A NEW football pitch will be built near the town centre.

At a Wokingham Borough Council meeting last week, the green light was given to fund a new 3G pitch at Emmbrook School.

The pitch, which is made of artificial grass blades supported by a thing base layer of sand, will be partly paid for with £375,000 of S106 funding, which developers give to the council when building large projects.

Data from the Playing Pitch Strategy shows Wokingham has more than 490 teams, many in need of space to play.

The school will have sole use during the day, with community groups given access in the evening and during weekends.

“The long-term benefits this new pitch would bring to the school, local community, and players of all ages across the whole borough are great,” said Councillor Norman Jorgensen, executive member for environment, sports, environmental health, leisure and libraries.

“But it would also lead to other things. And as part of our Football Foundation bid, we’ll be writing a football development plan which will include the two main football clubs in our area: Wokingham and Emmbrook FC and Ashridge Park, alongside Reading FC for the Kicks project.”

The pitch will be run by the new leisure operator, which will take over from April 2018 and pay the council £25,000 a year specifically for the Emmbrook 3G which still needs to receive planning permission.

There are four other 3G pitches in the Wokingham Borough at Cantley Park, Montague Park FC, Arborfield Leisure Centre and Ryeish Green Leisure Centre.