The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Milnathort residents split over football pavilion vision
Planners recommending Kinross Colts’ proposal for approval
Proposals for the creation of a sports pavilion in Milnathort have once again split the community and set residents at odds with their local football team.
For some years now, Kinross Colts Football Club has wanted to build on the Donaldson Memorial Park to secure the future of the club.
The dream has proved problematic, with considerable local opposition and a previous refusal by Perth and Kinross Council in 2013.
Now the scheme will go back before councillors tomorrow, with planners recommending that planning permission be granted.
The club has numerous supporters within the community but just as many opponents, among them Milnathort Community Council.
It believes the club needs to go back to the drawing board and come up with a less invasive proposal for parkland that is treasured by many residents.
In all, the local authority has received 21 letters of representation, consisting of 11 objections and 10 letters of support.
Kinross Colts are well grounded in the community and its various teams work with more than 200 children from Kinross, Milnathort and the wider area.
Bosses say the pavilion will provide facilities that are “desperately needed” due to a shortage of grass pitches in the area and secure the future of those children’s teams.
It also hopes the building will help to increase usage of the park and could be made available for wider use by community groups.
Though Milnathort Community Council shares many of the club’s hopes, chairman Steven Young said that “on balance” it was forced to object, given local opposition.
It has concerns over the suitability of the site, which sits between the existing football pitches and the boundary of Milnathort Primary School, and the scale of the building.
Mr Young said: “This parkland, known locally as Lands of Cockamy, is the primary piece of greenfield within the village and the previous owner gifted the land to the whole community for its use.
“The modest group of residents who would benefit from this development are outweighed by those who will derive little or no benefit or indeed will see it as a detriment.
“The location of the pavilion is not ideal as it is, being squeezed into a narrow strip of land, which requires the playing field to be moved and significantly reduced in size.
“We additionally believe that the size and composition of the pavilion goes well beyond the essential facilities required to enable organised football to be played twice a week during the season.
“In our opinion, a scaled-down option in a more suitable part of the park would encourage a greater level of support from Milnathort Community Council and the community as a whole.”
The football club has much of the funding in place for the project.
The location of the pavilion is not ideal as it is, being squeezed into a narrow strip of land, which requires the playing field to be moved and significantly reduced in size. STEVEN YOUNG