A set of goalposts will not be returning to an Inverness park after the issue left a city community divided.
Kids in Westhill were delighted last year when Highland Council erected sets of posts at each end of Burn Brae Park.
But the move led to a boom in popularity at the park and both goalmouths quickly deteriorated into a mud bath.
The council removed the posts in March to let the grass recover.
The intention was to bring them back for the summer months.
But their future was put in doubt after a stormy meeting about the issue.
Westhill divided on best use for park
At a Cradlehall and Westhill Community Council meeting, there were also claims that kids had been urinating in gardens, littering, using foul language and creating a noise disturbance late at night.
On the other side of the divide, youngsters were over the moon to finally have some new facilities in a part of the town that badly needs them.
Ultimately, a majority of local councillors have now decided it is not suitable to keep the posts.
Inverness South councillor Ken Gowans did not agree with the decision.
He acknowledged there had been issues with drainage at the pitch.
But he hoped to strike a compromise of taking down the full-sized goals and putting up one smaller set for younger kids.
“It’s really disappointing that there now won’t be any,” councillor Gowans said. “It was putting a lot of pressure on the grass, we could see the ground is not suitable for a full-size football pitch but to have nothing there, it’s a retrograde step.”
Cradlehall Primary Football Club chairman Matt Smith is one of many people unhappy about the decision.
He said: “This is ridiculous and not what the vast majority of parents I speak to at Cradlehall Football Club want.
“The complete lack of provision in this area for kids to play football is hugely frustrating.
“Kids need safe outdoor places they can play in.”
Drainage concerns sealed park’s fate
Youngsters have been playing football at the park for decades.
The new posts gave local kids a lift after a tough few years.
Few could have expected them to turn into such a thorny issue.
Burn Brae resident Steven Watson is another who supports the posts staying at the park.
His two sons are regular users of the pitch and are big fans.
He said: “This is a pretty sad state of affairs. But it won’t stop kids playing at the park.”
Fellow local resident Colin Baillie – a much-loved coach who was awarded the freedom of Inverness in 2018 for his services to sport – said it was clear that several people did not want the posts put up.
He said: “I can understand why some people are not happy. But it is a park that is there to be played on.
“Portable goals and a smaller pitch seems like the most sensible thing.”
Inverness South councillor Duncan Macpherson said the pitch was inspected by the local authority’s parks and gardens team.
It is mainly clay with a small amount of topsoil.
That means drainage is always going to be a problem.
Councillor Macpherson said: “This decision was made for us by the experts, the council’s ground staff.
“They came in, assessed it and gave it a big thumbs down.
“On top of that, you had groups of youths descending on it and numerous antisocial behaviour issues arising from that.”
How has the council responded?
A Highland Council spokeswoman said the goals had been removed in March because of issues raised by local residents.
She added: “Local members and council officers met yesterday for an update on the park and to consider the existing issues and came to a majority decision that no goals will be returned to the park.
“The decision not to return goals to the park was made due the prohibitive cost of erecting high fencing that would be required, ground re-seeding and ongoing maintenance, and continuing representations from local residents.
“All noted that the park can still be used for kick-about football use without a set of goals being sited.”
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