Local sports pitches to get £335k boost

Mossway Playing Fields

More than £335,000 is set to be spent on local sports facilities and pitches, courtesy of several local housing developments.

The improvements, totalling £335,844, will be funded from section 106 contributions – money received from residential developers through planning obligations to provide improvements to formal sports facilities across the borough.

The plans, which aim to increase participation in sport and promote healthier lifestyles, include major works at Middleton’s Bowlee Community Park. The condition of the park’s 10 sports pitches will be improved through sand slitting to aid drainage, while a 1.2m high perimeter fence will protect a senior pitch from motorbike and horse damage.

Improvements will also be made to the pavilion and changing rooms to meet league requirements and improve disabled access. Five hundred metres of stone paths will be reconstructed and resurfaced to improve access around the park and provide an accessible outdoor facility for supported disability cycling.

Elsewhere, Rochdale St. Clements Football Club will benefit from the construction of a new mini soccer pitch, while the existing football pitch at Wardle Football Club will be extended and widened to meet Lancashire Football Association guidelines.

Drainage improvements will also be made to pitches at Wardle Football Club, Firgrove Playing Fields, Mossway Playing Fields and Littleborough Campus. These sites, together with Springfield Park, will receive 20 brand-new, demountable goalposts under the plans.

Councillor Janet Emsley, Cabinet Member for Culture, Health and Wellbeing, said: “Getting people involved in sports at all levels is incredibly important. These plans will see almost 40 senior and junior sports pitches benefit - significantly enhancing the sports facilities in our area and further improving our parks and play areas.”