Council’s £21k pitch spend to remain “the best in Montgomeryshire”

Welshpool Town Council has sanctioned a £21,380 end-of-summer pitch maintenance project to ensure the Maesydre playing surfaces remain the “best in Montgomeryshire”.

The claim was made by former Football Association of Wales President, Cllr Phil Pritchard, who heads the Town Council’s Operations & Development Committee that approved the expenditure last night.

But the sheer cost of the project was questioned by one councillor.

On finding out the cost of work, Cllr Chris Davies asked the Town Clerk, Richard Williams: “What income are we getting back off these pitches?”

To which he was told around £4,000 by the Town Clerk.

“And we are losing that much every year?” asked Cllr Davies. “It is ridiculous.”

But Operations Manager, Paul McGrath, explained that without the work, the Town Council risked losing the high standard of the pitches which, he said, were described by a recent inspector to be among the best local authority-run pitches in Britain.

Committee Chair, Cllr Pritchard then made his claim that “the football pitches were the best in Montgomeryshire” and are in the top two for the whole of Mid Wales.

It was also explained that the work wasn’t carried out last year and bad patches were already identified as a result.

The Town Clerk also added that the pitches cost around £150,000 a year to run with the addition of staff and machinery costs added into the mix. He explained that the Bowling Club carry out their own pitch maintenance.

Cllr Sally Fitzgerald led the calls for the pitches to be done correctly now because it could cost even more next year.

The Town Council has set aside £20,000 for the pitch work this year in its budget and councillors agreed to propose to full council that the £21,380 project be carried out.

Cllr Nick Howells pointed out the excellent condition of the pitches gave “great kudos” to the Town Council and they are a “tremendous community provision” with the clubs using them encouraging widespread participation in the town, particularly amongst the youngsters.

Cllr David France added. “It is important that while we may not be making a fortune from this endeavour as a council, the tremendous social value that it obviously brings to the people of the town is worth its weight in gold.”