Council to ask Welshpool schools to open sports facilities to public

Welshpool Town Council will be asking the town’s schools to make their sports facilities available for general public use out of hours.

It follows a letter to the Town Council from a resident asking for two goalposts to be erected at the country park behind The Flash.

The area is already home to a play park (pictured), but the letter writer pointed out that there were no open sports facilities in that part of town since Salop Road fields were swallowed up by the new school.

Mayor Cllr Alison Davies said there was nothing stopping people “putting down a couple of jumpers as goalposts like we used to do”, but added that the council should talk to the high school and the Church in Wales Primary School about opening up some of their grounds to the wider public.

It prompted a discussion at the latest Services and Property Committee that the county council needed reminding of promises that were allegedly made when the school was built on the three football pitches.

And Cllr Phil Pritchard called for decisive action.

“Can I just remind everybody of the arrangement with Powys County Council when they took the three pitches to build the new school, that they were going to provide a pitch which is at the back of the new school. There is a pitch there that is available and it shouldn’t be locked away.

“The arrangement was that it would be available and that facilities at the high school would be available as well. That was the promise that the county council made to have that land down there to build on. We have all got it in writing.

“All of those facilities should be available outside of school hours.”

The Town Council will write to the primary school to ask for public access to the pitch after Cllr Davies added: “Welsh Government policy on community schools is that they are embedded in the community and provide space for the community, so I think we would be pushing at an open door.”

Cllr Pritchard then asked to “write to the high school for the same thing” after the initial letter is sent.

Welshpool High School has opened its tennis courts to the public this summer with a membership offer allowing access after school hours. The cricket nets are also being used by local clubs.