Aberdeenshire Council today agreed its pitch and outdoor physical activity space strategy.
It has been a long time in preparation, with councillors, user groups and communities being involved.
This should have positive implications for Portlethen. An assessment shows that the Portlethen area is third in a list of 17 communities needing significant further investment in the provision of pitches across Aberdeenshire.
The report includes a proposal to establish five grass pitches as a competitive sports pitches in Kincardine and Mearns at Laurencekirk (one), Portlethen (two), and Stonehaven (two).
The report also proposes to convert the existing Hillside synthetic pitch into a football compliant surface. I reminded councillors about the aspirations of Portlethen residents to have such a full-size pitch.
It says: “It would also be possible to develop a full-size floodlit facility at Hillside (extending the existing facility). However, such a facility would require a pavilion as existing facilities would be inadequate to support a full-size facility.” The cost is put at up to £1.2 million, and potential timescale of 2024 – 2026. My understanding is that community fund-raising is likely to be required to supplement the contribution from the council.
The report also says that one project would be the provisional additional development of pitches in Newtonhill with a possible direct developer allocation. I asked at the meeting for clarification of what this means as the proposed local development plan does not include any further development in the village.
Returning to the overall proposals, communities committee chair Anne Stirling told the meeting: “The implementation phase requires us to allocate additional revenue and capital resources.
“This programme signals a significant investment of just under £9 million in our people across Aberdeenshire and underlines the importance of providing suitable outdoor space for a range of activities for the benefit of everyone.
“I also welcome the approach outlined to develop a single booking process for the use of Live Life Aberdeenshire and Education facilities which will streamline the current complex arrangements.”
Education would control school pitch use during the delivery of the school curriculum.
FINANCIAL POSITION
Councillors also heard that there is a projected overbudget position of £4.829 million for this financial year, which does not include the costs of Storm Arwen which are still being collated. However, there is confidence that the council will close the year on budget. The cost of running the council over the year is £639.519 million.
Meanwhile capital spending has slowed down because of the impact of covid. It is estimated that the council will be £29.553m under budget position at the year end. The report from officers says that large projects can take longer to deliver than expected and as such it is important to view the Capital Plan as a series of connected years.
WANT MORE INFORMATION?
All the reports can be found here: https://committees.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/committees.aspx?commid=1&meetid=19854 The pitches report is Item 9.