Strabane Weekly News - News - Burndennett football and cricket pitch under threat from new A5 proposal

News

Burndennett football and cricket pitch under threat from new A5 proposal

Thursday, 22 July 2010

THE preferred route for the new A5 dual carriageway will go right through a field currently used by the football and cricket clubs in Burndennett - with "devastating" consequences for the local community, it was claimed this week.
Declan McGettigan, secretary of Burndennett Cricket Club, was speaking to the Strabane Weekly News as the field, owned by local farmers Jimmy and David Lowry, played host to a number of games during the Foyle Cup, one of the biggest youth football tournaments in Ireland.
The pitch which is under threat from the proposed new dual carriageway is also used by Burndennett FC, who play in the North West Football League, as well as the local primary school in Cloghcor and the cricket club's third team.
It has also played host to a succession of charity football matches over the years.
Mr McGettigan said that the local cricket club has been leasing the field from the Lowrys for the last 25 years and warned that the planned route of the A5 Western Transport Corridor through the cricket and football pitches would be "devastating" for the area.
“A lot of the boys around here, it's the only thing they have to pass the time. There's nothing else, only cricket and football. There's not a swing or a slide in sight. It's going to deprive all the children from playing sports," he said.
The cricket club secretary criticised the government's lack of consultation with the local clubs over the preferred route.
He said: "I went down to the public meeting organised by the Roads Service in the Everglades Hotel last year and I told them about it. They asked me if we owned the field and I said that we didn't. They told me that it was really nothing to do with me then.
“That was their answer. As far as they're concerned, the farmer owns it and they're putting a road through it."
If the present pitch ends up making way for the new A5, Mr McGettigan has called for the government to provide new facilities for cricket and football for the area in a nearby field.
He also urged local councillors and MLAs to join the campaign to save the existing facilities.
“This will be devastating for the community and the club. I would like councillors in the area to rally around and see what they can do for us," he said.
Throughout this week, a total of 14 games, featuring teams from across the UK and Ireland, are being played at the pitch as part of the Foyle Cup competition - which has proved to be a real "moneyspinner" for the local sports clubs over the last three years, according to Mr McGettigan.
“Since we started hosting the Foyle Cup here three years ago, there have been busloads of people coming to watch the matches. The place will be packed. We open up the cricket clubhouse, and we also do burgers and chips.
“It's worth up to £10,000 for us over the course of the week, but that could be lost to us by not having this field," he said. Mr McGettigan said that this extra income was vital to the club, which is between £85,000 to £90,000 in debt after a fire destroyed the original clubhouse two years ago.
“We've already had one devastating time at Halloween two years ago when our clubhouse was burnt to the ground. We've since built a new clubhouse but the last thing we need is to lose this field, because the income we make from the football is helping to pay off the loan."
Burndennett Cricket Club was originally founded 38 years ago by Mr McGettigan's father, Toby, his uncle, Hugh P McGettigan, Kenny Henderson and Alan Wallace.