Meeting to discuss new football pitch in Chesterfield to take place next week

A new date has been set for the public meeting to discuss proposals for a 3G pitch at Stand Road, after the previous meeting was cancelled. The event will be hosted in the HUB at the Technique Stadium on November 22, starting at 6pm.

The panel at the meeting will include representatives from Chesterfield FC Community Trust, who will be able to explain community benefits a 3G pitch will provide for Chesterfield and the North-East Derbyshire area. The Football Foundation’s designers, who have been responsible for the producing the current proposals for the facility, will also be in attendance.

A spokesman for the Trust said: “We firmly believe that a 3G pitch would greatly benefit the local community, providing excellent facilities and making sports participation more accessible.There are plans for the pitch to be used for a number of free to play sessions, disability groups, mental health teams, walking footballers and a significant number of tournaments for local schools.”

The meeting follows complaints from some local groups and residents who are worried that a third of a public park will be taken away and privatised.

A spokesman for Friends of Stand Road Park said: “The proposal means that local residents and park users will see huge flood-light columns and an austere steel mesh enclosing fence projecting skyward and dominating views across the park.

"Why should local people have massive floodlighting columns towering over their rear gardens? Is this really for the benefit of the community or for the benefit of the club?”