Thursday, March 28, 2024
HomeYour VillageAlvechurchPlay area move to create room for car parking

Play area move to create room for car parking

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A bold plan to solve parking problems at Rowney Green’s playing fields is being considered by Alvechurch Parish Council.

But the move might have come too late to keep youth football at the hamlet this season, the council heard.

An initial idea of using the parish tennis courts for temporary parking had “created quite a number of concerns”, Coun Andy Humphries told councillors.

He added: “Another one is to use the play area for car parking and move and upgrade the play area to the other side of the tennis courts.”

Parish chairman Marc Worrall said it would create 22 permanent car parking spaces, adding: “We would be looking to the community of Rowney Green to do a ‘Hopwood Mums’ and raise funds for a new play area.”

This would provide sufficient parking for both teams when football matches were played.

But the council heard tensions over footballers using the village hall car park on match days had contributed to Alvechurch Youth Sunday FC deciding to switch to playing at a venue in Bromsgrove.

The club had also decided to stop using the pitch at The Meadows over a lack of storage, but wanted to continue to use the one at Hopwood Community Centre.

District councillor Kate Van Der Plank said: “I’ve been contacted by some of the parents of the footballers who are unhappy about the decision because they don’t want to travel to Bromsgrove. It is the football coaches who are fed up with taking the grief over the parking at Rowney Green.”

Coun Humphries said the council had held a meeting with the village hall trustees.

“They were keen to stress that they had never said footballers couldn’t park at the back of the village hall, it was just a lack of care that had gone against the footballers,” he added.

“I think the trustees were also keen to work with us to try to find a way to attract the footballers back.”

Coun Worrall added: “The trustees said they would see if they could find someone to lead the play area appeal in the Rowney Green community.”