Consultants are to be paid up to £45,000 to produce a report on the area’s sports facilities and to draw-up a strategy on how to meet future demand.

Fenland Council are inviting tenders for the “development of an indoor sports facilities and playing pitch strategy” with the process expected to take almost a year to complete.

The study is to be jointly funded by Sport England, said a spokesman for Fenland Council.

Although the tender suggests it could cost up to £45,000 the council is hopeful it will be much less.

A ‘Rationale for the study’ included with the invitation, which has been advertised nationally, explains the study is “in response to the anticipated growth in population in the district and a desire to plan effective provision”.

It explains the strategy is needed to ensure the current and future demand for sports and recreation facilities are planned to meet the needs of the area’s growing population and also to support funding bids from national sports bodies like Sport England and also regional funders such as WREN.

The strategy will also help when making demands for financial contributions towards local facilities from developers - known as Section 106 agreements.

The ‘Rationale for the study’ also points out the strategy will ensure a planned approach to sport facilities takes place in Fenland over the medium term, ensuring that the community has access to “high quality facilities”.

It also states: “it is imperative that where the council provides facilities, they are as efficient and effective as possible due to continuing financial pressures.

The study will look at the following outdoor sports: football, rugby, cricket, tennis, bowls, hockey, athletics and cycling. It will look at the number of grass and artificial pitches, the number of tennis courts and bowls greens taking into account their quality, location, accessibility, capacity and parking as well as changing facilities.

Indoor sports that will be looked at in the same way include: basketball, badminton, swimming, bowls, tennis, gymnastics/trampolining, table tennis, martial arts and boxing.

It is anticipated work on strategy will start on March 2 with it being adopted by the full council in December.