Jamie Ross
Funding for a state-of-the-art sports facility in a north-east town is expected to be approved later this week.
Aberdeenshire Council will discuss plans for a sports facility at Fraserburgh’s South Links on Thursday, when it is anticipated that funding to support the £1.2million project will be agreed.
The scheme was first unveiled in July, when the Fraserburgh South Links Sports Development Trust (SLSDT) lodged plans with the authority to convert existing football pitches in the port into a modern athletics facility.
It will include a six-lane running track around a floodlit football pitch once it has been constructed.
Space has also been earmarked for field events, including the long and triple jump, as well as an all-abilities cycling track which is proposed on the periphery of the site.
The council’s policy committee is now set to guarantee more than £600,000 to help bring the project to fruition.
Stephen Archer, the council’s director of infrastructure services, has urged councillors to support the bid.
In his report, he stated: “The local regeneration group, chaired by the area manager, recommend that the funding be approved due to the impact it achieves and the widespread support from the community for the project.”
Norman Reid, treasurer of SLSDT, added the project had “taken a lot of work”, prior to reaching the council planners.
He said: “It is a major step. We have cut no corners and we have been diligent.
Mr Reid admitted the trust was stuck in a “vicious circle” of funding and planning, whereby it had to secure planning permission before it could apply for any money from bodies such as sportscotland.
Yet, as he explained: “We have no facilities in Fraserburgh – other than one all-weather pitch which is oversubscribed.”
If approval is granted and the trust wins funding from sportscotland, the project will go out to tender and work could begin as soon as the end of this year.
Graeme Clark, trust convener, said: “It’s a positive step. A lot of the funding relies on this [backing from council]. It’s a vital step and it’s the culmination of a lot of public consultation.”
