Lidl deal will help develop 4g pitch at the Greenhous Meadow
Lidl have submitted plans to hopefully build a new supermarket in Shrewsbury near to the Greenhous Meadow stadium.The area of land earmarked for this development is just as you enter the Greenhous Meadow car park just prior to the Power League pitches.
This area was included in the S106 agreement when the stadium opened and marked as a community pitch but since the stadium opened has never been used for football.
If the planning consent was to be approved the club would seek to amend the existing S106 agreement and move the land earmarked for community use to the existing training pitch at the stadium behind the Salop Leisure South Stand and alongside the new Community hub. This pitch could then potentially be developed into a 4g all weather facility that could be used by the whole community all year round.
Town’s CEO Brian Caldwell is hoping the Lidl can benefit the whole of the community.
“The grass area has never been used for anything other than parking since the stadium opened back in 2007 and certainly is not fit for any community use”, said Brian.
“In the original S106 agreement it was earmarked for a community pitch but a pitch has never been made on there and the surface is all bumpy and unlevel.
“Any Shropshire FA, schools and community matches which the S106 included the club decided that these should be played on the main Greenhous Meadow pitch, as it’s a better experience for the local community to be able to play on the main first team pitch.”
“If we can get the Lidl development agreed we would seek to get the S106 amended so the community agreement is moved to what is currently the first team training pitch behind the South Stand.
“This would then potentially allow us to lease it to Shrewsbury Town in the Community and allow them to develop it to be used during the whole of the year for community purposes.
“The Community department itself run a whole host of programmes for all different age groups that use pitches and these could now be run on a site next to the newly opened Community hub.
“With the club now taking ownership of the training ground at Sundorne and the team moving there in the near future where work has started to develop the pitches there it will now free up this land.”
As with any football stadium first team matches are only played around 25 times a season and clubs will look to improve non match use. The addition of a 4g facility would see more people coming to the stadium on non matchdays
“It would be great for the football club because our aim is always to bring people to the Greenhous Meadow on a regular basis.
“We have to remember that there is only football played here for around 25 days a year but if we have a 4g pitch which the community can use 365 days a year it would mean people coming here on non matchdays.”
“The club would look to reinvest any additional money that the Lidl development generates and use it in long term projects such as the proposed new 4g facility as well as other potential projects which can benefit the club in the long term and provide new revenue streams to continue to take the club forward”