Last updated October 2026
Play area surfacing and tennis courts in Wiltshire and Swindon go through one of two councils, Wiltshire Council or Swindon Borough Council. Published wetpour prices run from £40 to £140 per m2 before VAT, with depth, colour and the base deciding where a job lands; bonded rubber mulch and grass mats are cheaper options for some areas. For courts, the LTA’s resurfacing averages run from £12,500 to £17,500 a court. The county also has a clear, recent study of what sports pitches it lacks, which matters if your project is bigger than a play area.
Which council do we deal with?
Wiltshire Council for most of the county, as a single unitary authority, and Swindon Borough Council for Swindon. For a like-for-like play area resurface, get the council’s view in writing before you start. A new fenced court, floodlights or a shelter needs permission, and in Swindon’s Grade II listed GWR Railway Village anything visible from the street, including coloured surfacing or fencing, should be raised with the council first. Our planning guide covers the basics.
How short of 3G pitches is Wiltshire?
By about 15 full-size pitches, on the council’s own evidence. The Wiltshire Playing Pitch Strategy (November 2024) found football training demand equal to 23 full-size 3G pitches against 8.5 available, a shortfall of 14.5, and every analysis area except Tidworth came up short. It expects population growth to add the need for about two more. That makes a community 3G pitch in Wiltshire one of the best-evidenced bids a club or school can make. See artificial pitches.
Can Wiltshire’s military pitches fill the gap?
Probably not. The strategy notes four 3G pitches at the Land Warfare Centre, Larkhill, Lyneham and Swinton Barracks that are closed to the community, and says securing access to them may be unrealistic and should not take priority over building new ones. A club near Amesbury or Tidworth should plan for its own pitch rather than wait.
Which Wiltshire towns have a named site?
Several. The strategy notes a planning application (PL/2024/00325) for a second full-size pitch at Stanley Park, Chippenham, which would close the local gap if approved; an aspiration to extend the small pitch at Leafy Lane in Corsham; St John’s School in Marlborough as a possible site; and Beversbrook or Kingsbury Green Academy for Calne. Devizes needs only a small pitch. Around Amesbury, the options are converting the disused hockey pitch at Boscombe Down Sports Field or building a rugby-compliant pitch at Archers Gate that Amesbury RUFC could share, and Bradford-on-Avon Sports and Social Club is a possible site for its town. It also says every 3G scheme needs a business plan, so budget for one alongside the design.
Our school’s play area is worn. Overlay or replace?
Overlay if the base is sound and draining; replace if it has failed. Laying wetpour on sound tarmac saves excavation and shortens the closure, and worn patches at swing landings can be cut out and relaid. On Swindon’s Northern Expansion estates, where play areas at Abbey Meads, St Andrew’s Ridge and Priory Vale were built around the same time, one survey can price several together so the worst go first. See wetpour.
Sources
- Wiltshire Council, playing pitch strategy and action plan, Nov 2024
- Redlynch Leisure, wet pour prices, Sept 2026
- LTA, how much it costs to build or renovate a tennis court, read Oct 2026
- 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.
Could we add a tennis or netball court?
Yes, if there is space and a level base. Sport England benchmarks a pair of fenced, lit macadam tennis courts at £260,000, and a MUGA of 782 m2 at £190,000, both excluding VAT; single unlit courts cost much less. Compare our tennis courts and MUGA pages, and see every band on the costs page .
How deep must the play surface be?
As deep as the fall height of your tallest frame requires, tested to BS EN 1177. The critical fall height guide shows how depth rises with height, and why the price per m2 does too.
Who runs a Wiltshire job?
For a Wiltshire job we arrange a vetted local surfacing contractor, and we confirm who within 2 working days, or tell you if we can’t. Alex Winser stays your single contact from the first call to handover, and the written quote names who does the work before anything is booked.