Damage to pitch could see Bignold closed to cars

Orkney Islands Council is appealing to the community to understand the full impact of wilful damage to leisure facilities, following damage to the football pitch at Bignold Park.

Leisure and Culture Service Manager for the Council, Garry Burton, said:  

“We’re incredibly disappointed to see the damage in recent days caused by people driving over the pitch. Given there is a paved roadway around the park, these actions can only be interpreted as wilful and malicious damage.

“There will likely be an unnecessary financial cost to the Council to fix damaged areas – at a time when the public purse is stretched more than ever. It’s already diverting time and funds from other important work, and will have a knock-on effect for the wider football community while we deal with the damage.

“It’s even more frustrating to see this disregard for a community green space, given the paved surface was put in place at great expense in recent years, enabling year round access to watch games, and paths to help walkers in the area including school pupils get from A to B away from traffic.

“We simply cannot risk this type of damage becoming an ongoing cost for the community to bear – therefore if this behaviour occurs again we will have to stop vehicles from accessing the park with some form of physical barrier. Obviously this would have a huge impact on the ease with which people can attend and spectate at football games.

“Meantime, we’d appeal to the community to report wilful damage of any community facility, or behaviour which you feel is getting out of hand, to the police.”

Chair of the Council’s Education, Leisure and Housing Committee, Gwenda Shearer, said: “The people responsible for this should be mindful that the Council takes damage to its property very seriously and will act on any information passed to officers – one could find oneself in front of the Sheriff, with a lasting criminal record as a result.”