Council could foot £3.2m bill for pitch repairs

Repairs to Scarborough Athletic's football pitch which were expected to cost millions of pounds would be paid by North Yorkshire Council if talks with the original contractor broke down, the authority has confirmed.

A recent survey identified "serious structural issues'" at the council-owned Scarborough Sports Village, including a defective drainage system installed when the facility was first built.

As a result, home games at the start of the new season were due to be played at Bridlington Town's ground 17 miles (27km) away .

At a meeting on Tuesday, councillors were told the authority was committed to the long-term future of the community football pitch and to finding a timely solution.

A meeting of North Yorkshire Council's executive heard repairs at the ground could cost up to £3.2m, although it was hoped that the actual figure would be smaller, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Councillor Simon Myers, executive member for culture, arts, and housing, told the meeting: "Not only do we want to put it right, we want it done as soon as possible for the club and the fans. That is our commitment."

The meeting was told that the council had agreed a "backstop" position where, in the event that negotiations with the contractor did not produce an early solution, the authority would ultimately undertake work to repair and resurface the pitch.

Myers told the meeting that those negotiations were currently at a "crunch point" and "we should know where we're going in the next week or so".

The plan for the backstop was unanimously approved by the executive committee, but concerns were raised about its financing, as well as the cause of the instability in the pitch.

The original pitch development agreement was with Wrenbridge, subcontracted to Wilmott Dixon and other parties.

Myers told councillors that the pitch "should have had a lifespan of 10 years, but it turned out it was not adequate for use by Scarborough Athletic Football Club and an investigation found there were major faults when it was originally built".

He told councillors: "Do not fear that we won't hesitate to pursue all appropriate legal remedies" regarding the original work that was done on the pitch.

Improvements to the quality of the pitch would enable Scarborough Athletic to maintain its current level of play, the meeting heard.

However, that would result in reduced community use, from about 20 hours to less than 40 hours previously, members were told.

Wilmott Dixon has yet to respond to BBC requests for comment.

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