail and Euroroute E8 Status.

Links will be promoted into these routes and to the Pennine Way from the local network referred to in Policy L17.

The Pennine Bridleway is proposed to run for 270 miles north-south from near Matlock in Derbyshire to Hexham in Northumberland, and will be the first long distance route designed with the horse rider and mountain biker in mind. However, it should also be of benefit to walkers and help to relieve some of the pressure on the Pennine Way. Within Tameside the proposed route uses lanes and tracks on the moorland slopes to the east of Mossley, Stalybridge and Hollingworth Hall. Implementation will be undertaken by the Countryside Commission. The Trans Pennine Trail will run east-west from Liverpool to York and Hull, and is being promoted as a footpath, bridleway and cycleway by all the 31 local authorities along the route. Although supported by the Countryside Commission, it does not yet have national trail status and the local authorities will be responsible for implementation. The proposed route runs through the south of the Borough, from Reddish Vale to Broadbottom, using mostly existing tracks in the Tame and Etherow valleys linked by the former Godley - Apethorn railway line and a new path to the south of the active rail line at Hattersley. However, in the latter case the line of the route is not yet fixed and subject to negotiation. Implementation of these proposals in general will require negotiation and it is important that the established interests of owners and occupiers of land which is involved should be taken into account in the detailed planning of the routes.

They should be located either adjoining visitor centres, near the edge of the river valleys, on the fringe of major recreation areas or adjacent to main access routes into these areas.

Community buildings of these types are recognised as an important recreational and leisure asset to the residents of the Borough. The policy is aimed at maintaining a satisfactory level of easily accessible local provision, and where the need exists to ensuring that this aspect is addressed in new development proposals.