A Portadown councillor has flagged up a “seven figure overtime bill” by ABC Council as he slammed a complete failure to properly maintain a small football pitch and play area in a heavily-populated residential area of the town.
An irate Councillor Kyle Moutray has insisted ABC Council must increase the frequency of grass cutting at the pitch in Drumilly Green.
And he used the March monthly meeting of ABC Council to air grievances which stretch back some considerable time.
The DUP man claimed that the community was basically being fobbed off, with excuses that grass clippings could not be removed due to budgetary constraints.
He also pointed to the embarassment of a social media video showing a young boy forced to take action into his own hands and use a push-mower to try and do the job himself!
And all this, he said, came when a red-faced council was staring at an eye-watering overtime bill sitting on their desks which currently stretched to seven figures.
Councillor Moutray said the pitch was used extensively in the summer months and the “very valid complaints” had been raised repeatedly by residents in the area of Drumilly Green, at the heart of Corcrain and Redmandville.
He said: “This green is owned and maintained by council and within it is a small grass football pitch where children play throughout the spring and summer months.
“Last summer, I raised the issue of grass cutting on this pitch with ground maintenance within this council.
“For context, the grass is often left far too long and, on the rare occasions that it is cut, it is mulched, meaning long clippings are left behind, making the surface unplayable for children.
“Despite this, children still play on it throughout the summer months and there would rarely be an occasion when you go and you do not see large groups of children congregating here on Drumilly Green.
“Now, this particular estate is of considerable size, and within Corcrain and Redmandville – and the newer developments surrounding it – there’s an estimated 1,400 homes in this area.
“Within this very estate, council removed four nets from the all-weather pitches a decade ago and they have never been replaced.
“There is no MUGA (multi-use games area) and this is the only form of sports pitch in the area.
“I have spoken to officers in previous months about the scarcity of sports pitches across Portadown and this has been well documented.
“In the summer of 2023, when I asked council to maintain this pitch and to remove the grass clippings to make it playable for children, I was told that it couldn’t be done due to budgetary constraints.
“And yet this is the very same council that has a seven figure overtime bill at present, and I am told that we cannot muster the small nominal amount of money to remove grass clippings from a football pitch that is played on, both day and night, throughout the summer months.
“To me, this is contradictory. This council boasts a corporate policy of encouraging young people to get outdoors to stay fit and healthy.
“The Get Moving ABC partnership has a target set of this borough becoming the most physically active in Northern Ireland, and yet, just a few weeks ago, a video circulated on social media of a young boy mowing the grass with a push lawn mower himself.
“Why? Because it has been long neglected by this council and this is the expectation of the people who live in Corcrain and Redmandville.
“I do not see this as an unrealistic request, and I would simply ask that this matter is taken forward in the months ahead, and that we can explore a better way of delivering acceptable conditions for the young people in Corcrain and Redmandville.”
Jonathan Hayes, strategic director of Neighbourhood Services, explained that the matter would be looked into.
“I’ll pick this up with the the head of Department and certainly we want to look at all of our pitches right across the borough in terms of the service level agreements that we have, in terms of the frequency of cutting and so on and so forth,” he said.
“If required, I’m happy to take a report or ask the head of Department to bring a report back to one of the next Environmental Services committee meetings.”
