Play football – you will be able to at new facilities in Bury and Edinburgh thanks to Walsingham Planning.

Play Football owns and operates artificial surface football centres across the country.  These centres normally have at least 8 five-a-side pitches, (some can be used for other sports), a clubhouse with changing facilities and a bar.

These centres are very popular and the Company positively encourages a diversity of players of all ages and both sexes.

In conjunction with Bury College in Bury, we obtained permission for a centre with 9 pitches on part of their sports field and maintained the grass football pitches.

The scheme is a good example of dual use, with College use throughout the day and then public use in the evenings, weekends and in the holiday periods.

In Edinburgh, on the Civil Service Sports Ground, which is in the Green Belt, we gained permission for 10 external all weather pitches and alterations to the clubhouse to accommodate the expected increase in the use of the club. However, a short time later we were asked to obtain permission for an alternative covered facility for 8 five-a-side pitches closer to the clubhouse.

A further, and rather unusual, complication with this project was the need for Walsingham Planning to overcome concerns that the grassed areas would attract geese which may have increased the risk of “bird strike” at the nearby airport.

Because of the Green Belt locations, we had to make the case for “very special circumstances”.

Both applications were successful and received wide support for this type of facility from the sports community in Edinburgh