Councillors welcome Wakehurst progress

BALLYMENA DUP Councillors Paul Frew and Martin Clarke joined members of the public on a site visit of Wakehurst Playing Fields to assess improvement work being carried out on the pitches.

Cllr Frew said the campaign to upgrade the Harryville based facilities was “welcome and very much appreciated by the local community.

He said: “The current scheme includes pitch refurbishment of Wakehurst and there is £150,000 in this year’s budget and another £150,000 for 2012/2013.

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“This will completely reinvigorate the Wakehurst Playing Fields with a brand new drainage system and total pitch refurbishment which will make the playing surface much better.

“Over the last few years there has been a community protest which sometimes hasn’t always been constructive but I understand the frustration that was going on. I had met with the football teams and was able to get this through council along with the help of Cllr Clarke and other councillors because we feel that Wakehurst is a very, very important and special place within Harryville but also Ballymena in it’s entirety.

“These are iconic pitches, everyone from the province who knows football is aware of these pitches and it is very important that Ballymena Council recognise that and are prepared to put the money and the investment into the area,” said Cllr Frew.

He added: “This isn’t just about drainage alone, this is also about regeneration of Wakehurst and Harryville and of course there is a replacement community centre earmarked for the site with changing facilities, a main Hall, auxiliary rooms and car parking.

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“There is £750,000 earmarked for the budgetary period 2012/2013 and a further £750,000 for 2013/2014 which will mean at the end of that process there is a brand new community centre and state of the art pitches which will be a great credit to the local community and of great need at this time”.