Fury as Ashton Park £9.5m football plan slammed by more than 400 Preston residents
A group of residents is calling on Preston City Council to kick its plans for a football-driven revamp of their local park into touch.
James Walmsley – who has overlooked the site from his house on Larches Avenue for more than 50 years – warned that it would simply “cease being a park as we know it” if the proposal went ahead in its current form. He was one of several who also said that charging for the 3G football pitch would exacerbate the effect of the pay-to-play tariff being brought in for use of Ashton Park’s tennis courts.
The LDRS has been told that the grass football pitches will remain free and open for general use – except at times when a team has paid to play on them. Another group member bemoaned the lack of other sporting options for the park and said that putting a running track around its perimeter would be more use than what was proposed.
“The very fact that we are even discussing losing this vitally important area is ludicrous. Look at the life that’s in these trees – we’ve got bats, owls, birds. This grass in itself is a larder for wildlife – the insects that they eat [live] on this grass.
Campaigners opposing the plans for Ashton Park say that they accept the site needs sprucing up – but believe that are better ways of doing that than the city council’s current blueprint. Her friend, Stephanie Winterbottom, added: “We could have a skate park, much better facilities for children, better drainage, more seats for the older people – there’s a lot that could be done to this park that would benefit the whole community, not just the minority.”
“The council advised that the funding is for Ashton Park and that Preston could risk losing the funding if it isn’t spent [there] in line with the proposals that were put forward to the government. Preston City Council told the LDRS that bunds had been “proven to act as a natural noise buffer and will deflect any excess noise coming from the new pitches”.
Of the £9.5m cost of the Ashton Park plans, £7.5m is Levelling Up Fund cash, while a further £2m will be sought in match funding from stakeholders. The LDRS understands that an application will be made to the Football Foundation, incorporating findings from the public consultation on the viability and delivery of the scheme.Two further consultation events about the proposals for Ashton Park will be held on Wednesday 2nd August – at the Dig In Walled Garden in the park, between 6.
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