Club’s plan for artificial pitch set for go-ahead
IT WOULD BE USED AS A TRAINING AREA
A DERBYSHIRE football club devastated by flooding is set to see its plans for a new 3G pitch given the go-ahead.
Belper Town Football Club, based next to the Strutt’s Mills complex, saw its clubhouse swamped by several feet of floodwater in November.
Nine months on, the club is on the brink of seeing its plans for a new 3G (artificial) pitch approved by Amber Valley Borough Council.
Councillors will decide on the plans at a meeting on Monday, with officers recommending approval.
David Laughlin, managing director of the club, submitted the plans which would see a 70m by 30m artificial pitch built on what is currently grassland used for training.
A 1.2m-high spectator fence would also be built around the pitch, if the plans are approved.
Mr Lauglin said the Christchurch Meadow scheme would not have a negative impact on the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage site.
The club sits within the Belper Meadows leisure facility and shares the site with the tennis and cricket clubs. Its ground can hold 2,500.
Belper Town FC’s first team is a non-league outfit, nicknamed the Nailers, who compete in the eighth tier of English football – the BetVictor Northern Premier League, South East Division.
They compete alongside Derbyshire rivals Ilkeston Town and Glossop North End.
An identical application for the same 3G pitch was approved in 2016 but this has since lapsed.
Sport England has not objected to the development but says the new pitch must only be used by Belper
Town Football Club. It says there are existing 3G pitches in Belper and there is not an identified need for more.
However, it says the pitch’s dimensions (smaller than a full-size pitch) are not FA compliant and there would not be “ball-top fencing” or artificial lighting.
It says: “Having regard to this, it would not readily lend itself to be used as a broader community resource.”
The application says the facilities are to be used as an extra training area for the club and its many teams and is not intended for wider public use.
It says the Belper Town junior teams, who will predominantly use the proposed pitch, already use the existing on-site hockey pitch at Belper Meadows, saying “the proposal will therefore not result in additional visits to and from the site.
The pitch would be open from 10am to 10pm on weekdays and 8am until 5pm on weekends and bank holidays.
Council planners say the development would not have an adverse impact on the green belt.
They wrote: “The proposal, having had regard to all considerations, constitutes a sustainable form of development, and meets the environmental, social and economic objectives.”
Officers say the plans would support and improve an existing community facility and provide shortterm economic benefits during construction.