News

Is it all over for football at Cantley?

By Victoria Corbett
November 26, 2008

After three years, hundreds of hours of council time and bundles of taxpayers’ money, the Cantley Park football stand project could be axed.

Number crunchers at Wokingham Borough Council are deciding whether to scrap the hugely controversial plans to build a 250-seat stand for Wokingham and Emmbrook Football Club and upgrade pitches at the park in Twyford Road.

Cash-strapped Wokingham council has spent more than two years working on the scheme with the football club, only to backtrack this week amid the tough financial climate.

When asked if the credit crunch was one of the reasons for the rethink, a council spokesman said the key issue was its poor annual Government grant and soaring demands on vital services, such as adult social care.

He said: “Wokingham Borough Council’s capital resources are limited and the funding for Cantley Park will need to be considered alongside [50] major projects when the council sets its capital programme in February.”

A spokesman for the Football Foundation said yesterday the council had failed to produce all the information needed for the funding bid for £400,000 before it announced the U-turn on its support for the scheme.

This is despite representatives from the organisation, funded by the Football Association (FA), sitting down with council officers before the application was submitted to discuss the details of the bid.

The Football Foundation spokesman said: “From our point of view we are happy to move it on, the ball is in their court.”

- More in this week's Wokingham Times.

| View Comments (1)

« Previous Story | Next Story »

We are no longer accepting comments on this article.

Most recent user comments 1 of 1

This was a mess from the start. How hard is it to build what is effectively a shed with seats in? And on a field already used for sport no less! The biggest mistake the football club made was pairing up with the council on this! Go it alone guys!