Plans for the Civil Service Sports Ground

How the field might be laid out for community and school use

The emerging plans for the former Civil Service Sports Ground are very exciting indeed. The field will be opened up to schools and the community next year and I am hopeful that we can achieve this by the spring or the summer at the latest. The sooner we can get the site tidied up and into use the better. I think the field will very soon become the heart of the local community in Freemantle.

The City Council has £550,000 allocated to bring the field back into use. The money was set to be spent over 2 years. Year one was to get the site back into use and year 2 funding was earmarked for possible match funding for future bids for grants (such as from Sport England or the Lottery) to go for a much more impressive scheme along the lines of St James Park.Over the last few months the Council has been working on possible plans and associated costings as well as carrying out site surveys.

Initial costings show that the funding set aside for year 1 funding would be sufficient to put about 60% of the site back into use - leaving some land at the Charlton Road end still closed off. To put the whole site back into use would require the full budget.

M general feeling is that it would be best to bring all the site back into use and utilise the full budget in one go. A second phase would have to be subject to future funding.

All the options that the Council is working on include a new entrance off of Malmesbury Road, plus some appropriate fencing and place for a play park as well as various marked up sports pitches.

I do hope to that the scheme can be completed by the Spring of next year although it is very possible that the date will move back if complications occur. Surveys have been carried out and there are various protected animals on the site and there is also Japanese Knotweed which needs dealing with.

There is a friends of St Marks School and local community meeting on Tuesday 17th July at 7pm – 8pm at St Marks school. 

The school holds these meetings regularly but this will be special one to show the designs that the Council has been working on and will an opportunity for local residents to come along and and give their views.

Hopefully I will see quite a few people there but if you want to email me your thoughts or give me a call, please do.