A new artificial football pitch is set to be built in Wirral.
Under Wirral Council's plan, which is yet to be approved, the 3G pitch would be built at the site next to Woodchurch Leisure Centre, on Carr Bridge Road.
The design and access statement, put together by Surfacing Standards Limited, the firm designing the pitch, said it will replace a former running track which has fallen into disrepair and has not been used for more than 20 years.
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The statement added a pavilion will also be built as part of the application, which could be used by a variety of groups.
The statement read: “When not used by 3G pitch players/officials/spectators, the pavilion and its social space with kitchen will also be available during the week for other daytime community groups, for example, small keep fit or 'stretch' classes, yoga, weight-watchers, and other similar 'passive' activities.
“This smaller and more discrete space may be preferred by some groups to the more boisterous and larger spaces offered by the nearby Leisure Centre.”
The application also said that it was hoped the new pitch would provide affordable access to facilities, help to generate positive attitudes to sport and physical activity among young people and help to reduce the dropout rate in sports participation with age.
Under the plan, the site will be open between 8am and 10.30pm, with the football pitch's lights to be turned off by 10pm. The pavilion’s lights will be turned off at 10.30pm to allow time for locking up.
The football pitch and the pavilion would be separate to the leisure centre itself, which the council has proposed closing down in a move which would save £402,000 for the cash-strapped local authority.
The proposal to close the leisure centre has been highly controversial with some calling it “disgraceful” and thousands signing an online petition to save it.
But Tuesday night's meeting of Wirral Council’s most powerful committee, a cross-party committee called Policy and Resources, changed this proposal to give groups that might be interested in saving Woodchurch Leisure Centre until September 30 to come forward with plans to do so.
As well as providing more time for groups who may want to take over the running of the facility under a community asset transfer (CAT), Labour’s amendment also said that the £330,000 which would otherwise go towards demolishing the centre would be given to the group which wants to take over its running should their bid be successful.
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