Pitch up and play
The school says it is “thrilled” to be able to open up the facilties to local groups, and says hundreds of young people from grassroots sports clubs will benefit from the decision.
But the move has not been welcomed by people living near the school, who say their concerns have been ignored.
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Hide AdBalshaws said its parents, pupils, staff and governors were delighted that they will able to begin working with grassroots clubs and sports groups, enabling hundreds of young people in South Ribble to have access to high quality facilities.
Headteacher Steven Haycocks said: “I am thrilled that at last we can make use of a great facility that local youth rugby and football clubs have been in desperate for the need of for so long.
“There are not enough facilities to meet the demand for these groups.
“It has always felt like a terrible waste to have a facility paid for by the taxpayer on publically owned land lie unused when there is such a great need to provide young people with the opportunity for organised sports coaching.
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Hide Ad“We look forward to working with local community groups who are providing young people with such great opportunities to get involved with sport.”
The synthetic hockey and football pitches opened two years ago, inititally for use by school pupils only.
The opening hours were restricted to 8am to 6pm on weekdays, with no weekend use. Now the pitches can be used from 8am to 9pm on week days, from 8am to 6pm on Saturdays and will remain closed on Sundays and Bank Holidays.
There are no restrictions to the use of the remaining 20 acres of playing fields.
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Hide AdHowever, one Church Road resident, who asked not to be named, said: “While the planning committee’s decision was better than feared, especially regarding weekends and bank holidays, we still have concerns over unsupervised access after dark to school premises and therefore neighbouring properties.
“We understood from the previous headteacher at a public meeting this wasn’t about public use – it was for pupils at the school, and that wasn’t likely to change.
“But neighbours were largely ignored this time, with parents of pupils called on to support the application, even though the vast majority would be unaffected by increased and wider use.
“How much public interest there is in using the pitches is debatable.
“Aren’t there more than enough nearby? Those at Runshaw College, Thurston Road and Buckshaw Village are all easily within reach.”