OUTDOOR sports facilities in Wellington could be in for a major shake-up as the town continues to grow.

County councillor Andrew Govier believes the recently published Taunton Deane Playing Pitch strategy offers a ’once in a generation’ opportunity to transform outdoor sports facilities in the town.

The year-long study has identified a number of deficiencies in existing provision and he says the risk is the situation could worsen as new housing estates are completed.

Former footballer Cllr Govier, of Laburnum Road, Wellington, said yesterday: “I really feel that this is a tremendous opportunity to transform outdoor facilities in the town. We have some fantastic sports clubs and their success brings with it challenges as far as having enough pitches is concerned. This report sets out a number of possible alternatives that could deliver a big transformation in the number and quality of pitches.

“The plans include the creation of a multi-pitch sports hub that could allow the town’s football facilities to move to one site, allowing the town’s rugby and cricket clubs to make additional use of the space that football currently utilises. A high specification artificial sports pitch could also be created in the town to allow play when the weather makes grass pitches unplayable.”

Cllr Govier added: “I know that all the sports clubs in the town are continuing to grow, particularly in their young people’s teams, and we must do all we can ensure that the facilities match their aspirations. I believe that sport is an excellent way to ensure that young people can keep fit and develop positive skills.

“The number of youth teams continues to grow year-on-year and there is a real risk that unless extra pitches are made available that certain teams will have to play outside of the town or have to disband. The report puts forward a number of ways in which this could be addressed ranging from some minor tweaking to a radical reshaping of the way current and new facilities are used.”

Cllr Govier said he felt an ambitious response was needed from the local authorities and sporting community to the report. He was impressed with the initial meeting held between representatives of the local authorities, town councillors, sports federation and sports clubs.

“I was really impressed with the willingness of all parties to work together to deliver a huge transformation,” he said. “I have been saying for a number of years that we need to think outside the box if we are to deliver the real change that is necessary.

“There will now be a series of meetings to look at how money that is available from the developers can be used to finance the new facilities.”