A special consultation will be held at the Brentwood Centre from Monday October 4 to Monday 18 October. Plans of the new football hub will be displayed at the Brentwood Centre along with a QR code that will allow residents to scan and view more information from the council’s website.

A football feasibility report together with a local football facilities plan set out the need for the development and improvement of grassroots football in the Borough. The consultation is to present the concept plans of what the football hub can potentially look like. The Council is asking clubs and residents to view the plans and have their say which will feed into the planning application.

Chair of Community and Health Committee, Cllr Cliff Poppy said; “Our leisure strategy has set out clear goals of what we want to achieve by 2028, and sports is next on our list. At present the football league is having to turn teams away from joining as some teams cannot access an appropriate pitch regularly.In order to begin to deliver against the future requirements and growing demand of pitches, we need your input on the plans to upgrade and increase the provision of football in Brentwood. The plan is for one stadia pitch where Brentwood Town FC presently play will be converted to an Artificial Grass Pitch with two additional Artificial Grass Pitches and four grass pitches. It is envisaged that the Hub will also have space and opportunity for community use and able to hold small training sessions for example refereeing or coaching courses plus other community use. As part of the requirement of the Football Foundation and Essex FA the Hub will be a Community Facility available for use by many Brentwood clubs. We are already working very closely with the Football Foundation and Essex FA to confirm specific technical advice and guidance in the development.”

The football hub will be developed adjacent to Brentwood Centre along the A12. Feedback received in the consultation will feed into the planning application for the development.