The council is working in partnership with the Football Association to enlarge and astroturf the ball court in Norwood Park close to Elder Road. The detailed plans costing £430,000 can be seen at a public consultation event in West Norwood Health & Leisure Centre , Devane Way SE27 0DF on Monday 26th October from 6.30pm .
Football clubs will pay to use the new ball court marked out as one 9 a-side, two 7 a-side and three 5 a-side football pitches. The site will include a storage container for equipment. The new pitches are to act as a hub for sports organisations to run community football club sessions for: 8-12 year olds, 12 years upwards, women and girls , disabled people, young unemployed, football coaching qualifications and space for the Brixton Bulls Rugby club.
Regular sessions will be timetabled for free drop-in access by the local community.
BMX flatland riders call the ball court The Green Mile (TGM) and object to replacing the tarmac surface with astroturf. See comments on our previous blog dated 27th May 2015. Discussions are taking place with The Norwood School to find the riders an alternative venue .
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So this would be turning a mixed-use free-of-charge area into a money making scheme by the council?
This is an area already used by the local community. Go and have a look on any day and you’ll see dads teaching kids to ride their bikes, kids playing football and joggers… not to mention an important training ground for some of the best BMXers this country has produced. All would be unable to use the ‘upgraded’ courts.
The biggest worry for me is that the plans are to make something much bigger, building on one of the last green spaces in West Norwood.
Has the sizing of the pitch already been agreed then? The consultation letter we were sent last week suggested that this was still up for negotiation. The description above of the new pitch is just one of the two given options.
What is this consultation letter of which Helen Jones writes? I live just off Elder Road and I’ve not received one. Does anyone have a link to it?