Derbyshire football club plans new pitch despite flooding risk

Belper Tow n Football Club, b ased next to the Strutt’s Mills complex, wants to turn a vacant field directly next to the River Derwent into an additional pitch to meet its growing demand.

The club is prone to flooding having been hit by several feet of floodwater four times in the past five years, leaving its own clubhouse at the Raygar Stadium uninsurable.

If approved, the new pitch, west of the current facilities, would be closer to the river than existing pitches and the clubhouse that already flood during heavy rainfall.

It details in a new application to Amber Valley Borough Council that the extra pitch would be primarily to meet the growing demand for girls football, of which it has 10 teams ranging from under 8s to under 16s.

The club writes in its application: “As the club has grown so has the need to create further facilities to support the increasing number of teams, particularly at junior levels.

“The club operates 10 junior girls teams ranging from under 8s to under 16s and it has been difficult to find a location that is suitable for these teams. The Football Association regulations require girls teams only to operate from locations that are able to offer toilet and washroom facilities.

“The proposed change of use of the land at the western side of the stadium would allow the girls teams to use the changing rooms at the stadium and play their matches on the newly created recreational land.

“The land would also be used for training for senior men and ladies teams when the main football pitch at the stadium is unavailable. It is accepted that the land has the possibility of being subjected to frequent flooding events but, as with the main pitch at the stadium, this is an acceptable situation for the club.”

The club details that the land was an agricultural field but it has now been stripped of crops and grass seed has been sown to turn it into a football pitch. This application will be decided in the next few months.

It comes just over a month after the club filed plans to extend its flood-hit clubhouse with a two-storey extension with a classroom and function room. This is to ensure it can continue to operate even after a flood incident.

It had written that the Football Association will no longer provide it with financial support to combat the impact of flooding and that its clubhouse cannot gain insurance and has been uninsured “for a while”.

The club said this put the club in “jeopardy” and the clubhouse at risk of permanent closure.

Belper Town FC, founded in 1883, play in the Northern Premier League Division One East in the eighth tier of the English football league and finished sixth this season on 60 points with 18 wins, six draws and 14 losses.