03/28/2024

Wales News Online

Local & National News for Wales

PLANS to transform sports facilites in Mumbles have been submitted to Swansea Council, along with a plea to residents and businesses to back the project.

A charity called Mumbles Community Association (MCA) wants to refurbish the existing pavilion at Underhill Park and build a new cafe and community space, changing rooms and first aid room.

It also wants to install an all-weather pitch and alter existing pitch areas to make better use of the park for football and rugby teams.

The volunteer-led association has a longer wish-list for the park but securing grants will be key to what it can deliver, and how quickly it can deliver it.

Planning officers at Swansea Council, which has granted MCA a 125-year lease to manage the park, are considering its application. The highways department said a transport statement would be required, while its tree officer said any felling should be minimised or mitigated.

Mumbles Community Council will invest up to £150,000 in the project this financial year as long match-funding is found.

A spokeswoman on behalf of MCA said the trustees’ proposals were ambitious. “I think the extent of their ambitions will depend on other funding they can secure,” she said.

The association is applying for grants and raising money through sponsorship and donations, which may prove key.

Asked if there was a risk of the project stalling, the spokeswoman said: “I don’t think there is a danger that nothing will be done – it’s more the extent of what we can achieve.” She added: “The association is in it for the long term. The will is there.”

The first phase of the project, which is outlined in the association’s Go Underhill website, would cost some £2.25m if delivered in full.

Further down the line the charity would like to build a two-storey community building on the western edge of the park and increase the number of nearby parking spaces.

A Norton resident has commented on the latest application to object to any potential loss of mature trees.

The association said in a statement: “The cherry trees by the pavilion will be kept. “The two trees by the existing changing rooms will come down. They are not good specimens and an adjacent one came down in the gales last year.”

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