Last updated October 2026
In Greater Manchester, a MUGA, new playground markings or a court resurface is judged against your borough’s plan and, on the urban edge, the Green Belt. For a full-size build, Sport England’s late-2025 guide prices a 782 m2 macadam MUGA with fencing and lights at £190,000 before VAT; smaller unlit courts and resurfacing jobs cost a fraction of that. Our MUGA page explains sizes and surfaces, and the plan rules below are specific to this county.
Which plan applies to a court in our borough?
It depends on the borough. Places for Everyone, the joint plan for Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Tameside, Trafford and Wigan, took effect on 21 March 2024 and runs to 2039. Stockport is not one of the nine, so a court there is judged against Stockport’s own plan. Either way the application goes to your borough council, and fencing and lights are the parts its officers look at hardest.
Our playing field is on the edge of town. Is it Green Belt?
Possibly. The Merseyside and Greater Manchester Green Belt covered 245,020 hectares at March 2025, and many school and club fields sit inside it. National policy (NPPF paragraph 154b) allows appropriate facilities for outdoor sport there, as long as they keep the Green Belt open and do not conflict with its purposes. A flat court usually passes that test; high ball-stop fencing, floodlight columns and any store or shelter are what make it harder. Our planning guide sets out what to send.
What does Manchester’s football plan prioritise now?
New pitches in the south and a lot of replacement carpets. The August 2023 update of Manchester’s Local Football Facility Plan calls for two new full-size 3G pitches at Hough End Playing Fields, which won Football Foundation funding in 2022, and replacement surfaces where eight full-size pitches are wearing out. It also lists a new hub at Wythenshawe Park and refurbishing four 5v5 pitches at Woodhouse Park Lifestyle Centre. A project already in the plan starts a Football Foundation conversation in a stronger position than one that is not, so check before you write a bid.
Does Manchester need more full-size 3G pitches?
Only in the south on current demand, but more if teams keep growing. The 2023 update counts 34 full-size 3G pitches in Manchester, 30 of them open to the community, with 28 on the FA’s 3G register, and allows for about ten more full-size pitches if team numbers grow as projected by 2030. A pitch has to pass testing to be registered for affiliated matches, so budget for that test whenever a carpet is replaced. See artificial pitches.
What does MUGA resurfacing cost compared with a new build?
Far less, if the base is sound. Three council quotes for a 713 m2 MUGA in 2025 came in between £24,000 and £26,400 plus VAT, about £36 per m2 for a new porous macadam layer. Relining was quoted at £600 per sport. On a Greater Manchester school court with drainage problems, the survey decides whether a resurface will last or the base must go. Every band is on our costs page.
Sources
- GMCA, Places for Everyone takes effect, Mar 2024
- MHCLG, local authority Green Belt statistics 2024 to 2025, Oct 2025
- NPPF, protecting Green Belt land (paragraph 154), read Oct 2026
- Football Foundation, Manchester Local Football Facility Plan update, Aug 2023
- MCRactive, park tennis in Manchester, Oct 2024
- LTA, Park Tennis Project, Dec 2023
- Sport England, Facility Cost Guidance Q4 2025, published Feb 2026
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.
Can the PE and sport premium pay for our playground markings?
For repainting existing lines, yes; for a new MUGA, no. Government guidance names repainting playground lines as revenue spending the premium can fund, and names multi-use games areas as capital it cannot. A primary school in Bury or Wigan can refresh a worn layout from this year’s allocation, but a new court needs another source. Our playground markings page shows designs and timings.
Are the city’s park tennis courts being refurbished?
Yes, at nine Manchester park sites. A £483,095 project funded by Manchester City Council, the UK Government and the LTA Tennis Foundation covers them, and the LTA named Kingswood Park among its refurbished courts. Clubs and schools elsewhere in the county asking about their own courts can compare repaint, resurface and rebuild on our tennis courts page.
Who looks after the job?
Alex Winser. He handles the enquiry, books the survey, agrees the programme with the school, club or council and checks the finished court before handover. The surfacing teams lay the macadam or polymeric surface and the lines; the specialist teams fit the fencing and lighting on the same fixed written price. For a Greater Manchester job we arrange a vetted local surfacing contractor, and we confirm who within 2 working days, or tell you if we can’t.