£850k council plan for new Clitheroe 3G football pitch unveiled

A series of options looking at different ways to provide a new full size 3G pitch at Roefield in Clitheroe will be discussed by the borough's community services committee next week.

Last month, a new proposal from the Lancaster Foundation and the newly formed Ribble Valley Community Sports Trust was discussed but knocked back.

The Committee declined the proposal and asked officers to prepare options for the council to provide a new artificial surface facility at Roefield.

In a report to go before the committee, head of cultural and leisure services Mark Beveridge said: "The council’s existing artificial surface at Roefield is deteriorating and will, if not improved, ultimately become unfit to use and have to be closed and removed.

"This surface was refurbished with the assistance of Sport England funding in 2015, however the manufacturer has subsequently gone out of business, although at the time they were an approved supplier on the Sport England list.

"The current provision is well used by a variety of clubs, casual bookings and schools, however there is no full size 3G playing pitch fully available for community use in the borough. "

Members are being asked to choose between two potential options.

The first, estimated to cost £853,000, would see the council undertake the building and operation of a single full-size 3G pitch and a refurbishment of the existing artificial surfaces at Roefield, which is part 3G and part multi-purpose.

Option B, cheaper at an estimated £799,000, would involve the installation of a full size 3G pitch and approximately half size 3G pitch which would replace the current multi-sports surface.

Early estimates suggest both options would help bring in £100,000 per year in revenue while costing about £60,000 per year to run.

The committee is being asked to consider the options and determine which, if any, it would like to recommend to Policy and Finance to be considered as a capital bid for 2019/20.