Plans approved for new 3G pitch at South Tyneside community hub

Plans for new sporting facilities – including a new 3G pitch – have been approved at a community hub in South Tyneside.
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A planning application was lodged with South Tyneside Council in 2020 for Perth Green Community Association, off Inverness Road, in the Bede ward.

This included creating a new 3G artificial grass pitch with perimeter fencing and floodlighting columns.

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A design and access statement, submitted with the plans, said the new 3G pitch would benefit the community association, partner organisations and sports clubs in the surrounding area, via “pre-arranged and structured access.”

The new pitch has been approved for Perth Green CAThe new pitch has been approved for Perth Green CA
The new pitch has been approved for Perth Green CA

The report goes on to say: “The new artificial grass pitch will offer a variety of football pitches and training areas within the same enclosed playing space to support development plans into grassroots football.

“In accordance with The Football Association’s current technical guidance, the aspiration is to introduce multiple pitch markings to gain the maximum football developmental outcomes and benefit from the site footprint.”

During consultation, three letters of objection were received from neighbours on Inverness Road raising concerns about loss of green space, parking issues and light and noise pollution.

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However no objections were raised by the council’s highways and environmental health departments or consultees such as Northumbria Police and Sport England.

The plans were approved by South Tyneside Council on March 2, 2021.

In a decision report, council planners said the proposal would “not result in material harm to the amenity of surrounding residents” and would be acceptable in terms of noise.

As part of the plans, a soil bund/ acoustic barrier will be formed between the new development and houses to the east on Inverness Road.

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In addition, a council condition would restrict the use of the pitch and associated floodlighting to protect residents, with approved times including 9am-10pm, Monday to Friday and 9am-6pm on Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays.

Council officers confirmed that the proposed floodlights will not “spill or glare into residential properties” due to the separation distance between houses and the pitch.

They said the proposals were not expected to generate “significant car parking problems that would cause congestion on the public highway to the detriment of highway safety.”

The decision report adds: “During normal operational hours the current car park facility will be sufficient to accommodate the forecasted traffic on site, including the highlighted ‘worst case’ scenario in terms of increased vehicle trip numbers to the new sports pitch.

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“It is also proposed that the centre would, at times when the facility is unusually busy, allocate stewards to car park duties, who will ensure visitors park correctly within the allocated car park areas, guide them to alternative parking facilities if the car park becomes full (such as the overspill car park at the children’s centre) and ensure that no one parks on the public highway outside the site.”

The application was submitted by Perth Green Community Association, which was established around five years ago to provide recreational, leisure and sporting activities for the local community.

The new development is planned for a former gravel-surfaced sports pitch which, according to planning documents, is now overgrown with vegetation.

For more information on the planning application, visit South Tyneside Council’s planning portal and search reference: ST/0686/20/FUL

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