Football club seeks new pitch despite flooding risk

Belper Town's pitches were flooded in October 2023

A flood-prone Derbyshire football club has submitted plans for a new pitch which could spend large parts of the year under water.

Belper Town Football Club, based next to the Strutt’s Mills complex, wants to turn a vacant field directly next to the River Derwent into an additional pitch to meet its growing demand.

Its home ground at Raygar Stadium has been hit by several feet of floodwater four times in the past five years, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said.

The club said that the risk of flooding on the new pitch was an "acceptable situation".

If approved, the new pitch, west of the current facilities, would be closer to the river than existing pitches and the clubhouse that already flood during heavy rainfall.

In an application to Amber Valley Borough Council, the club said that the extra pitch would be primarily to meet the growing demand for girls football, of which it has 10 teams ranging from under 8s to under 16s.

The club wrote: "It is accepted that the land has the possibility of being subjected to frequent flooding events but, as with the main pitch at the stadium, this is an acceptable situation for the club."

It comes just over a month after the club filed plans to extend its clubhouse with a two-storey extension with a classroom and function room, the LDRS said.

It said the move was to ensure it could continue to operate even after a flood.

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