LETTER: Council must up its game

I am writing on the same day that Horsham Football Club under 18s have had yet another match postponed because of inclement weather and an unfit pitch.
By The Newsroom
Published 28th Feb 2016, 07:17 BST

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This is the 11th match in 12 that this has occurred whilst The Hornets under 16s match was called off at the weekend making it ten postponements out of ten for them as well!

Unfortunately this is a similar story for the majority of local football teams who are struggling to play games or even train in the deepest winter months.

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Another example are Southwater under 11s who recently tweeted that they haven’t been able to play since November - three and a half months without being able to enjoy or hone their skills!

Whilst the Great British Weather is something that will always throw an obstacle in the way of the best of plans, the problems facing our local sides only highlight the need for a much better array of facilities such as 3G artificial pitches being readily available to the local sporting community.

There is a clear and obvious need for improved footballing and sporting amenities - we need to provide opportunities for young people to enable them to develop their skills and even more importantly remain active.

Having recent visited the excellent 3G facility at Lancing FC I can only urge Horsham district councillors to back Horsham FC’s proposals for their own 3G pitches when they submit a planning application for their new home later this year.

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I also feel I need to have a dig at Horsham District Council while I am on my soapbox!

They are responsible for overseeing the local park pitches - the quality of which are in my opinion extremely poor. How you expect ten years olds to wade through two feet of long grass or through swamp-like mud is beyond me! One club recently had a vandal ride a quad bike over their pitch in the days before they were due to play.

The pitch came under the management of HDC yet despite the requests from the club for help to repair the damage to HDC, in the end the only way they got the ground playable again was by volunteers giving up hours of their own time to fix it! No doubt said club pay to use this ground!

It is time for Horsham District Council to up their game - support Horsham FC to develop a new leisure facility to provide more opportunities to the community. Secondly improve and maintain what the community already has!

MARK BARRETT

Brighton Road, Horsham

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