Development ready to kick off at football pitches
Changing rooms with toilets and showers are to be built to improve a popular sports field.
Once complete, Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council will hand over the day-to-day management of the building at the Wammy to Newcastle Town Football Club, which already manages the pitches there.
Funding has come from the Borough Council’s successful bid for £23 million of Town Deal funding for a range of projects in Newcastle, including the Knutton Village Masterplan.
Simon Tagg, Leader of Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council, said:
Adding the changing rooms has been a long term aim for the Wammy and we hope the improved facilities will encourage more people to play.
Newcastle Town FC will manage the changing rooms on a day-to-day basis. The club does excellent work and has lots of experience of running and promoting grass roots football and they are going to use this as a springboard to promote women’s football and to cater for players with a disability.”
Contractors are close to being appointed and it is hoped that the changing rooms will be ready for the 2024/25 season.
Newcastle Town FC runs 55 junior boys’ and girls’ teams and have recently introduced provision for people with disabilities.
Gavin Appleby, Director at Newcastle Town FC, welcomed the news. He said:
The importance of providing as many sporting opportunities as possible was a great incentive for the club to get involved in this vital work.
This will allow people in the local area more opportunity to access top level facilities and encourage more people to take part in the game."
Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council has been working with partners to develop and then deliver the Knutton Village Masterplan, which includes new housing development together with modernising and improving community, business and leisure facilities.
Cllr Tagg said:
Not only do we want to make a difference to the lives of people in Knutton and Cross Heath, this improvement is also part of our commitment to improve sports facilities in the borough.
Taking part in sport, whether it’s as a player, coach, volunteer or administrator, can make such a difference to people’s lives and we are doing all we can to support involvement in the Borough.”