An Aberdeenshire community could get a £1 million sports pavilion, while other facilities receive upgrades worth more than £100,000, under a series of new proposals.
The local authority is considering the improvements as part of a shake-up of how pitches are booked in Portlethen, Newtonhill, Stonehaven and Laurencekirk.
It found that some of these areas are poorly provided for when it comes to sport – and football in particular – and are only meeting just about half of the current demand.
The proposed strategy would create local “network pitch forums” to better manage maintenance and co-ordinate bookings between community groups.
As part of this, council officers have identified a number of improvements which could be made to increase clubs’ access to facilities, which the local organisations could then find funding for.
These include upgrades to pitches in Portlethen, revamped changing facilities at Mineralwell Park in Stonehaven and the addition of a seven-a-side football ground beside the bowling green in Laurencekirk.
The possibility of developing a full-sized floodlit pavilion at Hillside, near Portlethen, at a cost of up to £1.2m, has also been raised.
Some of Portlethen Sports Club’s squads have been heading into the city to use all-weather training facilities, as there are none suited for football locally.
In addition, a number of its teams are regularly finding matches organised for grass pitches are being called off due to poor ground conditions.
Chairman Craig McMorrin said increasing sports provision in Aberdeenshire would be “extremely welcome” for the 200 youngsters on the club’s roster.
“At the moment there are no 3G or 4G pitches so we have some of our teams training at Lochside Academy,” he said.
“It feels like we’re not really a Portlethen team if we can’t train there, so we would be fully behind any upgrades to pitches.”
Mr McMorrin added: “A new pavilion at Hillside would be absolutely massive for us and the rest of the community.
“Anything that will help kids get more exercise and be able to enjoy a game of football would be great.
“And a new pavilion would be fantastic for bringing the community even closer together.”
The Kincardine and Mearns area committee will discuss the proposals tomorrow.
