Councillors approve extra £210k for 3G sports pitch – despite concern over budget for ‘luxury’ project

The Clickimin North pitch, mainly used for rugby currently, could be replaced with an all-weather 3G pitch. Photo: Kevin Jones

Councillors have narrowly agreed to stump up a further £210,000 for a new 3G sports pitch – despite concerns about the spiralling costs behind the project.

Members of the policy and resources committee voted five-four in support of the additional funding.

Councillors had already agreed to contribute £480,000 to the project, which will enable a range of sporting clubs to expand their season.

The rest of the project costs were to be covered trough external funding, including £500,000 from the SFA and £150,000 from sportscotland, as well as £10,000 each from Shetland Football Association and Shetland Rugby.

However, the overall estimate of £1.2m came up short when three bids to deliver the project all came back over budget.

Although sportscotland agreed to cover a further £50,000 – the remainder was left to the SIC to fill.

Depute leader Gary Robinson proposed a motion that the SIC “stick to its guns” and not increase the funding beyond the £480,000 previously agreed.

Mr Robinson said he was “very concerned” about the extra costs, which he said represented a 44 per cent hike in the council’s share of the overall spend.

The Lerwick North and Bressay councillor said the six-figure sum already approved by members was “at the limit” of what he felt was affordable.

At a time when the council was having to “draw its belt” and not dip into its reserves, he said the additional spend could not be justified.

Fellow ward member Arwed Wenger was also against agreeing further costs, for what he called a “luxury” project.

Mr Wenger noted there was already a 3G pitch in Whalasy and highlighted the recent comments from council auditors who have urged members to reduce their draw on reserves.

Political leader Emma Macdonald said she could see both sides of the argument.

While she disagreed with Mr Wenger’s description of it as a “luxury project”, Mrs Macdonald said she had concerns about the costs.

North Isles councillor Robert Thomson said he too was concerned by the increasing financial burden.

Having  commented on the costs of the 3G pitch previously, Mr Thomson said he had received some “interesting” comments over Facebook.

Given challenges with the site of the proposed pitch, Mr Thomson said he feared there could be further costs in the future, which could tip the council’s spend over the million pound mark.

Lerwick South member John Fraser called for an amendment, which would agree the additional funding.

While acknowledging his colleagues’ concerns about funding, Mr Fraser said it was rare to be offered such significant amounts of external funding for capital projects.

“Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth,” he said.

Mr Fraser said the 3G pitch had the potential to be a “legacy” project for which the public would look favourable upon the council,

Shetland Central member Davie Sandison said he was satisfied that a “significant amount of work” had been undertaken to “value engineer” the the project and bring down costs as far as possible.

Shetland South member Robbie McGregor pleaded with colleagues to  “show some ambition for its young people. -  saying the investment would be for many years into the future.