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Stadium dream moves forward - COMMENT ON THIS STORY
SCARBOROUGH'S hopes for a new sports village and stadium are expected to move a step closer when councillors discuss plans today.
The development will come under the microscope at a meeting of Scarborough Council's cabinet.
A report by the council's strategic director Hilary Jones and head of tourism and development Brian Bennett states the project "will include a community stadium that would meet the requirements of Scarborough's football teams, enabling them to use the facility as a home ground".
But councillors are now being urged to choose a private sector partner for the development which would be laid out as a community sports village rather than a football-only venue.
It could include a 25m competition swimming pool, a sports hall, outdoor pitches, both grass and synthetic, to meet required standards for football clubs, along with community, health and education facilities.
Mrs Jones said: "The council has an ageing portfolio of facilities that require investment and the quality of the existing indoor provision appears to be having an adverse impact on attendance figures.
"There is limited availability of capital and revenue funding and therefore a reliance on external funding streams, which is both unsustainable and may result in improvements to facility provision not being delivered, given the reductions in public sector grant aid for sport. This points to the need to capitalise on opportunities for partnerships with the commercial sector."
She added: "Officers recommended that to provide a sustainable future for football in the borough would require facilities to be provided on an alternate site to the Seamer Road ground. Also, any solution would need to provide sufficient revenue from a wider usage or siting with other facilities to cross-subsidise the stadium to bring costs and subsidies to manageable levels."
The sports village is central to plans to build 150 homes as part of a scheme involving three prominent sites.
The homes are likely to be split between the old McCain Stadium site in Seamer Road and the Filey Road sports centre site.
New sports facilities would then be built at Weaponness Valley coach park within five years. Mr Bennett added: "A key requirement of such a plan would be to ensure it is financially viable, and to ensure it reflects best practice in the provision of high quality sport and leisure facilities."
The council bought the McCain Stadium, the former home of Scarborough FC, from administrators Begbies Traynor for 1.3 million in December 2008. But engineers found it would cost 1 million to return the ground - which has been disused and has suffered extensive vandalism since the club folded in 2007 - to an "acceptable standard".
Rather than place a crippling burden on the football clubs that would use the stadium and risk them going bust as well, the council decided to redevelop the land and look elsewhere for a site for a new stadium.
In the meantime Scarborough Athletic FC have had to play their "home" games 22 miles away in Bridlington since their formation three years ago, while Scarborough Town are currently based at George Pindar Community Sports College in Eastfield.
Scarborough Council has been accused of not providing enough cash for the sports centre in Filey Road, which was established in 1974 and occupies a prime site for housing.
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Weather for Scarborough
Saturday 26 May 2012
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Temperature: 10 C to 18 C
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Temperature: 9 C to 16 C
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