Hand 3G pitch to community
THE unused 3G football pitch in Skelmersdale should be handed over to a local community group, campaigners have said.
Our West Lancashire, the borough council’s independents, have said that leaving the pitch unused, next to the former Glenburn sports college, is “verging on the criminal.”
The call came after it was revealed that the plans to relocate the pitch to Delph Side Primary School have been unsuccessful.
The planned move followed a meeting between Delph Side Community Primary School and Lancashire County Council, which revealed there were no objections to the school using the equipment.
But the plans have since fallen through.
Borough councillor Adrian Owens said: “Taxpayers’ money was spent in providing this football facility for the town and to simply lock the gates and leave it unused is verging on the criminal.
“Skelmersdale has a great sense of community and a love for football. I’m sure a local community group could successfully run and maintain the 3G pitch in its current location.
“While the land might be required for other purposes in the future, that’s years off. In the meantime, the pitch could provide a much needed additional facility for a town that has always been promised much and almost always shortchanged.”
But County Councillor Geoff Driver, the leader of Lancashire County Council, said: “Cllr Owens is being unrealistic in expecting community associations to be given unsupervised access to the site, which might be dangerous even after the demolition has taken place. “We have offered to gift the 3G pitch to local schools and voluntary organisations and we have had several expressions of interest, so hopefully the 3G pitch will continue to be used in the longer term for the benefit of the local community.”
The plan to hand over the pitch would involve relocating it.