A Commons committee has warned that the government's urban regeneration policy must focus on putting right "appalling" parks and squares in UK cities.

Andrew Bennett, chairman of the Commons select committee on Transport, Local Government and the Regions said: "High quality public spaces are fundamentally important to the urban renaissance but sadly many in this country are in an appalling state".

Forum Response: Sport England

Trevor Brooking, chairman of Sport England, told ePolitix.com: "Open space, and the framework to protect and develop it, is vitally important. As I told the inquiry, we do not see sport as being in competition with open space. We welcome the focus on open space and the recommendation to develop open space strategies.

"However, we remain concerned that there is a risk that sport will be dropped from the first team to the reserves unless the value of sport is robustly and appropriately recognised in the planning policy guidance. PPG 17 is the only guidance note specifically concerned with sport - this is an opportunity not to be missed, therefore the DTLR have got to get it right."