A PUBLIC consultation day was held by the Holsworthy Football Club in the Memorial Hall on Wednesday, November 24, with a session at the weekly coffee morning and another in the evening.

The sessions were well attended with a total of about 60 people who came to the stand to see the proposed plans and to ask questions.

All were very interested to learn about the current limitations, in terms of pitch size and inadequate facilities for the modern game and were enthusiastic about the proposed project. Around half of those in attendance filled in a feedback slip, all of which were positive.

Some of the extracts read: “Will be an asset for the town”, “Brilliant idea”, “Will benefit the whole community” and “Give the community more opportunity to get involved with football”.

During the sessions it was explained that this project was not just about the current football team, but was an opportunity to provide excellent facilities for the future and to encourage other sports to share the facilities.

The club has been looking for a new location within the confines of the town boundaries for years but to no avail.

However, there is now the opportunity to move to a new site on the outskirts of the town which would allow the club to have much better facilities, complying with all the FA requirements and have capacity for other sports groups.

The facilities that could now be available are:

l A full size grass pitch with floodlights enabling the club to play in any competition for which it is eligible.

l A second full size grass pitch needed because of the number of teams playing which would cause overuse of just one pitch.

l A full size 3G pitch with floodlights which would avoid the cancellation of games due to waterlogged grass pitches.

l New changing rooms to FA requirements.

l A new clubhouse, which is a requirement of the South West Peninsular League and would allow the club to be self sufficient.

The next stage in this process will be to hold presentations over the weekend of December 18 and 19 at the Upcott Field club house so that all members are aware of the proposed project and youth football will also be invited to these sessions.