Planning permission has been granted for a new multi-use games area (MUGA) at Bader Academy in Edenthorpe, Doncaster, a specialist school within Nexus Multi Academy Trust. City of Doncaster Council approved the application on 22 September 2026, as submitted, without needing to ask for any changes.
The new pitch will sit on the school field, next to the existing fenced games area, and gives pupils a second dedicated space for outdoor sport. Planning & Design Practice prepared and submitted the application for the trust, following our earlier work with Nexus at Banner Cross Hall in Sheffield.
Why outdoor sport matters at Bader Academy
Bader Academy is a special school for around 130 pupils whose needs relate to communication and interaction. Its curriculum is organised into faculties, one of which is physical, social and emotional development, and therapy is woven into everyday teaching rather than delivered on the side. In a school that works this way, good outdoor space is part of how learning happens, not an extra.
Outdoor sport and play currently take place on an existing fenced court and on the open grassed field behind the school building. A second, purpose-built surface allows a wider range of activities to run throughout the school day and all year round, giving pupils more opportunities to build the practical and social skills that sport and play develop.
What has been approved
The approved multi-use games area is a 35m by 20m artificial grass pitch, marked out for a range of sports including football and tennis, and enclosed by a 3m high perimeter fence. It will sit alongside the school’s existing fenced court, on an area of mown grass at the rear of the site.
The construction includes foundations and drainage designed to create a permeable surface, with a soakaway shown on the approved site plan to take surface water.
Building on a school field: how the planning case was made
School playing fields are protected in planning, and for good reason. A proposal to build on part of one has to show that it will not take away something the school or the wider community relies on. The application addressed this in two ways.
The first was local policy. Doncaster’s Local Plan protects land in education and community use, but allows development where the existing use will be retained and enhanced by developing a small part of the site. A separate Local Plan policy supports improved education facilities where they are of a suitable scale and design, and national policy asks councils to give great weight to the need to expand or alter schools. A modest pitch on part of the field, serving the existing school, sits squarely within that support. The school also lies within the development limits set by the Edenthorpe Neighbourhood Plan.
The second was Sport England’s playing fields policy, which applies where development affects playing fields. One of its exceptions allows a new sports facility where the benefit to sport outweighs the loss of the playing field it sits on. The field at Bader Academy has no marked-out pitches and is not used by outside clubs. It is used by the school’s own pupils for outdoor recreation. Replacing part of it with a marked, year-round pitch that supports a wider range of sports is a clear gain for sport on the site.
The Planning, Design and Access Statement also looked at the council’s Playing Pitch Strategy, which focuses on improving existing provision. Bader Academy is not one of the schools the strategy relies on for community pitches, so the new multi-use games area would not affect wider supply, and could improve the school’s ability to contribute in the future.
A proportionate proposal
The pitch will be used by the pupils who already use the field, so it does not add to the size of the school. The academy sits beside an industrial estate and another school, and a suitable distance from existing homes, so noise was not expected to affect neighbours. The site is outside any conservation area, has no listed buildings nearby, and no trees would be affected.
City of Doncaster Council approved the application with only the two standard conditions: that work starts within three years, and that the pitch is built in line with the approved plans. The application was managed by Mollie Arif of our planning consultancy team.
How Planning and Design Practice can help
Planning and Design Practice is a multi-disciplinary team of chartered town planners, architects and heritage specialists. We work with schools, academy trusts and other public sector organisations on projects ranging from new facilities on existing school sites to bringing buildings into education use, such as our change of use from office to school in Sheffield. Understanding the constraints on a school site early makes for a clearer, more proportionate application.
For a free, no obligation consultation, contact Planning and Design Practice on 01332 347371 or enquiries@planningdesign.co.uk.