Cardinal Newman Catholic School calls for support of all-weather sports pitch
Cardinal Newman Catholic School in Hove has submitted a planning application to Brighton & Hove City Council for the installation of an all-weather sports pitch and changing facilities.
The school is now asking Brighton and Hove residents to back its bid to improve the city’s youth sports facilities, by posting comments on the city council’s online planning portal or writing letters of support.
Local architects Morgan Carn designed the pitch to be suitable for competitive under-16s football, and competitive under-11s and under-12s rugby.
The proposed new pitch will be fully accessible and will be constructed within Cardinal Newman’s walled grounds, immediately south-west of the main school building. It will not affect the adjacent BHASVIC playing field or any of the trees on site.
The project team selected eco-friendly organic infill for the pitch in order to mitigate any adverse impact on the environment, and with the highest standards of health and safety in mind.
Provisions for enhancements to the ecology around the new pitch, including the fitting of bird boxes and bat boxes, are also outlined in the plans.
In addition to extending the playing season for its own students, the artificial surface and associated changing facilities will benefit local primary feeder schools and community sports teams.
The school’s Principal, Dr James Kilmartin, said, “We’re excited to have submitted our plans to invest in an artificial pitch and hope our application will be met with support from the community.
“Brighton is underserved in terms of high-quality artificial playing surface provisions, as evidenced in the city’s most recent Playing Pitch Strategy (2016), and we have clearly laid out how our plans will help meet current and future demand for excellent youth sports facilities.
“We have been allocated specific capital funding from the local authority which will meet some of the costs of the project. We will need to carry out a significant fund-raising exercise to secure additional funds from sports grants and the wider community to make our plans a reality.”
The application follows public consultations with the school’s parents and neighbours, as well as with several of the city’s councillors and community groups. Comments received have been taken on board.
Cardinal Newman Catholic School is confident the development will not lead to any strain on parking in the area as the school has ample on-site parking.
The pitch will be open until 9pm on weekday evenings and until 6pm at the weekends, as required.
To show your support for this development please visit, https://planningapps.brighton-hove.gov.uk/online-applications.
Or write to Development Control, Hove Town Hall, Norton Road, Hove BN3 3BQ quoting application reference BH2019/03286.
For more information please visit www.cncs.co.uk.