Youth football teams face block on college pitches unless new deal is reached

Youth football teams in Pendle potentially face having to leave a college’s playing fields in Colne.

That’s unless a new agreement about players’ ages and pitch maintenance responsibilities, estimated to cost £10,000, can be reached between college bosses and a council.

Barrowford Road Playing Fields in Colne are owned by Nelson & Colne College, now part of the East Lancashire Learning Group. Three pitches there are mainly used by Barrowford Celtic Football Club including its youth teams, according to a new report for Pendle Council’s Colne committee. 

But recent criticism to both the college group and Pendle Council about issues including pitch maintenance have led to college bosses calling for strict compliance with an agreement signed in 2011, meaning only young footballers aged ten or under can use it.

Under a ‘Section 106’ agreement signed in 2011, linked to a housing development from which Nelson & Colne College benefited, the education group today remains responsible for maintaining the Barrowford Road pitches and associated costs, while Pendle Council handles bookings, according to a council report.

Now, councillors on Pendle’s Colne committee are being asked to write to the education group with suggested solutions. There are various options, according the report, but one could potentially cost Pendle Council £10,000, which it wants to avoid. The hope is that another solution can be agreed, allowing older players to use the pitches while the college group remains responsible for maintenance and costs.

The council report states: “East Lancashire Learning Group and Pendle Council have fielded criticism that the terms of a planning agreement have not been complied with, particularly in terms of pitch maintenance.  Discussions have now defined the maintenance requirements. These are to be fully followed, with funding agreed to by the college for extra work.”

But East Lancashire Learning Group has requested that use of the pitches is ‘strictly aligned’ to the agreement, meaning only children in the under 10 age brackets or younger.

However, demand for pitches has altered over the years. All three pitches have been used by youth teams up to 14 years old. Pendle Council accepts that this is outside of the agreement terms but only in relation to players,  the report adds.

It states:  “The main users of the playing fields are Barrowford Celtic Football Club. Removing these pitches from over 10s will affect several youth teams and force them to be displaced to other sites further afield.”

However, East Lancashire Learning Group is willing to discuss changing the agreement to allow children over 10, the report adds. But only if:

Changes remove all financial and operational obligations on East Lancashire Learning Group.

Responsibility for all ongoing costs, management, maintenance,

bookings, insurance and compliance is transferred to Pendle Council.

And the education group’s ‘reasonable legal and professional costs’ for a variation deed are ‘met in full’ by the council.

But the report adds: “To amend the legal agreement based on the terms offered by East Lancashire Learning Group would benefit it, by removing all the maintenance costs it currently has and would allow for older children to play on the pitches. However, it would be diametrically-opposed to the purpose of the condition and the existing agreement.

“The benefit East Lancashire Learning Group has had was financial gain from a housing development, which required use of the playing fields to compensate. The annual cost of site maintenance to fulfil the agreement is £10,029. The council does not have budgets to cover this. And it is unlikely that local football clubs would be able to fund to such a scale.”

Barrowford Celtic Football Club uses other locations too, according to its information. Colne committee meets on October 9 at Colne Town Hall.