Huntly Sports Trust Renewing the 3G Pitch
One of the largest awards of £100,000 made by Vattenfall Clashindarroch Wind Farm Community Fund was awarded to Huntly Sports Trust.
The funding supported Huntly Sports Trust to upgrade and redevelop the synthetic pitch, originally installed in 1999, and which was ten years past its end of life.
Work commenced in November 2021 and was completed after 12 weeks on time and on budget. The new pitch facility has been extremely well-received by the community.
Since opening the pitch facility in April 2022, many of the local sports groups have used the pitch and absolutely love the new surface. Many say it is better than grass and that they will not play on anything else. The pitch is used by rugby and football teams, with many of the local residents and community using it on an on-demand basis through an online booking system. Other than some very minor snagging, there has been no issue with the build quality and the feedback from all users, including those travelling out from Aberdeen, has been 100% complimentary towards the new surface and facility. Community uptake has been high, with the facility being used for sporting birthday parties as well as traditional usage.
In addition, the changes to the lighting system will save approximately 4000kWh per year of electricity, which will save the Trust money and reduce the carbon produced by the facility by 0.9 tonnes of CO2 per year.
Huntly Sports Trust then applied again to the Fund and was awarded a further grant in October 2023 to replace the obsolete flood lighting system with a new LED one to cut costs and reduce energy usage. This project was completed in December 2023, and the pitch was back in play with the minimum amount of disruption. 11 clubs use the pitch regularly, with a number of small groups using the facility on an ad hoc basis. This is around 2000 people per month.
Huntly Sports Trust reported that about 500 people have commented positively on the upgraded facility:
“ We know from discussions with many of the community that the upgrade to the 3G pitch and the floodlights have made such a difference to the whole community. What was previously seen as a poor facility and underutilised has been transformed into a gem within the community - one that is well used 7 days a week and is the envy of many other towns across Aberdeenshire”
Read more about the Vattenfall Clashindarroch Wind Farm Community Fund