A VILLAGE is rejoicing after the district council forked out more than £95,000 to build a state-of-the-art sports area.
South Somerset District Council initially pledged £60,000 to build the tennis, basketball and football arena in Ilton.
Ian Welch, from Ilton Parish Council, said: “It was outlined that there was a need for the multi-use games area (MUGA).
“SSDC gave us £60,00 in funding and that was enough for the recreational development, but not enough to put the floodlights up.”
The parish council then started contacting other potential funding streams, such as sports grants, but it was the district council who came to their aid once again.
Ian said: “We had £35,000 more from them, so in total they paid for every single bit of it.”
The project was set up as a capital fund, with the parish council paying for the work and then SSDC reimbursing them.
The new area has plenty of facilities
After six years of work, diggers finally rolled in on April 30, and the building on the area was completed in the first week of June, before a grand unveiling at the weekend.
Ian added: “It has gone down really well. When school got out on the first day all the kids poured onto it.
“It has calmed down now, but it is still well used.”
Special thanks were also given to Rob Parr and Lynda Pincombe, who work for SSDC and fought to get the MUGA funding for the village.
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