The site of popular car boot sales on Lushington Hill could become sports pitches for Priory School.
Plans for the land’s change of use have been submitted to the Isle of Wight Council, turning the currently vacant site into a junior rugby pitch and a smaller training area.
Five-year lease
Priory School, on Beatrice Avenue, Whippingham, is leasing the pitch near the Racecourse Roundabout for the next five years as the sports playing field at the school is not big enough.
According to planning agent, Plan Research, on behalf of the school, Priory has begun to mow the grass and level the bumps and hollows to make the surface suitable for sporting use.
The agents said the Lushington Hill site is far more suitable for the school to use than its current small pitch, with students primarily driven to the site by minibus.
No public access to field
It is proposed the school would only use the site on two afternoons with no general public access of use out of school hours.
Sports England is supporting the application, but as a condition says the pitches should be made available to local clubs.
Community-use scheme
By the end of March next year, Sports England says a community-use scheme should be submitted and approved by the Isle of Wight Council.
This should include details of pricing policy, hours of use, access for non-educational establishment users and management responsibilities.
Relocate toilets
The national body also said it was important the fields were fit for purpose and suggested moving the toilet further away from the pitch’s run-off area to avoid any accidents.
To view the proposals (21/01993/FUL), you can view the council’s planning register. Comments will be accepted until 19th November.
This article is from the BBC’s LDRS (Local Democracy Reporter Service) scheme, which News OnTheWight is part of. Read here to find about more about how that scheme works on the Island. Some alterations and additions may have been made by News OnTheWight. Ed
Image: Lex Photography under CC BY 2.0
