No to Westcroft Football Pitches at Parkland on Cranborne Avenue

Overview:
The Parkland on Cranborne Avenue, Westcroft has recently been turned into 4 Junior Football Pitches for the season 2008/09 with the first set of games taking place on 11 October 2008. This petition has been set up in order to gain support from Westcroft Residents to oppose the change in scope of our Playing Field to Football Pitches.

History:
Milton Keynes Council have told us that this land was identified as a sports field in the original development plan for Westcroft and has consistently been earmarked for use for football as well as cricket. The Council’s Playing Pitch Strategy of 2003 proposed a change from 2 senior football pitches to 4 nursery pitches. The Local Plan (adopted in 2005), which sets out how MK will be developed in the future, continued to indicate playing fields on this site.

Consultation with Residents:
The Council have informed us that the Playing Pitch Strategy and the Local Plan were widely consulted upon in 2003, although with whom they consulted when the majority of Westcroft was still fields they cannot confirm. The Council have undertaken no consultation with the new residents of Westcroft since the building of several hundred new homes and continue to push through the Football Pitch strategy even though they have strong opposition from the Residents.

Future Plans:
The site has only recently been handed over to the Leisure Facilities department within the Council. They have advised us that their intention is to build a Pavilion on the adjoining land to provide changing rooms for the players. As Junior Football does not require changing rooms, it therefore leads only to believe that the Council have plans to change the current 4 junior pitches into Senior Pitches at some stage.

Restriction of Enjoyment for the Residents:
The introduction of these pitches on the parkland off Cranborne Avenue has caused the residents of Westcroft to become prisoners in their own homes every Saturday morning. The field is completely filled with numerous games and spectators, none of which are actually residents of Westcroft. The Council informs us that parking should be limited to the car park and overflow to Morrissons, however, we have seen cars parking on Cranborne Avenue and on the grass verges already.

Dog Walkers – The Council have advised us that the expectation regarding responsible dog ownership is that the dog should be under control and if easily excited should remain on a lead. This is already and infringement of our ability to enjoy our neighbourhood.

Support our Petition:
We require as many signatures as possible to present to the Council in order for them to consider changing this land back to something the Residents can enjoy. There are various other open spaces which do not directly affect residents which can be used for Football Pitches.

Please support us in our quest to have these unsightly pitches removed and sign our petition.

Thank you.