Friday 31 May 2013
Maintenance work has commenced this week on the Footes lane pitch in order to make it in the best possible condition for next season's football and rugby matches.
During the coming working week Culture and Leisure staff will be installing sand slits on the pitch; the work will involve cutting approximately 100 narrow trenches across the pitch and back filling them with gravel and sand. The trench will be cut to a depth of 300 to 350 mm, so that it will meet with the existing drain gravel backfill.
Minister for Culture and Leisure, Deputy Mike O'Hara, said:
"Having taken advice from the Sports Turf Research Institute the decision was taken to install sand slits across the pitch. Specialist equipment has been hired in from the UK, C&L staff will undertake this work, with assistance from a local contractor.
The Board, and I am sure the users of the pitch, are particularly grateful to Ronez who have donated the sand and siftings that are required as part of the £10,000 cost of this work."
It is anticipated that the work will take five working days to complete, after which the pitch will be top dressed with 100 tons of sand and over seeded with a fast germinating rye grass.
-ENDS-