Residents angry at island football pitch plan

The Canvey Island Youth Football Club plays on a pitch at the bottom of Haven Road, but the planned Roscommon Way extension will plough right through it.

Castle Point Council is considering an application from National Grid, which owns land in the area, to build a new ground, further up Haven Road, close to homes in Ormsby Road and Coker Road. The proposed pitch, would have a small car park and changing and toilet facilities and be surrounded by a 13-foot-high fence which would run just ten feet from Amanda Bowdler’s front door in Ormsby Road.

Mrs Bowdler, 43, said: “It will mean an invasion of our privacy.

“If you come down here on a Sunday morning when there are matches on, there are cars parked everywhere as it is.”

There are also concerns about noise from the pitch. especially since it would be left open for youngsters to use when the team was not playing.

George Raven, 82, also of Ormsby Road, said: “Where the pitch is now, we can hear a lot of noise and swearing. This will make it worse.”

Another Ormsby Road resident, Francis Hope, 80, said: “There is an ample number of football pitches on the island already.

“I have never known a football pitch to be so close to houses as this one would be.”

An orchard of about 70 trees would have to be cleared to make way for the new ground and residents say the trees should be kept to help cut down noise from the pitch.

David Hope, 42, of Coker Road, said: “I play football and I like football, but I moved here for a bit of piece and quiet.

“There is lots of land down there. Why can’t they put it somewhere else?”

The site has a gas pipeline running underneath, but National Grid insists it is not dangerous.

Spokesman Rebecca Hosgood said: “The proposed new site was identified, due to its proximity to the existing pitch.

“While we would not envisage the use of the site by the football team to cause disturbance, if any resident has any concerns we recommend these be raised during the planning process.”