Club’s pitch takeover sidelined by red tape
An amateur football club claim the goalposts are being constantly moved as they bid to take over a disused football pitch in Wishaw.
Fir Park Corner FC first approached North Lanarkshire Council about the possibility of a community asset transfer (CAT) of the grass pitch in Castlehill Road, Overtown, back in October 2020.
However, they say their bid to take community ownership of the pitch is being sidelined by red tape.
David Fraser, 38, who is the club’s chairman and originally from Coltness, told the Wishaw Press: “There’s not been any football played there for a decade or so, pretty much since Overtown Hearts folded. It’s just been lying falling to bits.
“We approached the council about four years ago about taking on a pitch and they gave us a list to choose from. We chose the Overtown one as we had played there for a season. It’s quite tucked away and sheltered and we thought if we invest some time and money in it then it could be a really good site for years to come.
“We think the project in total will cost us about £50,000 but we have enough money now to complete phase one. Once we start playing there we won’t need to hire parks from the council for games or training, so we can start building towards the next phase. But we can’t apply for funding from the likes of the lottery until we have a lease signed.
“We’ve encountered a number of obstacles with the council. When an application is accepted for a community asset transfer two things happen, firstly, the council can’t accept any further applications from anybody else until they respond to it.
“And they have to give a response to an application within six months. So the clock starts ticking. But what North Lanarkshire Council seem to be doing is avoiding accepting our application.”
Fir Park Corner FC was initially set up by fans of Motherwell FC who went to games together and decided to start up their own team. The team was named after the online supporters’ message board they were members of.
The club now has two adult teams, an amateur side and an over- 35s, and four children’s teams – three 2014s and a 2015s. They also plan to launch a 2019s teams.
And while the club say they have never been presented with any practical reason for the transfer to not go ahead, they claim they face continual red tape, and “goalposts moved”.
“We met with the council last November and had already filled in a paper application and sent it in beforehand, we were hoping it would be accepted but they told us at the meeting that we’d need to go and get a commercial survey done on the land,” said David.
“We’ve proven our finances and had our accounts audited and handed into the council. We’ve pretty much ticked every single box, but it seems they keep throwing obstacles in our path. They told us we needed the Land Registry certificate for the site, which cost us money and time, and we had to become a registered charity and redo our constitution.
“Every time we go back they say we need something else. It feels as if they want us just to go away.”
The club’s bid for community ownership of the pitch is being backed by Gillian Mackay MSP, who is based in Motherwell, as well as a number of local councillors.
A spokesperson for North Lanarkshire Council, said: “We understand the frustration felt by this organisation however both Community Asset Transfer and Disposal of Surplus Land policies have clear processes and timescales, which must be followed to ensure transparency and fairness.
“This ensures that any decisions to transfer ownership are done in a way that minimises any risk to the council as a public body and to the organisations applying for the transfer.”
Big-hearted staff from a Wishaw hotel have given a helping hand to a children’s charity by passing over a whole host of Easter eggs to be distributed.
The team at the Commercial Hotel were able to distribute approximately 80 eggs to the DreamMaker Foundation.
Angela Cook, from the charity, was delighted to accept the eggs and thanked Commercial staff for their generous donation.
She said:“Massive thanks to The Manor View Foundation and all the staff at The Commercial Hotel in Wishaw for their fantastic donation of Easter eggs for our wee DreamMakers.
“We are grateful for the support of local businesses and will make sure that all our wee DreamMakers spending time in our respite caravan over Easter have a surprise waiting for them.”
The Manorview Foundation, the charity arm of the company who owns The Commercial, was set up to support people experiencing hardship.
Meanwhile, New College Lanarkshire students welcomed the DreamMaker Foundation after raising cash to help children with life-limiting illnesses.
Charity founder Les Hoey and Angela were invited to the college’s Motherwell campus to a charity coffee and cake event that the students studying professional cookery, bakery and hospitality were holding to raise funds to support the charity’s DreamMakers.
Angela added:“The work that went into making this event happen was fantastic and the cakes were delicious.
“Massive thanks to Mandy Wilkinson and her tutor Lorna Hart for all their work and for choosing to support us and we would like to thank Karys France Make Up, Lords and Ladies in Wishaw, Element Hair Lounge Hamilton, Halo Salon Wishaw, Adam & Eve Salon in Wishaw, Samis in Wishaw, Cost Cutter Coltness, Mandy France and Tunnock’s for the amazing donations for the raffle.”
We’ve ticked every box, they seem to keep putting obstacles in our path.”