A petition has been launched in a bid to secure an artificial pitch for Keswick’s sports teams to train and play on.
Mother-of-two Sarah Brack, 36, wants as many people as possible to get behind the call for the 3G facility which she believes is sorely needed in the town.
3G synthetic surfaces are designed to offer similar characteristics to playing on natural turf, mimicking the ball bounce and roll and are not affected by the weather.
“They have them in a lot of other towns around here,” said Sarah, whose son Joe plays for Keswick FC’s under-11s.
“Keswick is the only place locally that does not have one.”
She said that Penrith has three, Carlisle, Workington, Cockermouth, Whitehaven and Kendal have two while Cleator Moor and Maryport have one.
“I can only speak from the football side of things but with the bad weather that we get in the winter, matches and training have to be cancelled because the pitch is often waterlogged,” said Sarah, who lives on Millfield Gardens.
“If we had a 3G pitch, then it could be played on all year round.”
She pointed out that Keswick’s senior players have to travel to Penrith to train in the winter because there are no facilities available in Keswick.
“It would not just be for the footballers. all of the community would benefit,” said Sarah, who put the petition up on Monday after a conversation she had with Keswick FC’s under-12 coach, Matty Thompson.
“We thought that if we set up a petition then Allerdale Borough Council would know how we feel about it and it might well set some wheels in motion.”
Sarah has not a site in mind but believes that Allerdale Borough Council could tap into available grants and FA funding to make the dream a reality.
“The leisure and sporting facilities in Keswick are horrendous, we don’t even have a swimming pool,” said Sarah, who would like the petition to generate at least 500 signatures.
“I have researched into it and there is a lot of funding available through the FA to build these sorts of facilities. They funded the one they have at Maryport three years ago.”
Scores of people have already added their name to the petition along with comments.
“Keswick would benefit hugely from such sports facilities,” said Andrew Whipp.
“Having grown up and lived in the town all my life I have always felt Keswick has somewhat always lagged behind in comparison to other local towns with such facilities.”
Steven Hamer said it should be made a key feature for any proposed leisure facility development in the town.
“For too long has Keswick had to make do with substandard facilities which struggle to meet the needs of the town’s population,” he said.
Garry Alston said: “It’s outrageous we don’t have this facility already!”
To sign the petition, visit http://ipt.io/I4F46
