'Largest ever' funding award for a football pitch approved for Herts non-league side
Potters Bar Town FC will receive £1 million for facility improvements.
A new £1m artificial football pitch and ‘community hub’ in Potters Bar has moved a step closer after Hertsmere Borough Council’s cabinet approved funding plans yesterday (11 September).
Potters Bar Town FC are set to receive the money to replace the grass pitch and carry out improvements to the floodlights, fencing and pitchside walkways at their Lantern Stadium home.
It is the “largest amount ever offered to any community organisation or group within Hertsmere” from Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) funding, according to Cllr Harvey Cohen (Con, Elstree).
CIL funding comes from payments made by developers who build within Hertsmere.
Adam Waller, technical director at Potters Bar Town FC, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service he wants the new facilities to be a ‘community hub’ serving more than 1,000 people a week, of “any age, any sex and any ability”.
It would be used by the club’s senior team, who currently play in the Isthmian League Premier Division, as well as youth teams and other organisations, for both training and matches.
Women’s football, walking football and football for children with special educational needs and disabilities would be on offer.
And Cllr Christian Gray (Lab, Potters Bar Furzefield), cabinet member for communities, hopes “there will be the opportunity for clubs to come forward to look at doing things like this across the whole of Hertsmere”.
“The 40 to 50 hours a week of community use that will be got out of this pitch forever and a day is a fantastic resource, not just for Potters Bar, but for the wider community around Hertsmere.
“There are clubs, small organisations and charity groups queuing up to get some time on that pitch.”
Cllr Nik Oakley (Lab, Borehamwood Kenilworth), cabinet member for planning infrastructure, said she was “very pleased” to have the proposal given the “great shortage” of 3G pitches in Hertsmere.
A 2019 report found the borough would need six full-size pitches to meet demand – up from the two that are currently available for public use.
And, while she admitted it was “quite a large sum”, Cllr Oakley said there would be “very wide public benefits across the borough”.
The pitch will allow matches to be played in all-weather conditions, and Cllr Cohen, shadow member for planning, said: “I’ve witnessed first hand the pressing need for Potters Bar Football Club and other clubs to transition from their current pitches, which are prone to flooding and have led to numerous match cancellations.
“This move will not only elevate Potters Bar Football Club, but it will also enrich the sporting offering to countless residents.”
Cllr Cohen supported the bid in its early stages, when the Conservatives controlled the council, and Conservative group leader Cllr Morris Bright (Elstree) praised the “all-party support” for the proposals.
Mr Waller praised the council for their “brilliant” backing, both before and after the Labour-Lib Dem coalition took control last year.
He said: “I’ve been looking into this for five years now, and there are other avenues – but you keep hitting brick walls and brick walls and brick walls.”
“Without the support of the councillors for the funding, I don’t think we’d probably have been around for much longer – it’s that simple and that brutal.”
He said the pitch had been “deteriorating”, and the club are currently playing home matches at Kings Langley while preparatory works are carried out for laying a new surface.
Assuming Full Council signs off on the funding at their meeting on 25 September, construction will begin and “should only take 12 weeks”, with Mr Waller optimistic the club will be playing matches at home again towards the end of the year.
Their bid for funding was supported by other organisations in the area, including Cranborne Primary School, Mount Grace School, Hertfordshire FA and several youth football clubs.
A Community Use Agreement will be put in place to ensure the pitch remains accessible to nearby groups for at least 15 years.
Funding of £1,068,810 will be given to the football club by the council in stages while the work is carried out by an FA-approved contractor. Planning permission was granted last week.