Ashtead Independents are keen to encourage sport of all kinds in appropriate places.
Ashtead Football Club already hires all-weather pitches at local schools, and the new one is seen as a District-wide facility to hire out. At present children and teenagers can often be seen practising on the area where the enclosure would be, without having to pay the Football Club.
What is proposed uses a surface that has not been approved for pitches by FIFA and will produce toxic nanoparticles of plastic that can get into children's blood streams as well as contaminating the water runoff.
This is the only area where children can play and picnic with nearby car parking and bus stops.
Ashtead Common is a National Nature Reserve and Ashtead Park is Grade II listed and also a Local Nature Reserve so not suitable for general sporting activities.
The Woodfield is managed under arrangements with Natural England for its plants and birdlife so again is not suitable for sporting activities.
Furthermore, alternative positions for an all-weather pitch, which would leave open the area currently used by children and aspiring footballers, have been suggested to the Club but not pursued by them.
You should be aware that it was the Ashtead Independents who saved the Youth Club near The Woodman from closing as we felt that was something that Ashtead should continue to offer.