Council gift football pitch to youth team

Jun 12 2009 by John Woods, Irvine Herald

NORTH Ayrshire Council have given away a football pitch worth £¼ MILLION to a youth football team.

The all-weather floodlit pitch at Irvine’s Glebe Primary School, which cost £230,000 of taxpayers’ money, was only opened last year and was seen by many as a potential source of revenue for NAC.

But last week Deputy Provost Ian Clarkson and councillor Joan Sturgeon were among a group of officials who looked on as it was handed over to Girdle Toll Youth Football Club.

Last year Toll applied for community club status and turned the ailing Littlestane Hall into a thriving community centre.

They are also attempting to improve the drainage at the troubled Lawthorn Playing Fields which have been prone to severe flooding since they opened more than a decade ago.

Now they will also be responsible for the management of the new Glebe Astroturf facility and their first move will be to hand out leaflets advertising their Summer School of Football to all of Irvine’s 14 primary schools next week.

This will be held at the new pitch from Monday, July 6 to Friday, August 14 and will cost kids £5 for a three-hour bloc or £9 for an all-day session for which players must bring their own packed lunch.

But a council spokesman defended the decision and claimed that working with local sports clubs a part of their sports strategy.

“The capital cost of the project was £230,000,” he added.

“The council's sports strategy is to work with clubs in the community to increase promotion and involvement in activities associated with health, sport and well-being.

"We see this as a shared partnership approach in providing a wide range of excellent opportunities to encourage community involvement."