Sefton Council Pitch Fees - Protest

[draize]

Not sure if this has been posted anywhere else

My eldest plays under 8's football in the Bootle league which uses council pitches. Sefton Council want to increase pitch fees which means that the current 150 quid a season his club pays will increase to an incredible 1,200 quid. This amount of money for a group of 8 years olds to play football is obscene imo. And, if one council gets away with it, the others in the area will probably follow suit. My lad's other team in the same club play in St Helen's.

Clubs will fold over this. Aside from the fact that we have an impending obesity epidemic amongst kids, the local professional clubs will probably miss out as local talent won't get a chance.

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-fc/liverpool-fc-news/2012/12/06/liverpool-fc-legend-mark-lawrenson-backs-mass-boycott-by-junior-footballers-across-merseyside-over-hike-in-pitch-fees-100252-32371125/

For those interested, there is also a link to an epetition

http://www.gopetition.co.uk/petitions/stop-extortionate-pitch-fees-inreases.html

[dom9]

Signed.

That is a ridiculous hike in fees.

[Leyton388]

Signed mate. Thats bloody disgusting this along with the school playing fields being sold off it's no wonder the kids have nowhere to go or nothing too do.

When i was in school we have a massive school playing field which had 8 football pitches, rugby pitches and running tracks. This has now all gone and has a housing estate on it now.

[rodo]

wouldnt mind but buckley hill is a ****hole

[rodo]

sefton council have backed down for now and there will be no price increase for next year

[Marineboy]

And not just the kids, my mother, who is in her 80's, plays crown green bowls on the local parks, the hike in fee's mean they are being asked, each member of the team, to pay around £16.50 per match to play. In the league they play in this would be 2 or 3 matches per week.

This is a sport that gets OAPs out of the house, involved in an activity that helps keep them fit and motivated within an active social group.

This is a small group of older people who don't ask, or expect, much having been ignored because they don't make a fuss. Thats not the way things were done in their day, you got what you worked for rather than an expectation based on a notion of entitlement.

The council are wrong, and I hope that there is enough common sense around to see that this is one cut too far.

[Kenneth]

I wonder where they will make up the difference.

[TheElephantMan]

Was chatting with a workmate about this a few weeks ago. It's a complete disgrace. Local authorities have to balance their budgets, but surely there should be some common sense. The Olympics seem so long ago already. As a society we should work harder to enable people to be fit and healthy not put financial obstacles in the way.