Stubbington Youth football team kicks off about Gosport Borough Council plan to cut money from sports pitches

Changes to Gosport Borough Council’s capital programme, discussed last week, removed funding from three pavilion and sport facility schemes in Brookers Field, Nobes Avenue and Privett Park.

The pitches currently in use have been described as in a ‘shocking state’ with youth clubs struggling to provide games and training sessions.

Stubbington Youth FC spokesman Andrew Griffin said: ‘We have been in dialogue with Gosport Borough Council about improving the football facilities we use for a while.

‘The first I was aware that there was any threat to a refurbishment of Brookers Pavilion came last week on the day the council were due to meet.

‘I am frankly staggered that such a large number of schemes that will benefit a considerable chunk of the community have all been scrapped in favour of one scheme.

‘Having spent more than a decade helping to transform Stubbington from a six-team club that now has more than 30 teams – providing playing opportunities for hundreds of boys and girls from the age of five up to 18 and now beyond in the process – the prospect of having not even simple toilet facilities going forward is quite an indictment about the councillors’ priorities.’

Councillor Stephen Philpott added: ‘The decision is probably the worst decision for sport in all the time I've been on the council.

‘To take more than £1.5m out of the capital programme specifically designed to encourage people to participate in sport - it’s an absolutely scandalous decision.

‘That money has now gone and there’s no intention of bringing it back because the entire amount has been funnelled into paying for the acquisition and refurbishment of the Criterion.’

However, Cllr Peter Chegwyn, leader of the council said there is around £750,000 allocated to sport in the council's budget and he is committed to improving facilities.

He said: ‘No money has been taken out from sports pavilions - today we’ve been looking at repairing the Brookers pavilion which has minor roof damage.

‘We will be looking at wider works and deciding priorities between all our pavilions given that the previous administration failed to improve any of them.

‘They’re all in a pretty shocking state but we can’t do them all overnight but we have started on Brookers.

‘We will be spending many hundreds of thousands on not just improving the pavilions but sports facilities generally throughout the borough along with children's play areas.’