Plans to build football pitch on open space denied

FC Clacton's new facility would have involved building on council-owned green space

A football club's plans to build an all-weather pitch on green space have been refused by councillors.

FC Clacton in Essex hoped to install an artificial grass pitch on land owned by Tendring District Council, next to the club's stadium at Rush Green Rec.

Councillors unanimously rejected the plans at a meeting on Tuesday over concerns it would lead to the loss of a safeguarded open space.

In a social media post, FC Clacton said it was "bitterly disappointed" by the decision.

"We will consider our options carefully [and] probably have to seek legal advice," it said.

Speaking at the meeting, club chairman Steven Andrews said the negatives of the project were outweighed by the potential for "community good".

He told councillors: "We can't deny that we're encroaching into a park.

"But it's a relatively small area and more than offset by the community good the facility will bring to literally hundreds of users every week."

The proposals included a 4.5m (15ft) fence with landscaping around the pitch and four 12m (39ft) floodlights, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

A report by council planners said the pitch would be a "harmful protrusion" into the open space.

'Keep these places'

Maurice Alexander, one of the councillors at the meeting, said the decision was "very difficult", with arguments on either side.

"One, that it would be used by the community as a whole, assuming they can afford to use it.

"The other is that we have created these policies to protect ourselves and to keep these places."

Chairman of the council's planning committee Maria Fowler said: "All-weather pitches are marvellous and this would no doubt have been a well-used facility.

"But this would have prevented the general public from using what is public open space."