Expensive sports facilities could be set up to benefit the community - but the community may not actually be allowed to use them.
James Hornsby School, in Laindon, wants to build an all-weather pitch with floodlighting and intends to open the pitches to the general community out of school hours.
But Essex County Council is trying to stop the pitches from being used at weekends and after 7pm during the week.
Paul Kirkman, Labour Essex county councillor for Gloucester Park ward, which includes the school, said: "I saw the original application and thought there was nothing wrong with it at all.
"Basically the public would not be allowed to use it if these restrictions were put in. It seems a total waste of time to build a floodlit park that no-one is allowed to play on when it is dark."
The matter will be discussed at Essex County Council's development and regulation committee tomorrow, when councillors may decide to overrule officers' recommendations.
But a spokesman for the council explained the restrictions were necessary to mitigate "any adverse impact on amenity" to local residents, who were concerned about the floodlights.
Published Thursday August 19, 2004
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