Shugborough Estate sports ban: Stafford MP to write to National Trust AGAIN
Stafford MP Jeremy Lefroy has vowed to write to the National Trust again as the row over sports pitches at Shugborough rages on.
Mr Lefroy, who has already been knocked back by the Trust once, will go back to them to plead for more time for the sports clubs who use the pitches to find new playing areas.
His comments follow a 1,100 signature strong petition which he presented to the House of Commons last week.
The National Trust, who are taking over the site in the summer from Staffordshire County Council, has said they will turn the pitches into parkland.
Speaking to the Express & Star, Mr Lefroy said the clubs who are being uprooted are 'not being given enough time' to find somewhere else to play, and that he was hoping for the Trust to be 'more open' when he first contacted them over the future of the pitches.
He said: "The clubs could find new places to play but at the moment they are not being given enough time. It is difficult to find facilities for sport at the moment.
"They should be able to play there until some where else suitable has been found.
"I have written to the Trust in the past and they basically wrote back saying sorry, and this was before the petition was presented. I am now considering what to do in response. I will get back to them in some form and try and at least get a postponement.
"When they wrote back the first time I was hoping for something a bit more open from them. They are closing all of Shugborough to get it ready for the season which I of course support but the pitches make up a tiny proportion, they could be kept open."
His comments come after a petition was presented to the House of Commons with over 1,100 signatures.
Campaigners are concerned teams using the pitches, which have been in use since 1960, will be forced to fold and taxpayers' money would be spent removing the facilities.
The Trust have maintained that Shugborough is a grade one registered parkland and not a sports pitch or field. They have reiterated that it is not their responsibility to 'provide sports facilities' and that they have been generous by not uprooting the teams mid-season and giving them six months.
A spokesman said: "We have given the teams six months notice to find somewhere else, we did not want to uproot them mid-season. It is really not the Trust's role to provide sports facilities."
