THE money to help build a new £800,000 artificial pitch next to a city leisure centre has been agreed by councillors.

Worcester City Council is looking to build the new all-weather 3G pitch at Perdiswell Leisure Centre and councillors have agreed to sign off on the council’s share of the funding and begin the wait for an answer on critical government money.

Although the communities committee backed the work at a meeting in the Guildhall on June 7, it could still be quite a while before any artificial grass is laid with a decision on which new pitches across the country will receive government funding not being made until January next year.

At the moment, the council expects the new pitch to be open by October 2024.

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Green councillor Hannah Cooper wanted the council to encourage more people to walk or cycle to matches given the ‘nightmare’ parking around Perdiswell at weekends.

“Anyone that has driven anywhere near Perdiswell on a Saturday or Sunday will see cars just littered everywhere,” she said. “These are people that are active people that could potentially cycle to matches and warm up on the way there.”

The council hopes that it will allow one of the city’s football teams which is currently having to use pitches across the county to train, training that could be hosted at the new all-weather pitch at Perdiswell when it is built.

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The team is using six venues for training with only half in the city leaving teams to travel to Malvern, Droitwich and Pershore during the week and then playing games in Worcester at the weekend.

There is little chance the Football Foundation, the charity in charge of handing out government and FA money to grassroots football and which is expected to agree to fund 80 per cent of Worcester’s much-needed 3G pitch, will turn down the city council, with the lack of artificial pitches highlighted in a review of Worcester’s sports facilities by the very same body.

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The same ‘top-tier’ projects which the funding body also sees as essential, as is the case with a 3G pitch at Perdiswell, are usually given the appropriate backing. 

Councillors approved a move to put £200,000 towards the project almost 12 months ago and there had been little public discussion since.