Plans for a new “football hub” revamping sports playing fields with a pavilion, floodlit pitches and tracks have been submitted.

Stockton Council has put the proposals forward to its own planning officers for a community sports hub at Northfield School off Marsh House Avenue and Neasham Avenue near Bede Sixth College College in Billingham. The Billingham Football Hub scheme includes all-weather pitches, grass pitches, an athletics track, an active track, ball courts, a pavilion building and new car parking on council-owned playing fields.

“Essentially, the current proposals involve improvements to existing sports playing fields in order to create high-quality facilities which would be available to the community throughout the year,” says Michael Fearn, director of MFS Resolution in a planning statement. “Whilst the hub programme is football-led, the new facilities will include provision for other forms of sport and physical activity to be delivered from the site.”

He said the proposals would bring significant investment with improved facilities “primarily available for general community use” for football, athletics, distance running, basketball and netball. It is argued this will open up capacity at a time of rising demand, growing clubs, pressure on existing pitches and a lack of good-quality grass pitches and changing facilities.

The masterplan includes:

  • A new sports centre pavilion with servery, community room and changing facilities, with parking for 16 bicycles at the front;
  • One National League standard pitch with stands, toilets, public address system, turnstiles and food and drink unit;
  • Two community artificial grass pitches (AGPs);
  • A multi-use games area with two community ballcourt artificial grass pitches for basketball and netball;
  • An athletics mini-track; a community active track with scope to lay out two full-size football pitches;
  • A new 170-space car park including 11 mobility standard spaces, four electric vehicle charge points, parking for two minibuses and a lay-by for coach drop-offs;
  • 10-12m floodlights for all pitches;
  • Changed road access from Marsh House Avenue.

Mr Fearn wrote: “The proposal involves a considerable investment into community infrastructure. The proposal will be close to the housing and the population which it is intended to serve and there are other services and facilities including educational institutions, within walking distance.

“The current proposal will keep the majority of the land open and free of new buildings. The existing school playing fields are set to continue in sporting use, albeit with the introduction of all-weather surfacing.

“The scheme will create high-quality facilities for participating in community sport upon playing fields, which have now fallen out of use. The new facilities will enable full use to be made of them throughout the year.

“A recent survey of local sports facilities provision has revealed significant deficiencies in both the quantity and quality of provision, particularly in relation to availability of AGPs and facilities for juniors. Much of the better quality existing provision is already at capacity (or subject to sharing agreements, meaning that they are not necessarily available for general use during school term time) and future planning must take account of significant recent and programmed growth in population.

“The loss of some of the existing, redundant, grass playing fields is outweighed by the replacement with high-quality, dedicated sports facilities, which can be available year-round (two of the grass pitches are to be re-provided). The proposals also widen the potential sporting offer from the site to provide for basketball, netball, athletics and distance running.”

He said they received “overwhelmingly positive” responses from neighbours, residents and members of the public. He said concerns about impact on residents, anti-social behaviour, accessibility for the disabled, traffic levels and catering for netball were taken into consideration with the final design, with “specialist expertise” brought in.

The centre is proposed to be open from 9am to 11pm Monday to Friday, 8am to 8.30pm weekends, and 9am to 8.30pm Bank Holidays, with floodlights to be turned off by half an hour before closing.

With funding from sports charity the Football Foundation, the project is part of a football hub programme supported by the FA, Sport England and the Premier League. This is meant to “designed to promote a long-term future for grassroots football, at a time when local authorities are under significant financial pressure”.