Councillors will decide next week if plans should be developed to build a new £1m 3G sports pitch, floodlights, changing room and access road on the former playing fields in Llantarnam.
£1,099,633 is available from a number of S106 agreements signed by developers who have built homes in the Llantarnam Ward. The cash is held by the council to carry out work to mitigate the loss of other facilities from new developments.
One of the contributions is from Barratt Homes who were told to pay £859,094 to compensate the community for the loss of three playing pitches and the leisure centre when they built 226 homes on the site of Llantarnam Comprehensive School.
Next Tuesday’s meeting is not to give the final go-ahead for a 3G pitch to be built. The final plans will still have to go to the planning committee. There is also an issue over the exact cost of the project not being known until tenders are returned. The report says “Preliminary cost estimates for the intended improvements are higher than the total S106 contribution available’ and ‘Additional funding will be required to support completion of the intended improvements.’
Councillors are being asked to:
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approve the preparation and submission of planning and SAB (Sustainable Drainage Approval Body) applications, preparation of detailed design and tender documents and open procurement via Proactis and Sell2Wales.
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provide delegated authority for the Chief Officer, Neighbourhoods, Planning and Public Protection to award a contract to deliver the project, subject to tenders being within the allocated budget which includes S.106 funding together with other external funding secured to cover any shortfalls.
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agree a joint decision on future management of the completed facility be delegated to Chief Officer NSPPP and Chief Officer Education.
Opposition to the plans
Cwmbran Life wrote a story in August about the delays to the project and included comments from Phil Davies, an Oakfield resident who stood for the Green Party in the Llantarnam Ward in May’s local government elections. He said: “The destruction of this site would show the council do not care about nature despite declaring a nature emergency in 2019. It also shows they don’t care about local peoples opinions as hundreds of people have already expressed that they do not want this vital site of biodiversity to be destroyed. We never got to vote on this. It is already used and enjoyed by hundreds of people from all ages.”
Councillors will discuss the report and make a decision on Tuesday 4 October 2022.
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