A SECONDARY school in Worcester was put forward as an alternative venue for an all-weather sports pitch – but the location was quickly rejected.

Tudor Grange Academy was put forward as a possible place to build a new 3G pitch but council officers said it would leave the school open to the public for too much of the day.

The suggestion was put forward as councillors agreed to set aside £200,000 to help develop the project at Perdiswell Leisure Centre instead.

Cllr Neil Laurenson, who represents the St Stephen ward, said he felt the money could be spent better elsewhere and said the city’s Tudor Grange Academy would prove a “tremendously popular” choice as an alternative location.

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“The resident who made me aware of this said that surely in this economic climate that we find ourselves in, there are better things that we can spend the money on … I have a lot of sympathy with that.

“If there is a nearby location at no cost to this council, I would urge this committee to support that,” he told the communities committee at a meeting in the Guildhall on Wednesday (June 8).

“This is £200,000 when a lot of people are struggling.”

Cllr Jabba Riaz, chair of the communities committee, said he was originally disappointed to see the focus on Perdiswell as a location rather than Pitchcroft or Diglis, but the scheme made a lot of sense.

Alan New, the city council’s contracts and performance manager, said using Tudor Grange could create problems as it would mean having to open up a busy school to the public all day.

The commitment of cash will give the city council access to support from the Football Foundation to draw up the plans.

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The city council’s planning committee rejected an application to build a new stadium for Worcester City FC at Perdiswell in 2018 – a decision that was later overturned on appeal by a government planning inspector.

Lloyd Griffiths, the council’s director of operations, homes and communities, said the proposed facilities were “very different” to a football stadium for Worcester City.

“This is an artificial pitch for training that will be enclosed,” he said. “We’re not talking about an all-seater stadium."