A grassroots football club has had its request to take over a run-down football facility in Wishaw approved in principle.
Fir Park Corner FC took a major step forward in its campaign to regenerate Overtown Sports Pitch and Pavilion on Castlehill Road as councillors supported accepting a discount £17,500 offer for the facility – half of its current valuation.
North Lanarkshire Council had already stopped taking bookings for the site due to low demand and declared it surplus to requirements, but the community club has been working for years to acquire.
The club, which already has an amateur team, one for over-35s and four children’s sides, intends to use Overtown as a base to further increase the sporting opportunities it can offer and also host events for the local community, while also investing in upgrades to the facilities on site.
Assessments of the bid from Fir Park Corner were graded very favourably by council officers, especially in terms of support from the community, and the transfer was agreed unanimously at a meeting of North Lanarkshire Council’s communities committee.
The club has carried out extensive work with locals to promote its plans for Overtown including carrying out a survey which attracted more than 350 responses which were overwhelmingly supportive.
As part of its plans to improve the facility the club has submitted a request for £100,000 in Community Asset funding. This will be used on a wide variety of works including plumbing, joinery, groundworks and roofing, as well as improvements to the pitch, signage, security and parking.
The next step in this process is for the council and the club to agree the exact terms of the transfer.
Fir Park Corner FC was initially set up by fans of Motherwell FC who went to games together and decided to start up their own team. The team was named after the online supporters’ message board they were members of.
Back in March, David Fraser, 38, who is the club’s chairman and originally from Coltness, told the Wishaw Press: “There’s not been any football played there for a decade or so, pretty much since Overtown Hearts folded. It’s just been lying falling to bits.
“We approached the council about four years ago about taking on a pitch and they gave us a list to choose from. We chose the Overtown one as we had played there for a season.
“It’s quite tucked away and sheltered and we thought if we invest some time and money in it then it could be a really good site for years to come.”
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