Harrogate Railway reveal plans for 3G pitchYear-round sports pitch opens to the community in Harrogate

A 3G sports pitch has opened for community use in Harrogate.

St Aidan’s Church of England High School applied to create the pitch more than two years ago and is now inviting people to use it.

it was completed in the summer and officially launched at the school’s new Family Fest day. However, it was only in use for PE lessons and school football clubs until this week.

St Aidan’s chair of governors Jo Wicks said:

“We are delighted to finally be able to share this long-awaited and much-needed facility with the local community.

“Our pupils and PE staff are already enjoying their new dry and safe pitch, and we look forward to welcoming local clubs to St Aidan’s. Thanks to everyone involved for your hard work and resilience.”

When the original planning application was submitted in spring 2020, the school said the pitches would mainly be used by its own pupils, as well as those from primary schools in the area who did not have access to their own playing spaces.

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St Aidan’s plans to open the facility to the community from 6pm to 8pm on weeknights as well as Saturdays from 9am to 5pm and Sundays from 10am to 2pm. It would also be open from 9am to 4pm during school holidays.

The associated floodlights drew some concern from neighbours, who also raised objections to the potential for light pollution on the Stray.

However, there were also many supportive comments, including from other football clubs which said there was a demonstrable lack of year-round playing pitches in the Harrogate district.

Planning officers had recommended the proposal be refused by Harrogate Borough Council’s planning committee because of the impact on the surrounding area.

Councillors instead approved the plans in January 2021, saying they would be “letting our young people down” if they did not allow the pitches to be created.

Harrogate’s Rossett School could swap three tennis courts for 3G pitch

Rossett School is planning to remove three tennis courts and replace them with a new artificial 3G football pitch.

The school has submitted a planning application to Harrogate Borough Council that would see football facilities improve at Rossett Sports Centre.

There is currently a high demand for 3G pitches in the area, particularly since Harrogate Town were forced to remove theirs after promotion to the English Football League two years ago.

Last year, the school raised £10,000 through a fundraiser to replace its current 3G pitch.

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3G pitches are a way for schools to make extra income by hiring out the facility to local teams.

St Aidan’s Church of England High School has planning permission to build a new 3G pitch, which is set to open from 6pm to 8pm for community clubs to use.

St John Fisher Catholic High School also has a 3G pitch available for hire and Ashville College has an astroturf pitch.

The Stray Ferret asked Rossett for further details on its plans but a spokesperson declined to comment.

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Pitch work begins at Rossett Sports Centre after £10,000 goal reached

Rossett Sports Centre in Harrogate is to begin repairing its 3G artificial football pitch after achieving its £10,000 fundraising target.

The appeal was launched last month after the pandemic affected finances and delayed the repairs.

The pitch is usually open to 1,000 people each week but covid meant this number was massively reduced.

But a successful crowdfunding campaign means work can begin.

In a statement on the fundraising page, the centre manager, Josh Lyon, said the total cost of the repairs is £160,000.

He added the pitch was set to reopen to the public later this month:

“A massive thank you for your support in helping us reach our £10,000 target. This money is going directly towards the 3G pitch replacement project. Works on the new pitch is imminently commencing and the new state of the art facility should be back open to the local community in late June.

“Your support is massively appreciated by Rossett and your local sporting community.”

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The current total is nearing £11,000. Mr Lyon has said any extra funding would go towards new goals.

The sports centre on Pannal Ash Road is run by Rossett School and is open to the public outside of school hours, seven days a week.

Its full-sized 3G pitch provides space for both five-a-side groups and full team matches.

St Aidan’s floodlit pitch plans approved

Councillors have approved St Aidan’s secondary school’s plans to build a floodlit artificial sports pitch, subject to conditions on lighting and flooding.

A report from HBC officer Jeremy Constable had recommended the proposals for refusal due to its impact on the surrounding area.

However, councillors on Harrogate Borough Council’s planning committee voted by a near unanimous decision this afternoon (nine in favour with one abstention) to defer to the chief planner for approval once new reports on drainage and light pollution are drawn up.

Nearby residents in Harrogate had complained the 15-metre high floodlights would cause light pollution to their homes and the Stray. However, Jeremy Constable, who wrote the council report, conceded at the meeting that light pollution would be minimal.

He said:

“There’s not going to be a great deal of light pollution. It can be mitigated with shields so that shouldn’t be a large issue.”

St Aidan’s chair of governers Jo Wicks spoke and said the pitch is “first and foremost” for the school but will also be used by the community in the evenings because of a “desperate shortage” of 3G pitches in the town.

Its hours of use will be 9am-8pm, Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm on Saturdays and 10am-2pm on Sundays.

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Last week on HBC’s planning portal, the application had 40 objections and three in support. However, since the Stray Ferret story about the plans was published on Tuesday, there has been a surge of comments in favour, with 123 comments in support and 41 objections.

Several councillors spoke up in favour of the plans at the meeting, including Cllr Pat Marsh ,who said the council “would be letting our young people down” if they refused the plans.

She added:

“The weather at this time of year means the current pitches are unplayable. This is a way of providing to our young people. We owe it to them to provide this, not just for the school but for the wider community.”

St Aidan’s floodlit pitch plans set for refusal

Councillors look set to refuse St Aidan’s Church of England High School’s plans to build a new floodlit artificial pitch.

The 2,000-pupil school has said the pitch is “urgently required” but nearby residents have complained the 15-metre high floodlights would cause light pollution to their homes and the Stray.

St Aidan’s, on Oatlands Drive, withdrew a previous application in March last year following concerns by residents about light pollution, noise and traffic.

Now Harrogate Borough Council’s planning committee has been recommended to refuse the school’s latest application when it meets on Tuesday.

In a report to councillors, case officer Jeremy Constable said noise and lights from the pitch would have a “significant adverse impact” on the surrounding area even though a new pitch would benefit the school and local football teams. He added:

“Whilst the proposal undoubtedly involves public benefits arising from the development, these do not outweigh the harm of the impact of the development on residential amenity and the character and appearance of the Conservation Area.”

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The previous application said the facility would close at 10pm on Monday to Friday.

The latest plans reduced the closing time to 8pm but still received 40 objections, including one from the Stray Defence Association, which said the lighting would have an “immense and detrimental” impact on the Stray.

Robert Holmes, from project management firm MHB Partnerships, explained on behalf of St Aidan’s why the new facility is “urgently required”.

He said current facilities were “woefully inadequate” and prevented the school from hosting sports fixtures.

He added there was a shortage of 3G artificial pitches in Harrogate, made worse by Harrogate Town replacing their artificial surface with grass over the summer due to English Football League requirements.

He wrote that the floodlights would be directed onto the pitch and no lights would shine on neighbouring homes, adding:

“The school cares greatly about their relationship with their neighbours and make every effort to listen to any concerns raised by them. The comments published on the planning portal have been read and digested by the school and it is considered that the school has done as much as possible to address the concerns raised.”

Harrogate Town to play outside of Harrogate if they win promotion

Harrogate Town will play the first few home games of next season outside of Harrogate if they gain promotion to the English Football League.

This is because to meet EFL regulations the club must replace its existing artificial 3G pitch at the CNG Stadium with grass.

Town play Notts County at Wembley on Sunday with the winner gaining promotion to the League Two in the EFL. The club said they will begin work on replacing the pitch with grass “immediately” should they win the historic tie.

The work is expected to take 10 weeks, which would take them into next season, with the first matches set for September 12. The club have not revealed who they could potentially ground share with.

Town installed the current 3G pitch in 2016 after struggling for years with drainage issues on the previous grass pitch. It forced them to play several home matches 45 miles away at Doncaster Rovers.

Town fan Rob Nixon told The Stray Ferret that he hopes it would be somewhere closer to home.

He said:

“The more local the better. When we shared with Doncaster we only had 50 people attending. Having to do that again would be tough.”

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The club have been busy this summer making preparations in case they are promoted.

Work has almost been completed on a new Family Stand at the CNG so they can meet EFL’s requirement of every stadium being able to hold 5,000 people with 1,000 seats.

Cardboard cut-out versions of Town supporters sat in the stand when the team beat Boreham Wood 1-0 on Saturday to book their place in the final.

Writing in Saturday’s programme, club chairman Irving Weaver said he hopes the new all-seater stand will attract more fans to the club.

St Aidan’s floodlights raises old concerns over light pollution

St Aidan’s high school has put forward new proposals to build an artificial 3G football pitch with controversial 15-metre floodlights.

In 2016 the school submitted similar plans to Harrogate Borough Council — but withdrew them in 2019 after objections were raised around light pollution and traffic.

Objectors said the floodlights would have a negative impact on residents as well as on the Stray Rein section of The Stray.

For the school to receive grant funding from Sports England to help pay for the new facility, it must be open for community use outside of school hours.

The 2016 application stated the facility would close at 10pm Monday to Friday, which has been reduced to 8pm.

The floodlights in the new application are also telescopic which manufacturers say emit less light pollution.

Resident David Bell who lives adjacent to St Aidan’s told the Stray Ferret the floodlights will have a “dramatic” effect on his property.

He said:

“This mad rush to install 3G pitches throughout the area is having a dramatically negative impact on those living closest to the pitches due to the extended opening hours. It seems the march of the plastic pitch is unstoppable.”

The new pitch, which would be built on existing playing fields at the school, would put St Aidan’s on par with nearby St John Fisher which built its own 3G facility in 2017.

As well as being able to be hired by local football teams in evenings and weekends, the pitch would also be used by local C of E primary schools within the School’s Multi Academy Trust who St Aidan’s said have an “acute shortage” of external playing fields.

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St Aidan’s borders the Stray Rein section of the Stray and Judy D’Arcy Thompson from the Stray Defence Association told the Stray Ferret that the floodlights would “impinge upon the tranquillity the Stray affords people”

She said:

“Such widespread, obtrusive light pollution is undesirable, with the distinct possibility of damaging the Stray in many ways.”

The formal consultation period for the development ends on July 27.

The Stray Ferret has asked the agent MHB Partnership, who is working on behalf of St Aidan’s for the development, for a response which they had not provided at the time of publication.