http://planning.merton.gov.uk/Northgate/PlanningExplorerAA/Generic/StdDetails.aspx?PT=Planning%20Applications%20On-Line&TYPE=PL/PlanningPK.xml&PARAM0=1000093334&XSLT=/Northgate/PlanningExplorerAA/SiteFiles/Skins/Merton/xslt/PL/PLDetails.xslt&FT=Planning%20Application%20Details&PUBLIC=Y&XMLSIDE=/Northgate/PlanningExplorerAA/SiteFiles/Skins/Merton/Menus/PL.xml&DAURI=PLANNING


This link works better......

Last edited by Wolfie Smith (09/5/2016 5:10 pm)

As far as I am concerned plastic pitches should be banned Football would never be the same, the unpredictabally bounce of the ball on grass is more entertaining. Owners/chairmen of clubs who have put these on their ground always come out with the phrase that it would benefit the local community. Wrong, it benefits their own pocket. We as  team train on a G3/4 pitch & looked what happened when we played a team who have a plastic pitch, we dont get beat, we get thumped. At the moment we have the best pitch & drainage system in the whole of the Isthmian league. so why tear it up ?

I'm one of those who believes football should be played on grass. But people like me are a bit like King Canute trying to hold the tide back. Presumably the cost of these pitches are coming down so that it is quite affordable. But don't forget that these pitches wear out as well and will need repairs which will probably be costly.

Those pitches you mention are all fairly new. How will they perform when they are 5 or 10 years old?

Here's a little something that I published courtesey of Sky Sports News in last season's programme for the home match against Sittingbourne. Food for thought  :--

Father calls for research into links between 3G pitches and son's cancer
By Allan Valente 
Nigel Maguire, who's son has been diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma, has called for more research into a possible link between cancer and crumb rubber on 3G pitches
A father whose son was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma has called for further research into a possible link between cancer and rubber material found on artificial pitches.
Nigel Maguire's son, Lewis, 18, was a triallist at Leeds United when the promising goalkeeper fell ill two years ago.
Mr Maguire, a former Cumbria NHS chief executive, wants to see more research carried out on the pitches, similar to that being done in the United States, despite FIFA and the Manufacturers' Association's assertion the synthetic surfaces are safe.
A previous study in the US claimed there is a link between the use of the rubber on the artificial pitches, which is made from recycled tyres, and cancer. 
"The only research that they have conducted, and they have done some, and that is to their credit, is they have looked at whether vapours or gasses are released when this crumb rubber is spread on the pitches," Mr Maguire told Sky Sports News HQ.
 
Nigel Maguire, who's son has been diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma, has called for more research into a possible link between cancer and crumb rubber on 3G pitches
"Under normal atmospheric conditions the research is clear - there is no adverse gasses coming from this crumb rubber. However, they have not done, as far as I'm aware, any research as to what the impact is of actually ingesting this stuff, actually swallowing it, getting it into your eyes, getting it into your mucus, getting it into your cuts and grazes.
"The idea of asking children to effectively take half a teaspoon of this stuff every week, swallow it and then think that was a good idea - no, I don't think that is a good idea.
"I will only rest assured when I know more detailed research has actually been done on this and that people can very clearly say 'there is no direct link'. Then I'll rest easy, but in the meantime I am not going to let this one go and I am going to work with my colleagues in America."
The Football Association wants to double the number of full-sized 3G pitches in English grassroots football by 2020 but, while they believe there is no scientific evidence linking the crumb rubber to cancer, the FA says it will monitor the situation.
 
Lewis saw former US Women's soccer international Amy Griffin talk on Sky Sports News HQ about a survey she had carried out surrounding the artificial pitches and their potential risks.
"I was diagnosed, then I got better and thought everything was done and I played on the 3G surfaces again and was told I was ill again and I didn't think anything of it," Lewis said. "But I was watching Sky Sports News and she mentioned that two people she knew that played on it got lymphoma, which is what I had, so that was when I got a bit concerned.
"And then she mentioned she did a survey on 160 footballers that got it and 60 per cent of them were goalkeepers and to say there is only one goalkeeper in a team of 11, that is pretty bad. Playing on it might not be bad but swallowing it and getting into your cuts can't be great as you don't know what it is."
Asked if he had swallowed the rubber pellets, Lewis said: "Quite a lot because you are on the floor and it's going up in the air every time you dive and a lot of the time you realise it is in your mouth so a lot of the time I'd have been swallowing it as well.
"I just carried on with my game because you don't think that if it is on thousands of pitches across the world it is going to have any sort of effect on you."
His father says three US government agencies - the Environmental Protection Agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Consumer Product Safety Commission - will undertake an independent review into the health impact of people playing on the rubber.
"They are spending $2m (£1.4m) on undertaking a piece of research because of their concerns, because questions need to be answered," he said. "I am calling upon the government and sports governing bodies to answer those questions directly and not to hide behind the industry response which is they have conducted the research. They have conducted some but, in my view, not nearly enough."

Last edited by DeePee (11/5/2016 1:04 pm)

His hard work is to be commended, I feel sure, that many supporters and players appreciate the quality of the surface that is supplied, and his efforts speak for itself, when you consider when the last game we had called off due to the weather, that says it all.

I feel we have certainly the best playing surface in our division, if not the premier as well.

Harrogate Town have announced today that work will start on Monday with the installation of a 3G pitch - no consultation with supporters of course. They will be the first club of any significance in the north of England to go 3G. which it seems will rapidly become unstoppable (Tamworth a Midlands club in National North are also switching).. The pitch will be used by,among others, Leeds under 21s and the newly formed Harrogate Town ladies team. In addition to community use there Town are providing another 3G pitch at a local secondary school. While Town are not exactly a one man's money club they do have a chairman with very deep pockets who is not afraid to dip into them!  

As i have previously stated on this forum about the plastic pitches, i just want to add that we have 2 plastic pitches, we dont need a 3rd.

County FA have not been consulted on the matter according to a tweet by Caroline McRoyal Head of Surrey FA..​. Therefore needs to be sanctioned.

Anyone know how it is being paid for?... are FA grant funds being plundered only for local youth clubs to be mugged off paying extortionate rates?...

From "Official TMUFC" Facebook page :--

As we reported on 9 May, the owners of the KNK Stadium/Imperial Fields, Tooting & MItcham Sports and Leisure Ltd, applied for planning consent to replace the current grass playing surface of the main stadium with an artificial playing surface.
We can now further report that this planning consent was granted approximately two weeks ago (and is valid for 3 years). However the Chairman of Tooting & Mitcham Sports and Leisure Ltd, Steve Adkins, has confirmed to Official TMUFC that whilst this consent has been obtained, there are no plans to make any change to the playing surface ahead of the coming season and at the current time, no decision has been made as to if or when any change will be made.

Last edited by DeePee (23/6/2016 10:54 am)

According to  a club statement and the press a few years back it stated the "Terrors would be playing the Football League next year."