Parking surveys in Worcester could delay new pitch

Last-minute surveys to prove building a new £800,000 artificial football pitch will not add to parking problems could delay its opening by months.

Worcester City Council is looking to build the new all-weather 3G pitch at Perdiswell Leisure Centre off Bilford Road and the move is set to go before council planners – but crucial car parking surveys have been ordered before it can be signed off.

And if the assessments are not carried out by the end of the month, it could risk pushing the opening date from October next year to January 2025 or later.

To meet tight deadlines, the planning committee will be asked to vote on the plan with a recommendation it is given the green light – while the county council’s highways department remains unsatisfied.

Highways officers at Worcestershire County Council called for the application to be deferred – asking for more information about whether the existing leisure centre car park could cope with the extra demand.

The city council said building the new 3G pitches would not add to traffic or parking problems around Perdiswell but the county council said in August it wanted proof.

The city council has said it has provided more information, but the county council continues to call for the application to be deferred.

An assessment is being carried out throughout October and the council will have its Football Foundation bid scrutinised next month – ahead of a hearing on January 15.

But if the parking studies are not finished by the end of the month, it would have a domino effect that would render a November review useless and push the hearing with the FA from January to April next year.

The delay could also push up costs and delay the opening of the facility from October 2024 to January 2025.

The Football Foundation, which is in charge of handing out government and FA money to grassroots football, is expected to agree to fund 80 per cent of Worcester’s much-needed 3G pitch – but a decision on the funding will not be made until next year at the earliest.

It would come as a surprise if the Football Foundation turned the council down – with the lack of artificial pitches highlighted in a review of Worcester’s sports facilities by the very same body – but it is the timing of its decision that could be hanging in the balance.