Last updated October 2026
A Cardiff school or club planning playground markings or court work can start from the figures below. We draw the layout with you and price it at survey; a recent council quote for relining a games court was £600 per sport, excluding VAT. Welsh rules differ from England’s on planning and funding, so this page sets those out first. Our playground markings page has the designs.
Can a Welsh school use the PE and sport premium?
No. The PE and sport premium is paid to primary schools in England, so a Cardiff school paying for new lines uses its own budget, the local authority or a grant. For a club or community group, Sport Wales’ Be Active Wales Fund gives £300 to £50,000 to not-for-profit groups in Wales, including pitch improvement projects. You must put in at least 10%: Sport Wales funds up to 90% of grants up to £25,000 and up to 80% above that. England-only funds such as the Football Foundation do not apply here; see our funding guide for the English routes.
Does Welsh planning treat a new court differently?
The process runs through Cardiff Council, but the guidance is Welsh. Technical Advice Note 16, published by the Welsh Government in January 2009, sets out how planning should provide for sport, recreation and open space, including outdoor sports facilities and play areas. Markings on an existing yard are not usually a planning matter; ask the council if unsure. A new fenced court or floodlights do need consent, and any store or changing room beside it falls under Welsh building regulations, where since 1 July 2026 work goes through a building control application under Wales’ new regime. Our planning guide gives the general picture.
What has happened to Cardiff’s park tennis courts?
They have been moving to a managed, bookable model. In June 2023 Cardiff’s cabinet considered a plan for Tennis Wales to refurbish around 30 courts across six parks, starting with Victoria Park, Rhymney Hill Garden and Llandaff Fields, using about £750,000 sought from the LTA and DCMS. Tennis Wales runs them for at least ten years, with online booking linked to gate access on the Heath Park model of a £39 family pass or £4.50 per court per hour.
What should a club budget each year to keep courts in shape?
The Cardiff scheme gives a useful benchmark: a sinking fund of £1,200 per court per year, plus £600 for each floodlit court, built from court income. A club planning a resurface should set aside something similar so the next one is paid for. Resurfacing costs are on our tennis courts page.
Is there football funding for Welsh pitches?
Yes, through the Cymru Football Foundation, which delivers the Football Association of Wales’ Fit-For-Future Facilities programme with UK Government support. In August 2025 it funded new changing rooms at the House of Sport on Ocean Way, beside its full-size and youth 3G pitches. A club planning a pitch or MUGA should talk to it early; see artificial pitches and our MUGA page.
Sources
- Sport Wales, Be Active Wales Fund, read Oct 2026
- Welsh Government, TAN 16 sport, recreation and open space, Jan 2009
- Welsh Government, new building control regime from 1 July 2026, read Oct 2026
- Cardiff Council Cabinet, Tennis in Parks, June 2023
- Cardiff City House of Sport, Cymru Football Foundation funding, Aug 2025
- Sport England, Facility Cost Guidance Q4 2025, published Feb 2026
- Wickham Parish Council, MUGA resurfacing and relining quotes, Feb 2025
How it works
- 01Send a plan and photosThe site, the surface and the date it must reopen.
- 02We check the groundLevels and where the water drains.
- 03Written quoteBuilt around your reopening date.
What does a MUGA cost compared with markings alone?
A lot more. Sport England’s English benchmark for a fenced, lit macadam MUGA of 782 m2 is £190,000 excluding VAT, with no Welsh adjustment, while fresh lines on a sound court cost hundreds or low thousands. If your court surface is cracked, resurfacing comes first; three 2025 council quotes for a 713 m2 MUGA put that at about £36 per m2. Every band is on our costs page .
When can the lines go down in a Cardiff school year?
Whenever the yard is dry and empty for a day or two. A small refresh can fit an INSET day or half term; a full new layout is safer in the summer holiday, when there is time to clean the surface, set out and lay. Send your term dates with the enquiry and we hold a back-up day in case of rain.
Who looks after a Cardiff job?
Alex Winser runs it from your enquiry to handover. He books the survey, settles the design and dates with the school or club, and walks the finished job with you. The installers lay the markings or new surface, and any other work is done by vetted trades, with Alex as your one contact on one fixed written price. We arrange a vetted local surfacing contractor to carry out Cardiff work, confirm who within 2 working days, or tell you plainly if we can’t.