Peterborough football club’s £300k clubhouse plans approved

Parkside Athletic Football Club has received outline planning permission from the city council for a ‘hub’ building at Bushfield Leisure Centre in Bushfield, Orton Goldhay.

Its proposals for the new hub on council-owned grass near existing pitches would seat around 60 people with facilities including toilets, a mother and toddler changing room, a kitchen and a small office.

The ambitious plans require £300,000 of funding, although it is hoped that the Football Foundation should be able to match any contributions, bringing the money needed down to £150,000.

Reacting to the news that planning permission has been granted, club chairman Adrian Parrish said: “This is an exciting time not only for our football club but also the whole Orton community.

“Anyone interested in helping us develop the ideas would be welcome to join us.

“We need help to raise money, find sponsors, finalise the internal and external designs, manage the communications with the local community and then, when the hub is built, we will need staff to run it and local clubs and societies will be welcomed to use it.”

Mal Neale, the club’s vice-chairman and driving force behind the plans, said: “This planning approval is fantastic news for the whole community. Please do contact me if you would like to help in any way.

“We will set up a public meeting once we have a core of helpers so that everyone can see how we are progressing and how everyone in the community can work together to make the hub happen.”

Mal can be contacted by calling 07590481535, emailing [email protected] or via www.parksidehub.co.uk.

Speaking previously to the Peterborough Telegraph, Adrian said he believes the clubhouse, once built, would bring wide benefits to the area as it would allow families to stay warm and dry while watching their loved ones play out on the pitches, with the facilities available to other local groups when not being used by the football club.

Parkside Athletic have been based at the leisure centre since 2003 and currently boasts 11 teams (eight youths and three adults) with more than 170 players.

Everyone involved in the club is a volunteer with their time given free of charge.
To pursue the clubhouse dream Parkside Athletic set up a ‘future fund’ eight years ago where every player puts in £1 per month - so far this has generated more than £15,000 to launch their aspirations.