Plastic-free Ryedale school wins synthetic pitch bid

The pitch is planned to improve facilities for its 730 pupils, said Ryedale Learning Trust

A school has won its bid for a synthetic football pitch just months after its pupils secured a Plastic Free Status environmental award.

Ryedale School had submitted a planning application for a floodlit, all-weather, plastic playing surface.

The school in Nawton, near Helmlsey, got the award from green group Surfers Against Sewage four months ago.

North Yorkshire County Council approved the plan after hearing there were no similar facilities in the area.

Ryedale Learning Trust, which runs the school, has said there was "nothing contradictory" in the plans.

It previously said its construction "would at first seem to go against being plastic-free" but the materials involved can be recycled, thus removing the single-use plastic label.

The pitch, which is off Gale Lane in the village on the fringe of the North York Moors National Park, would bring "many environmental benefits", it added.

A trust spokesman said before the meeting the new pitch would cut the need for travel to other facilities, the Local Democracy Reporting Service added.

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The Football Foundation has pledged up to £500,000 as long as the facility supports disability sports and women's football

However, the plan also faced criticism over noise and light pollution.

The academy's pitch is to have a 14ft 7in (4.5m) mesh fence and eight 50ft-high (15m) floodlights around it.

Councillor David Hugill, the chairman of planning for the national park, said the scheme was unsuitable in a village just 0.6 miles (1km) from the park boundary.

The park was declared a Dark Skies Reserve in December in recognition of its unpolluted skies.

Mark McCandless, the trust's chief executive, said sporting facilities were inadequate for students who had to travel to other schools for matches during the winter months.

A resident told the meeting it was "crazy to establish such a facility" where there was "neither infrastructure nor frequent public transport".

However, the committee decided planning conditions and modern lighting would be sufficient to ensure residents were not badly affected.