Football grounds delayed over fears (From Echo)

Football grounds delayed over fears

8:00am Thursday 27th September 2007 in News By Jon Austin

A £1.5MILLION sports ground to boost youth football in Wickford has been put on ice following a row over the future of an existing ground.

Wickford Town FC has been given permission by the council to move from its 3.1 acre ground at Southend Road, Wickford, to 35 acres of green belt farmland at nearby Shot Farm, providing the club can fund it.

The site would include 14 new pitches, changing rooms, parking and a new road.

However, the club must wait for the outcome of a separate application to transform the existing ground into an estate of 50 homes which would help fund the new ground.

councillors have delayed the decision because both applications face stiff opposition.

Residents have raised concerns about over development, traffic, the impac t on wildlife and green belt and the loss of hundreds of trees.

Sally Taylor, 30, said: "There will be an increase in traffic, noise and pollution levels.

"It is an unacceptable site near smelly sewage works and the Football Foundation is not aware the site is a flood plain."

Brian Pummell, husband of Wickford county councillor Iris Pummell, said: "There have been two applications before for Shot Farm and both went to inquiry and were refused because it is green belt."

But the club argued the changes were the only way it could develop youth football. Club secretary Richard Nevillle said: "The town has expanded rapidly over many years and the current facility has not kept pace.

"We are struggling to find enough pitches at weekends. It is the largest privately-funded project of its kind in the south east and will optimise the opportunity for sport in the town."

Tory councillor Geoff Buckenham for Burstead said: "We need to look carefully at the opportunity this will bring for young people in Wickford.

"There are too many obese children and they need the opportunity for sport."

The application was carried by four Tory votes with two Labour councillors against.

Plans for the existing ground were deferred while discussions continue amid fears over the design of homes, parking problems and drainage.

Club: Move essential

WICKFORD Town Football Club says the move is essential to its future.

The 23-year-old club has 1,200 members with 400 regular players.

It is one of only 150 clubs with Football Association Community Club status out of 40,000 nationwide.

Funding is coming from the Football Association and Football Foundation, but the club needs to raise its own cash by selling its existing pitches to developers to pay for the rest.

Richard Nevillle, club secretary, said: "This is not a greedy developer making money and running. We will be putting a great sporting opportunity back into the community."