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Sports fans call for 'fair play' on funding


By SPP Reporter

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Roysvale pitch
Roysvale pitch

COMMUNITY leaders in Forres have questioned why every town in moray has an artificial playing surface, except Forres.

Calls for better sports facilities in the town came off the back of the announcement that Lossiemouth, a town of similar size, was to get a new £42.3 million high school with state-of-the art sports campus.

Moray Council has subsidised the leisure centre in Elgin for years, built new secondary schools in Elgin and has given the go-ahead for new schools in Lossiemouth and Buckie, both of which will include all-weather playing facilities.

Meanwhile, said residents, Forres Academy has edged closer to being unfit for purpose.

Ann Rossiter, chairwoman of Forres Community Sports Hub, said Forres – as the second biggest town in the region - could use new facilities.

She said: "Having an all-weather facility pitch around Forres Academy would lend itself to being an outdoor classroom, keeping us in line with other Moray secondaries.

"An all-year-round outdoor extra curricular facility at Roysvale would also benefit Applegrove Primary School and the wider sporting community."

Ms Rossiter pointed out that there were a number of synthetic pitches across Moray, with Buckie’s demonstrating best usage. She estimated such a facility in Forres would cost £600,000-£700,000 and annual maintenance would cost about £10,000, which she said, could be covered by an hourly charge for the pitch for adults at £55 and juveniles at £30 if the facility was well-used by groups throughout the year.

She said: "Is there sufficient need and demand to warrant this?

"There would need to be a consultation with the residents of the proposed location, should this initiative move forward in Forres."

Local councillor Aaron McLean said Forres Academy was in better condition than Lossiemouth and Buckie High Schools, therefore was not in line for an upgrade.

He said: "It’s just had its entire roof replaced so it will have to wait. However, I still believe an all-weather pitch would be well used and the benefits of having it would be amazing for the health and wellbeing of the young and old in Forres.

"There is money available via Moray Council developer obligations but not enough. There are also grants available from sportscotland to match fund."

Forres Mechanics youth development coach, Dave McCartney, said the club’s success was being crippled by lack of training provision.

He said: "Not only do we lack an all-weather pitch, apart from match surfaces at Mosset and Logie Parks, we do not even have a oodlit grass area for training in the town.

"As a result, we are paying £4000 a season to Highland or Moray Councils so that we can train outside in the months of darkness."

Forres Mechanics chairman, James Anderson said: "We have been forced to travel to Aviemore on occasion to use a pitch there. It is ridiculous that we have to travel from Moray’s second biggest town to use an all-weather pitch in a Highland village."

Graeme Ferguson, club president of Forres Area Soccer 7s, has long believed an Astroturf facility in Forres would be of huge benefit.

He said: "We are in discussion with all our footballing colleagues to see how we can positively engage with Moray Council to seek their support to secure funding for such a facility. We all want equity and fairness with other football clubs in Moray. We hope the elected councillors in Forres support us in this."

Councillor George Alexander said that while he agreed an all-weather pitch was an aspiration for Forres, it could not come as a by-product of a new school.

He said: "Forres Academy has been well maintained and the recent roof replacement is guaranteed for 20 years so if Forres is to get an all weather pitch in the near future then it must be by another route. It is difficult to see how one can be funded at present unless the funding can be raised from sources out with the council.

"I will offer my full personal support to any group up for the challenge of raising the money and I’ll keep reminding fellow councillors that Forres Academy students are the only secondary school pupils with no access to an all weather pitch."



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