Charges could rise for sports clubs to use council pitches

SPORTS clubs in the Vale of Glamorgan are set to be charged more to use council-owned pitches and facilities.

Vale of Glamorgan Council will consider amending the charges for using facilities which are predominantly used by single sports clubs and organisations.

The council currently loses around £400,000 per year to operate these facilities, and will consider changing the current fees to cover that cost.

A list of 20 community groups that would be affected by the price changes, which include football, rugby and bowls groups across the Vale, has been released by the council. The council’s cabinet will consider the plans at its meeting today, and the authority hopes to implement the changes from April 1, 2019.

It costs the council £25,000 per year to maintain bowling greens, and £80,000 for turfed sports fields, but the income from these facilities “falls signifi- cantly short of the cost to operate,” a report to the cabinet says.

The report says the council will “amend the fees charged to clubs and organisations for single-use facilities from their current level to the actual cost of operating and maintaining these (after any income), from April 1, 2019” if the changes are accepted.

The council says it is proposing the changes due to financial pressures and to ensure resources “do not continue to be diverted away from facilities and pitches used across the community”.

It says it will make contact with the groups to discuss their options prior to the price changes.

Groups would also be encouraged to take over the management of the facilities themselves where possible.

The council is considering a “fast-track” process to transfer facilities into the community’s hands if groups wish to adopt this idea.

The report says: “It is likely, particularly for bowls, that the current level of single-user provision at individual sites is unsustainable.

“Where it is clear, from initial meetings, that this is the case, the option of consolidation of facilities will be discussed with the clubs/organisations concerned and they would be supported to bring new arrangements into effect.”