Park changing rooms 'in worse state than prisons' amid £150k funding pledge
Football clubs face dilapidated park changing rooms, with 'better conditions found in prisons', which would put off the next generation of players, it has been claimed.
The claim came as Dudley Council leader, Councillor Patrick Harley, says the authority will pump £120,000 into improving grassroots facilities over the next three years.
Officials from the Stourbridge and District Youth Football League say facilities have been "dying a death" for many years and urged the council to back up its proposal.
The league has a burgeoning girls set up with more than 50 teams playing across the borough - often on poorly maintained pitches.
League chair Lesley Cave says officials have to organise central venues for girls to get changed at including Summerhill School, in Kingswinford, due to the standard of many park changing rooms.
Meanwhile teams often face faulty showers, poorly kept changing areas or even none at all.
"Facilities are in a poor state and they have been dying a death over the last couple of years," she said.
"It is good to hear they are looking into this and making improvements. It is needed. Pitches also need improving."
Councillor Harley said council-run changing rooms - some of which are 50-years-old - are in urgent need of a revamp.
The council is carrying out a major review into the condition and sustainability of changing rooms and sports pitches.
Councillor Harley, who has run community football teams over the years, said: “Some of those changing rooms, you have got better conditions in prisons.
"You would have a better shower in prisons than in one of our council-owned provisions.
“There is a lot of people that play football on a Saturday or Sunday morning or in the afternoon - let’s give them the facilities they deserve.”
Alongside a planned programme of repairs and upgrades, the council is looking at making sports buildings more energy efficient.
Councillor Karen Shakespeare, cabinet member for parks and open spaces, said: “We have to make sure that we not only make them as welcoming as possible, but a viable place for new sports teams.
“Some of our changing rooms date back to the 1970s and in need of repair and improvement.
“The time is right to do that through the proposed investment.
“The proposals are still subject to approval by the council but this demonstrates how serious we are about improving our parks and open spaces.”
Junior teams pay £134.90 per season just for using changing rooms and showers while senior teams pay £665.53 per season including pitch hire.
Pitch hire ranges from £235 up to £402 per season with causal hire charges available.
Council bosses will discuss the proposals at cabinet on October 31 before rubber-stamping the investment in February.
The council had pumped more cash into the budget for greencare, which maintains parks and open spaces, over the past two years.
Around £500,000 has been put into the budget, says the council, since 2017.
