Ashley Godfrey MBA, MRTPI, MILAM, MCIM

Ashley Godfrey has extensive experience in both planning and leisure management and has worked in and with the private, public and voluntary/community sectors in projects covering a wide range of competencies and delivering highly visible positive outcomes..

A recognised specialist in planning projects for sport and leisure, Ashley has completed PPG17 open space, sport and recreation assessments for many authorities, including Medway Council, London Borough of Harrow, Mid Beds District Council, Erewash Borough Council, Monmouthshire County Council (Cyngor Sir Fynwy), Hartlepool Borough Council, Thurrock Council, Waveney District Council and Cambridge City Council. Ashley was also brought in to carry out an expert evaluation of the draft Green Space Strategy for Luton and South Beds on behalf of Halcrow and made recommendations for remedial work to ensure PPG17 compliance.

Other local authority work has included outdoor sport strategies for Nottingham and Thurrock and playing pitch assessments for the London Borough of Brent, Thurrock, Middlesbrough, Plymouth, Tewkesbury, and Erewash.

Recent private sector work has included advising Berkeley Homes on the restoration of outdoor sports facilities at the former Atkinson Morley Hospital site in Wimbledon.

In the voluntary and community sector, Ashley has worked with a tenants association and local junior football club on the establishment of a trust to take over the management of a local park in Leigh, Lancashire and with the Nene Park Trust on the design and development of new play facilities in Ferry Meadows Country Park in Peterborough.

Ashley has also developed a business plan for a new sports and social club on behalf of Sunderland City Council and has undertaken a similar study for a café and visitor facility at Bramcote Hills Park in Nottingham.

His work with Thurrock Council, Cambridge City Council and Erewash Borough Council on parks and open spaces have all been cited by CABE as examples of good practice. He has also worked with Sheffield University Management School providing management advice to leisure managers and operators, and was a member of the team that produced Liverpool’s Cultural Strategy, part of the city’s successful Capital of Culture bid.

Whilst at Sport England, Ashley was responsible for client managing the production of their toolkit “Towards a Level Playing Field”, the revised playing pitch strategy guidance and toolkit now used by local planning authorities throughout the country. In addition, he set up the National Benchmarking Service, providing management information for local authorities and leisure management operators. He has also produced national facilities strategies for cycling and bowls and the Design Guide for cycling facilities. He is the editor of the second edition of ‘Measuring Sports Participation: Model Survey Packages’.

Ashley worked closely with Play England and the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) on the development of performance indicators for children’s play provision, leading a team of expert consultants and local authority specialists. He has supported Play England in their guidance on developing play strategies, and was also a member of the Steering Group for the review of ‘Planning for Play’ undertaken by DCSF, and of the DCSF/CLG Steering Group that produced guidance for planners on good play space.

He is a member of the CABE Space panel of enablers and is an accredited Spaceshaper facilitator.

Ashley has an MBA from the Open Business School. He is a member of the Royal Town Planning Institute, the Institute for Sports, Parks and Leisure (formerly ILAM) and a member of the Chartered Institute of Management. He has also recently become a member of the Institute of Groundsmanship.

Publications:

Performance Measurement for Sports Halls and Swimming Pools – Proceedings of the Performance in Government Conference 2001. (with Prof. Peter Taylor)

Sports Results – PSBS News August 2001.

Cycle Sports Facilities – Design Guide (for British Cycling and Sport England)

Lynn Bennett B.Sc. Dip. Soc. Admin

Lynn has a strong background in research, and works regularly in this capacity as a member of the Ashley Godfrey Associates team. She has undertaken a number of open space audits evaluating quality and value of different types of open space for PPG17 assessments for local authorities across England and Wales, including Hartlepool BC, Thurrock Council, Medway Council, LB of Harrow, Erewash DC, Mid Bedfordshire DC, and Monmouthshire Council (Cyngor Sir Fynwy).

She has undertaken assessments of playing pitches for Outdoor Sports Strategies in Erewash, Brent and Thurrock and has also undertaken audits of play provision for play strategies for a number of local authorities.

Lynn was a member of the team who produced the Audience Development Plan for Jesus Green in Cambridge and undertook the majority of the stakeholder interviews for this; she also worked on a similar project in a major park in Salford, researching the views of stakeholders and users with physical and/or sensory disabilities. She has also participated in several consultation exercises with Cambridge residents on potential improvements to their local park or recreation ground.

Lynn has undertaken a number of questionnaire surveys with stakeholders and residents and interest groups about different types of open space using postal surveys, telephone and face to face interviews and the response rate achieved is usually in excess of 90%.