Agenda item

            The Committee was advised that works at Cherryvale Playing Fields, as previously agreed by the Council as part of the Pitches Strategy, had commenced and were scheduled to be completed by March/April 2018, subject to the weather conditions and any other potential unforeseen technical issues.  The Assistant Director reported that it was unlikely that the new pitch would be available for use until late 2018/ early 2019.

            The officer reminded the Committee that, at its meeting on 12th September, it had agreed to consider whether the Council would erect Gaelic posts and mark out an area of Botanic Gardens at the rear of Queens Sport adjacent to Ridgeway Street/Stranmillis Embankment to provide a temporary pitch to address the issue of displacement. 

            The Assistant Director advised that officers had inspected the site and concluded that a full size GAA pitch (140m x 90m including run off, could not be accommodated, however, it might be possible to provide an area of approximately 130m x 80m including run off).  The pitch would be bordered by a pedestrian path and a perimeter fence, behind which was a small area comprising of trees and hedging.

            The Members noted the following points:

·        the Council had not previously provided temporary playing field facilities to offset displacement and the Committee was asked to be mindful of a precedent being set should approval be granted;

·        the cost of establishing the pitch, including the erection of the goal posts, was estimated to be in the region of £5,000.00.  This would need to be found from within existing budgets;

·        the site had natural drainage and retained rainwater, particularly during the autumn and winter months, this appeared to be most evident where there was run off at the edges.  As a consequence, grass cutting might not be possible and usage might be limited;

·        all pitches needed to be rested and, if the facility was used in the autumn and winter, it might not be available for use over the spring / summer;

·        owing to the site conditions and operational difficulties, it was unlikely that other sports would be able to be accommodated on this site, although it was noted that no formal requests had been received from other sports;

·        unauthorised use might be an issue;

·        this was an area of open space which was used casually by dog walkers and other casual users and there had been no consultation undertaken with other users of the facility.  The South Area Working Group had requested that the Stranmillis Residents Association and the Friends of Botanic be consulted.  The use would be temporary and limited to weekends and it was noted that consultation would delay the marking out of the pitch;

·        there was no Council car parking or changing facilities available on the site.  The Clubs were aware of this and had advised that they would use either the car parking at Queens or at Shaftesbury Recreation Centre; and

·        a charge would be levied for use of the facility.

            With the permission of the Chairperson, Councillor Boyle addressed the Committee.  He requested that the Committee agree to the request from the local GAA clubs for the use of the area of land, given the number of teams which they needed to accommodate and the fact that they might be unable to use the Cherryvale Playing Fields to its full potential until the spring at the earliest.

            The Committee agreed:

·        ‘in principle’, to mark out the pitch, subject to discussion with the local Residents Association and the Friends of Botanic Gardens, for the period up to the end of September 2018 and subject also to favourable site conditions to be determined by the Community Park Manager;

·        that the cost would be met by the Council from existing budgets, if available; and

·        to a key holding agreement with the 2 GACs to allow access to the woodland area for ball retrieval as necessary.