Blairmount Park in Newton Stewart will be subject of further works this week in an effort to bring to an end the flooding problems at the 3G facility. Due to community concerns, the Chair and Vice Chair of the Council’s Community and Customer Services Committee joined the Director of Community and Customer Services Alex Haswell on a site visit last week. The purpose of the visit was to see first-hand the works required on the pitch.
Comprehensive investigative works have been carried out over the past few weeks and it has emerged that water is not draining as it should be in the carpet section of the synthetic surface. As such, a contractor will be on site to form additional holes in the carpeted layer to ensure water drains more effectively.
As well as this work to the carpet layer, further work will be required on the pitch. In order to allow this work to be progressed, a report will go to Wigtown Area Committee on 1 April asking Members to approve an additional grant of £11,953 to complete the works on the pitch.
Part of this work will include a “soakaway” being fitted with a piped overflow to ensure that the areas where the pitch is not draining do not back up and flood again. The playing surface will also be treated with a wetting agent to breakdown the playing surface tension, and restoring the drainage properties to the surface itself. The pitch will be monitored closely during periods of rainfall to ensure these new remediation works are having the desired effect.
Chairman of Community and Customer Services Committee Councillor Tom McAughtrie said;
“Our Council is fully committed to fixing this problem at Blairmount Park. It is a very important facility for the town of Newton Stewart and we are aware that it cannot be used to its full capacity at the moment due to the drainage issues. I would hope that Elected Members will approve the report on Wednesday to allow the works on Blairmount to commence. We will continue to work with contractors and Newton Stewart FC in order to provide a fit for purpose facility and will conclude the works as soon as is practical.”
A copy of the report which is set to go before Wigtown Area committee can be found on our website at; https://egenda.dumgal.gov.uk/aksdumgal/images/att36594.pdf
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