A full-size 3G football pitch inside the Goldsmiths running track, costed at about £1.1m. Cabinet votes Wednesday on moving £300,000 from Beacon Academy.

Crowborough’s long-promised all-weather football pitch has a new home. The plan is to build it at Goldsmiths Recreation Ground, inside the existing running track, instead of at Beacon Academy.

Wealden District Council’s Cabinet is asked on Wednesday 7 October to move £300,000 it set aside for the pitch in 2023 to the new site. (Cabinet report, reallocation of 3G pitch funds)

The project would be a full-size pitch with changing rooms and floodlights, costed by the Football Foundation at about £1.1 million.

Why it is moving

In March 2023 Cabinet gave Beacon Academy £600,000 from developer contributions: £300,000 to resurface its hockey pitch and £300,000 for a new 3G football pitch. The hockey pitch was finished and officially opened on 23 October 2024. The football pitch never got going.

The Football Foundation, the main funder, says the academy could not meet its terms. Lee Suter, its delivery manager, says in a statement attached to the report that the academy “was unable to commit to key elements of our funding requirements”. He names its pricing policy and a financial contribution to the cost. (Appendix C, partner support)

He adds that this “is not intended as a criticism of Beacon Academy”, and that the academy could still pursue its own 3G pitch in future.

The Foundation and Sussex FA then reviewed sites across the area. They concluded Goldsmiths was “the strongest strategic opportunity”. Sussex FA calls it its priority for an 11-a-side 3G pitch in the Crowborough area.

Who pays

The report sets out these contributions towards the roughly £1.1 million cost:

  • Football Foundation: has agreed in principle to fund 60 to 70% of the project. It will pay for feasibility, pre-planning and design work at its own risk.
  • Wealden District Council: £300,000 of Community Infrastructure Levy and section 106 money, already in its accounts for a Crowborough 3G pitch.
  • Crowborough Town Council: £100,000. The town council owns the recreation ground and backs the plan.

Wealden would pass its £300,000 to the town council under a grant agreement. That agreement must protect community use and may require a sinking fund to replace the surface in future. No money moves until all sides sign.

Why Crowborough needs one

Wealden’s Playing Pitch and Outdoor Sports Strategy found the Crowborough area is short of 2.5 full-size 3G pitches. The report warns the shortfall “could worsen with future housing development”. The district’s draft Local Plan names ten housing sites in Crowborough.

The nearest new 3G pitches are at the district’s Community Sports Hub at Lower Dicker, near Hailsham, about 12 miles south as the crow flies.

What else is at Goldsmiths

The recreation ground is already the town’s main sports site. The report lists:

  • a running track, with floodlights along one side
  • grass football pitches
  • Crowborough Leisure Centre, with a pool and dry-side facilities
  • two multi-use games areas
  • a skate park, a pump track and a children’s play area

The new pitch would go on the grass inside the athletics track, where a football pitch has been marked out before.

What still has to happen

  • Wednesday 7 October: Cabinet decides whether to move the £300,000.
  • Consultation: the town council, with a consultant appointed by the Football Foundation, must run further community engagement. Priority users named are women and girls, culturally diverse communities, socio-economic groups and disabled people.
  • Planning permission: needed for the pitch and its floodlights. The report says the new LED lighting could also replace the track’s existing lights.
  • By March 2027: the grant agreement signed.
  • Before 31 March 2028: all works complete, according to the report. That is the date it gives for local government reorganisation in East Sussex, which was paused on 7 September.

The report also covers the downsides of artificial turf. Rubber crumb and other infill can shed microplastics, so the design will need containment barriers, boot cleaning stations and drainage controls.

What it means for you

  • Football clubs and parents: a floodlit, year-round full-size pitch in the town is closer, but it still needs planning permission. The report’s timetable points to 2027 at the earliest.
  • Neighbours of Goldsmiths: the floodlighting will need its own planning application. That is when you can comment.
  • The decision: papers for Wednesday’s meeting are on the Cabinet agenda for 7 October. The same meeting decides how to spend up to £450,000 of army camp grant money.