Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Enough demand for matches in Elgin to justify three new football pitches, says councillor

The plans for Deanshaugh have been scaled back from three pitches to one.
The plans for Deanshaugh have been scaled back from three pitches to one.

A Moray councillor has warned that scaled-back plans for football pitches in Elgin will not be enough to satisfy demand in the town.

Leisure bosses at Moray Council have revised proposals to open three pitches and changing rooms at Deanshaugh due to cost.

The changes mean there will only be one new pitch created, with proposals for the construction of a pavilion abandoned.

A decision about the future of the football fields was delayed last month after the local authority was accused of betraying sports clubs with the revisions.

And yesterday, Elgin City North councillor Patsy Gowans insisted there was enough demand from youngsters in the town to fill three pitches at the park, which has not been used for games since 2005.

She said: “There has never been any mention of the pavilion not being able to go ahead due to a lack of affordability until now.

“It’s a shame because we really need grass pitches in Elgin. What I hear from parents is that they have to go outside the town for games. I have heard a lot of complaints about this.”

A report for Wednesday’s full council by Graham Jarvis, the council’s head of lifelong learning, culture and sport, has warned there will be “little demand” for the pitch without bookings.

The council officer also claimed the authority’s finances were now under greater scrutiny from the Scottish Government.

It is expected 3G pitches will be open at the new Elgin High School and Moray Sports Centre in 2019 with another to follow in Lossiemouth by 2021.

But some locals believe that the problem needs to be addressed now and not in three or five years.