Club’s stand plan in promotion bid

PLANS to install a second 250-seater stand at Penybont Football Club will go before councillors today as part of the club’s aspirations for promotion to the Welsh Premier League.

The club in Llangewydd Road, Bridgend, wants to build the stand and a TV gantry on the northern side of the football pitch. Planning officers are recommending the plans for approval subject to a number of conditions.

But some residents are against the expansion, raising concerns that existing problems of “noise and foul language, inconsiderate speeding drivers and parking issues” will be made worse.

They say more people will create “chaos” in the area.

The new stand will bring the total number of seats to 509 and be coloured blue to match the football club’s main kit and the existing approved stand.

It will be around 33 metres in length by four metres in depth and four metres in height.

Officers say the stand will be “substantially screened” by the existing treeline and hedgerow along the boundaries of the site.

The Football Association of Wales requires that all clubs in the Welsh Premier League have a minimum stand capacity of 500 seats and a TV gantry.

In 2016 the club applied for permission to build a 500-seater stadium but reduced the number to half the size as it was unable to meet all the highway safety-related planning conditions at the time.

Planning officers are recommending the original conditions are now applied to ensure the increase in users can access the stadium safely.