PLANS to sell off a portion of parish land to fund a new sports centre in Chipping Sodbury were announced this week.

David Shipp, of the Town Trust, presented the proposal at Sodbury Town Council’s AGM on Tuesday evening.

“We want to encourage and inspire more people to play sport on the Ridings,” said Mr Shipp.

“The proposal is to build a brand new architect designed sports centre at the southern end of Stub Riding, in conjunction with all the sports clubs on the Ridings.

“We aim to sell part of the land that the town owns to provide the community with better leisure facilities.

“The piece of land in question is currently underused, with just 30 cows benefitting from it at present.

“It would provide some financial stability for the Trust, and enable it to fund the maintenance of the Ridings in the future.”

Mr Shipp said that the Trust aimed to keep the costs of using the Ridings low, for example the fee for hiring a football pitch, to ensure the facilities were accessible to everyone. But at the same time there were significant costs involved in maintaining the land.

Sodbury Town Council chairman Phil Rumney said: “I think Sodbury could do with more varied sports facilities.

“For example, to play indoor bowls, residents currently have to travel to Kingswood.

“To me, this would be a real plus for the area. And if selling this underused piece of land would put enough capital in the kitty to build a new sports hall and provide enough for the Trust to maintain the Ridings for ever, then that’s a good thing.”

The plans have met with a mixed response, with some residents, who have have asked not to be named, raising concerns that the community hasn’t been consulted.

But Mr Shipp said that the Trust are responding to the results of the Sodbury Parish Plan, an action plan based on the wishes of residents, published in 2014.

“Two hundred and forty-six of the residents who handed in completed questionnaires wanted to see improved sports facilities,” he said.

“We’ve also had discussions about this with the Ridings Sports Association, and have talked to the local schools, who tell us their sports facilities are at full capacity and they would love to see this go ahead.

“We’re not doing anything new or unusual here.

“The Town Lands Charity sold land to developers in the 1960s to the benefit of the town, to finance doing up the town hall and other buildings that the town owns.

“And we have checked with the Charity Commission, who are happy with what we are doing.

“But people will have the opportunity to object to the proposal when it goes to planning.”