I’d met Andrew Link a few times by the time he raised the idea of the Active Meanwhile Working Group – once in Stratford and once in Canning Town – both times at best practice visits focused on temporary uses. He’d come to see the rail and infrastructure skills academy we were hosting on our IQL North site on the Olympic Park, and by then it was already clear he brought a very specific, delivery-focused mindset that’s often missing from conversations about meanwhile use. Unless you’ve set something up yourself – and run it on the ground – you don’t anticipate 75% of the issues that come up within the first few months.

That’s not to say you’re ever fully prepared, but direct experience at least teaches you to expect the unexpected. Andrew was especially interested in the work we’d done with Brompton at our Station Road site in Colliers Wood, where we launched a programme giving residents of a nearby Clarion estate a Brompton bike for three months, with regular feedback sessions to track the impact on both their physical and mental health. That discussion led to an invitation to join the group, which brings together some excellent practitioners and landowners from across the sector – including British Land, Related Argent and Places for London.

What followed was a series of practical conversations about what could be done now, using the spaces we already have. The backdrop is clear: we are facing a public health crisis linked to inactivity, while sitting on an abundance of vacant and underused space.

Physical inactivity is now associated with one in six deaths across the UK and costs the economy more than £7bn annually, including nearly £1bn to the NHS. Defined as doing less than 30 minutes of moderate activity per week, the scale of the issue is clear – and it’s growing. According to Sported, 68% of community sports groups say it’s harder to access facilities now than it was before the pandemic. That pressure is especially acute in dense urban areas, where space is limited and the focus tends to be on long-term development rather than short-term activation – and these are exactly the areas where developers like Hadley do our work.

At the same time, towns and cities across the country are full of underused or vacant space. Savills estimates there are around 25,000 empty commercial units in London alone, with nearly half vacant for more than two years. That’s 70m sq ft of space – much of it located in places where access to affordable, inclusive recreation is already limited. The contradiction is obvious: rising demand for places to move and connect, and millions of square feet sitting idle.

The Active Meanwhile Working Group was set up to address exactly this imbalance – and to focus on delivery rather than abstract discussion. Chaired by Andrew Link (founder of Feat Factory and Property Sports Network), the group brings together developers, landowners, planners, architects and professionals from the health and sport sectors.

Its aim is straightforward: to reduce the barriers to activating vacant or underused space for sport, movement, and wellbeing. That means identifying best practice, sharing what works (and what doesn’t), shaping policy and overcoming other barriers. The group meets regularly and has already begun mapping opportunities and potential pilot sites, reaching out to organisations across the sport, health, and regeneration sectors.

We’re also actively looking for new collaborators, whatever and wherever your sector. That might include landowners with space, practitioners with delivery experience, or organisations working on policy, behaviour change or community health. If that’s you – or if you’re interested in hearing more – we’d welcome a conversation.

To read the article on the BeNews website click here.