No playing field (From Gazette Series)

No playing field

SIR - I agree with Mr Linge's letter "Council forgets Wotton development once again" to the extent that the youth of Wotton have virtually no playing space since the building of the Blue Coat School.

The sports clubs of Wotton, apart from Wotton Rovers FC, have to play at some distance from Wotton-under-Edge. The hockey club, one of the top ten teams in Wales and the West of England is having great difficulty in attracting new young blood as they have to train in Stroud. The Wotton public are not able to watch some of the top talent for miles and are being deprived of top quality hockey viewing.

Why can't Wotton have an astro facility when pitches are to be built in Thornbury and Winterbourne shortly. Who is financing this?

Wotton-under-Edge youngsters deserve better sports facilities than they have presently and as Mr Linge says, although a little extreme, perhaps the death of a youngster playing in the road will wake the District and Town Council up. There is an aspect of Mr Linge's letter that I find confusing. If youngsters had a playing field on which a school was built, who was the beneficiary of the funds of the old Blue Coat site which was sold for housing. Surely the beneficiaries at least partially should be the youngsters.

This is a shocking state of affairs for our youngsters. Councillors please give the Wotton public some answers. Wotton Cricket club no longer exists, how long will it be before the next club falls by the wayside?

W Cruickshank Parklands Wotton-under-Edge