POWYS County Council’s failure to bring ailing all weather facilities at Maldwyn Leisure Centre in Newtown up to scratch have forced two senior sports clubs to quit the town for Welshpool.
Newtown Men’s Hockey Club and Newtown Ladies’ Hockey Club have both re-located to Welshpool’s Flash Leisure Centre, after conceding defeat in their joint battle to upgrade facilities.
The move comes after assurances made by Powys County Council, over plans to start urgently needed improvements, failed to materialise.
Neil Godsell of Newtown Men’s Hockey Club said: “Maldwyn Leisure Centre and its ‘non all-weather pitch’ has been a punchline for a while now, but the situation has now got a little ridiculous.
“As a club we have been unable to train all season due to the facilities at Maldwyn and in the end the club has been forced out of its traditional home so we can at least start playing games again.
“It’s just not good enough from Powys County Council who stated just a month or so ago that work would begin in January. We are now coming up to February and the pitch has now got into such a state that it is unfit for use.
“I feel for Maldwyn Leisure Centre because obviously staff want to provide a service and this situation with the all-weather pitch means a well used facility is now going to be left deserted.”
Shelley Roberts of Newtown Ladies Hockey Club insisted the club had no option other than following the men’s side out of town.
“We have cancelled four home games due to the terrible state of Maldwyn already this season,” she said. “It is even more galling when you remember we are all paying for this facility as tax payers.”
Powys County Council insisted despite the facility’s problems that it is still open for bookings.
A spokesman said: “We are looking at the viability of a £16,000 pressure clean of the carpet to improve the drainage of the sand-filled pitch.
“The pile of the carpet has become blocked over time with mud and airborne debris, preventing water running through into the drainage system below.
“The centre is taking bookings but if there is water on the pitch that prevents play then those bookings have to be cancelled.
“We would like to apologise to our service users for the inconvenience this causes.”