£1m to be spent on 3G sports pitches in Stanley after '12 years of promises'

The plans will see new 3G pitches created in the area.

Residents in the village have been expecting huge investment in local leisure facilities for more than a decade, since plans to build a new 12,000 seater community stadium on Newmarket Lane were first discussed.

The venue would have been a new home ground for Wakefield Trinity but would also have provided sports teams in Stanley with plush new pitches to play on. But despite being given planning permission in 2012, the scheme never came to fruition.

The cash, which was announced on Tuesday, will instead come from a pot of money sourced from the developers of new homes on the nearby City Fields estate.

Planning permission was granted for a new community stadium on Newmarket Lane in 2012, but it was never built.

Senior Wakefield councillors told a Cabinet meeting yesterday that the move would be a "game changer" for sport in the area with football, cricket, rugby and hockey clubs all set to benefit.

Councillor Matthew Morley, who represents the Stanley and Outwood East ward, said: "We have been promising the village of Stanley money for sporting infrastructure for quite a long time and it's not been forthcoming.

"So it's brilliant that we're going to put some money in. We do have a lot of football teams in the ward."

The investment is subject to approval by full council at a later date, though with the support of the authority's ruling Labour majority, that's likely to be a formality.

Councillor Matthew Morley said the investment would make a big difference to the area.

The council's leader, Denise Jeffery said: "I think this is long overdue.

"Promises have been made over the last 10 to 12 years, though not by us.

"But I think it's time we put this right and put some investment into the area."

Local Democracy Reporting Service