Frustration as 'too much bureaucracy' delays football pitch security fencing scheme
A councillor has complained about “too much bureaucracy” after a 14 month wait for new security fencing to be installed around football pitches.
Councillor Curt Pugh said South Park Rangers Football Club, which is based at Smith’s Dock Park, Normanby, had been “terrorised” by off road bikers who regularly caused damage after riding onto pitches.
Cllr Pugh, who represents the Normanby ward and another councillor, Teesville member Peter Chaney, approached Redcar and Cleveland Council after hearing of the concerns and were grateful when officers suggested that fencing and funding from a previously aborted project in Grangetown could be repurposed for use at the park. However approval was required from the Tees Valley Combined Authority which part-funded the Grangetown project from its Indigenous Growth Fund.
- Footage: Stagecoach bus 'gang attack' halts service on journey to Middlesbrough
- Huge police response in Hemlington as 'cups, bricks and chairs hurled' in five-hour stand off
Cllr Pugh said the fencing was wanted before the start of the previous football season last August, but after more than a year and “months of waiting” it had still not been installed and blamed "too much bureaucracy".
He said: “The whole thing is just a joke and the club itself is frustrated. If it takes over a year and more to get a fence put in, how do we manage to get anything done?
“It is concerning that what should have been a simple matter has become bogged down in bureaucracy to this extent, and it doesn't paint a good picture as to the way in which the council works with the TVCA.”
Cllr Pugh said initially the club had been told the work would be completed within a few months and, while it was now meant to begin next month, a “reflection on the process” was needed. He also claimed that it was only after he contacted Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen’s office that further progress was made.
Councillor Lynn Pallister, the cabinet member for growth and enterprise, said she was a supporter of grassroots sport and was “frustrated as well it has taken so long”. Describing a timeline of events, she said council officers had chased the matter on several occasions, but received no response from the TVCA, and as a result it had not been able to instruct the work could go ahead.
She said the council had told the TVCA in June last year that the Grangetown project was being abandoned and requested permission to move the funding to an alternative scheme in the TS6 area.
The council submitted a ‘programme change request’ in September and was then advised in October that the request was being appraised. However it was not until February the request was granted with a site meeting involving the council, the contractor and the club taking place in April.
A quote was later received, which the council said had increased in price, leading to a further query and delay. An agreement on the price was not reached until the end of June, with a date then being set for the fence installation.
Cllr Pallister said: “I am really sorry, but you can see from this timeline this has gone back and forth between different people.”
The Grangetown project intended to create a safe space for community-related events on Kingsley Field for community events, but was eventually scrapped due to repeated attacks by vandals. A CCTV column associated with the work was set on fire and fencing panels and signs stolen.
A TVCA spokesman said: "We have worked closely with Redcar and Cleveland Council to deliver the funding for this project, including accommodating the request to transfer the funding to a project at an alternative location at Smith's Dock Park in Normanby.
"Following this request, a change to the funding agreement was agreed earlier this year allowing work to proceed."
For Redcar & Cleveland news direct to your inbox, go here to sign up to our free newsletter