Religious grounds
Green space or greenspace is an area of undeveloped land in an urban context which is not usually available for development, such as playing fields, sports’ facilities, play areas and allotments.
- Design stage
- Co-design
- Frequency of updates
- Every 6 months
- Discussion
- Join the discussion on GitHub
- Last updated
- 24 September 2024
Backlog
Who asked for 'Religious grounds' data?
Identified by the Geospatial Commission as a national dataset to make data easier to find for the sector.
What is the driver for the request?
Other
Which 2024 focus area does the request support?
Modern planning software;Faster local plans
Screen
What is the 'Religious grounds' consideration?
In this context, 'religious grounds' means areas of land associated with churches and other places of worship. The identified national dataset specifies that these are only included where there are significant areas of greenspace (over 500m2 of natural space – identified as surfaces that are not manmade, such as grass, woodland and bare earth).
Is there legislation that defines 'Religious grounds'?
No
Who, in law, is responsible for the planning consideration or makes decisions about 'Religious grounds'?
There is no legislation outlining this, but expect that as it is something that LPAs will need to plan for, they will be responsible for making decisions regarding religious grounds.
Which organisations do we think should publish the data?
Local authorities
Is the Religious grounds a trigger?
No
Is the Religious grounds something to consult during plan making?
Yes
Provide information about when Religious grounds is used during plan making
LPAs are likely to assess the presence of religious grounds through an open space study, or an Infrastructure Delivery Plan. When planning for growth, new provision will be modelled, and be expected to be delivered through development.
Is there any Religious grounds data already available?
Yes
What Religious grounds data is currently available?
- OS Open Greenspace (publisher: Ordnance Survey; coverage: National; licence: OpenData - Open Government Licence; fields: id;function;distinctiveName1;distinctiveName2;distinctiveName3;distinctiveName4;geometry)
Do we think the data should come from a single source?
Yes, the data already exists nationally and openly. As per some research summarised in this blog, we will use the national data in the interim, but long term would like to collect this data from LPAs.
Will a data standard be required?
No
Research
What are the planning needs for this data?
LPAs are likely to assess the presence of religious grounds through an open space study, or an Infrastructure Delivery Plan. When planning for growth, new provision will be modelled, and be expected to be delivered through development.
From what we have learnt so far are there any risks to making Religious grounds data available?
Through the research of the available open national dataset, there appear to be no immediate risks to adding this data to the platform.