Whitby Town Council urged to deny community asset status for 3G pitch

The 3G sports pitch will be discussed by town councillors

Plans for Whitby's synthetic sport pitch to be registered as a community asset should be rejected, a council report has said.

An extraordinary town council meeting has been called to discuss the outdoor 3G pitch at Eskdale School on Tuesday.

Last month, Whitby Town Council was asked to approve an application to register the pitch as an asset of community value (ACV).

However, plans were postponed by an objection from Whitby Town FC.

If the application was to be approved, the owners wishing to sell the sports pitch would have to wait six months for locals to put together a bid to purchase it on the open market.

Yet, despite positive feedback from councillors at the previous meeting on 9 January, members are being urged to reject the plan.

Managing director of Whitby Town FC, Graeme Hinchliffe, said the club objected because the plan was submitted "without giving others in our community the chance to understand what it really means".

A council report said that, following a consultation with other interested local groups, it was established that there was "no declared threat to the facility".

"North Yorkshire Council as the landowner is committed to the Community Use Agreement governing the 3G pitch as a condition of the funding secured from the Football Foundation," the report said.

An original application by Enterprise International (ESI) to register the pitch as a community asset was reportedly rejected because of international clauses in the organisation's constitution.

If town councillors approve the application, it will be submitted to North Yorkshire Council for a final decision.

An extraordinary meeting of the town council has been scheduled for 13 February at 18:30 GMT.

Members of the public have been invited to attend and will be able to ask questions.