Sport / Cost of 3G pitch rises by over £200k ahead of council decision
SHETLAND Islands Council (SIC) may have to put in an extra £210,000 for a new 3G pitch in Lerwick – taking its total spend to nearly £700,000.
Three tenders were received to build the synthetic pitch at the Clickimin, which can be used for either football or rugby.
But the council said that all three came in “over budget”, which has taken the total cost of the project up to £1.46 million.
The SIC had already agreed to put in £480,000 for the new pitch in March, when the project was expected to cost £1.2 million.
More than half of the total cost had been already been put in by outside funders, with the Scottish Football Association pledging £500,000.
The Shetland Football Association and Shetland Rugby each pledged £10,000 each, with sportscotland putting in £150,000 and Scottish Rugby Union (SRU) adding £50,000.
After the SIC received three over-budget tenders, it then returned to the Scottish FA, SRU and sportscotland and asked for more funding – with an extra £260,000 needed.
However, only sportscotland said it could provide any more money – adding another £50,000 towards the project.
That has left the SIC needing to find another £210,000 to ensure the project can go forward.
The funding increase will need to be approved by councillors at the policy and resources meeting on Monday, and then at a full SIC meeting the following week.
If approved, work is expected to get underway in January, and be completed in time for the 30 June 2025 deadline.
The project has received full planning permission already, but has come under scrutiny from councillors on several occasions this year.
North Isles councillor Robert Thomson called for the council to throw the proposal out in February, pointing towards the cost and the council’s precarious financial outlook.
The 3G surface would replace the current Clickimin rugby pitch, which has frequently been affected by flooding.
Shetland Rugby previously said the new pitch would potentially save the club, with repeated call-offs due to the state of the current surface seriously affecting its fixtures.
And the new pitch would allow Shetland’s male and female footballers to train and play competitively throughout the winter, possibly even allowing them to join mainland leagues.
Become a member of Shetland News
Shetland News is asking its many readers to consider paying for membership to get additional features and services: -
- Remove non-local ads;
- Bookmark posts to read later;
- Exclusive curated weekly newsletter;
- Hide membership messages;
- Comments open for discussion.
If you appreciate what we do and feel strongly about impartial local journalism, then please become a member of Shetland News by either making a single payment, or setting up a monthly, quarterly or yearly subscription.
Already a member? Sign in to hide this message.
