Youth team given 50-year pitch lease
ASPIRING young footballers will be able to train and play on their home pitches for the next 50 years after a community group helped to secure the space.
Community group Inchinnan Development Trust (IDT) has taken a long-term lease at the India Tyres playing fields for St Mirren Youth Football Club to use.
The arrangement was approved by Renfrewshire Council, which has owned the field since 2021, and IDT plans to maintain and develop the site.
Lacey Lindsay, of IDT, said: “We are delighted to have been successful in our application to Renfrewshire Council for a Community Asset Transfer.
“We are at the very beginning of a five-year plan to preserve and develop the green space into a place for communities to enjoy, thrive, grow, and play and the development will bring opportunities, connectivity, strengthen community, and inspire partnership working.
“IDT is keen to involve anyone and everyone in the process, especially those who live closest to the fields, as everyone doing a little bit helps to achieve a lot.”
Proposals include increasing the range of activities and uses for the fields, rebuilding the pavilion to provide changing facilities, improving drainage, and getting the ball rolling for an astroturf pitch to be installed.
Stephen Mann, St Mirren YFC soccer school lead, said: “On behalf of St Mirren Youth Football Club, I’d like to congratulate the Inchinnan Development Trust on securing the India Tyres Playing Fields as a community-use green space for local people and the wider population to enjoy for generations to come.
“We have been looking after ‘The Tyres’ since 2018 at the invitation of Inchinnan Community Council and we are determined this historic site can be developed into a field of dreams, where young people can play there dreaming of playing for Scotland in a World Cup, local people can learn about the history of the site, from its agricultural days, to its aero engineering heritage and for half a century or so – where ‘the finest Tyres made’ were manufactured – all here locally in Inchinnan.
“We are delighted to be part of this community partnership to regenerate a former sports ground into a modern facility and look forward to the challenge ahead in exploring the funding streams to make The Tyres into a field of dreams.”
Councillor Michelle Campbell, convener of Renfrewshire Council’s Infrastructure, Land and Environment Policy Board, spoke about the decision to transfer ownership to a local organisation where the fields could really benefit the community
She said: “As convener and a local councillor, I’m delighted that this Community Asset Transfer was approved as it will bring great benefit to the local people of Inchinnan and surrounding areas of Renfrewshire.
“Inchinnan Community Development Trust are a wonderful example of community-led organisation making the difference for modernised spaces which serve the recognised needs within the village communities.
“Working with the community to develop our green spaces and create opportunities for young people and adults to play sport and get active is something I’m passionate about and this is a fantastic example of what can be done when the Council works together with local community groups and organisations.
“The proposals that are in place for the development of the playing fields are hugely exciting and I’m looking forward to seeing investment made in this green space over the coming years.”