WINTON Park in Ardrossan could soon boast a state of the art 3G Astroturf surface.

It comes as a bid was launched to secure funding for the project at the ground in Anderson Terrace.

An application for part-funding of the project was brought to the Three Towns Locality Parternship meeting yesterday, December 8, by the Ardrossan Community Sports Hub (ACSH) - who are the registered charity aiming to be granted the required funds.

The locality partnership have assisted the ACSH in preparing this application to take to cabinet.

They are submitting a request for £100,000 from North Ayrshire Council's Community Investment Fund (CIF), which would help towards the total over £540,000 required for the surface.

Additional funding would still have to be secured from other funds - with the Scottish FA's Grassroots Pitch and Facilities Fund and Sport Scotland's Sport Facilities Fund also earmarked.

They hope to have all required funding secured by March of 2024, to enable the installation of the playing surface between May and June of the same year.

Within their application, the ACHS look to detail the needs and benefits a 3G playing surface at Winton Park would bring to the local area.

The application states: "Community use of the facilities at Winton Park, however, is constrained as the grass pitch is unable to take more intensive use.

"15 teams currently operate under the umbrella of Ardrossan Winton Rovers Youth Academy (AWRYA), with more in the pipeline, with more than 325 youngsters registered within the Academy.

"A significant majority of AWRYA teams report great difficulty in hiring training facilities and a pitch for home games in Ardrossan – with none of the 15 playing in Ardrossan itself.

"Academy managers reported difficulties travelling to train or play home games - both logistically and in terms of costs, with lower turnouts when travel is involved as a result.

"Significant expenditure (c £50-70k pa) is made by the AWRYA teams outside of Ardrossan in facility bookings and ancillary spend whilst teams travel for home games and training – representing leakage from the local community."

One of the main issues found has been the lack of full sized 11-a-side pitches in the Three Towns, which has driven some AWRYA sides to play and train nearly 10 miles away in Irvine.

The only artificial pitches of this size in the area are at St Matthew's Academy (though this is a hockey surface rather than for football) and Auchenharvie Academy (though 11-a-side can be played here the pitch is considered too small for league matches).

No full-sized 3G facilites are currently offered in Ardrossan, nor even full sized grass pitches. Creating a 3G surface at Winton Park, which would include the replacement of the current floodlighting system, would allow all teams to train and play here all year round - at no extra cost.

Documents also state benefits would be: "Better facilities will be a great community asset that the Ardrossan community can use which in turn helps social isolation, mental health, physical health, and fitness.

"Bringing back some civic pride to our town by establishing a proper community club in the heart of an underprivileged area."

As part of the plans, Ardrossan Winton Rovers Ltd, who currently own the ground, would retain ownership - but lease the pitch to Ardrossan Community Sports Hub for 25 years.

Winton Park will remain the home ground of Ardrossan Winton Rovers (AWR) who will have priority access to the facility for home matches and training.

AWR will continue to operate the supporters club, hospitality suite and changing rooms whilst making these available to the wider community.

ACSH will be responsible for overall facility management, financial management and marketing and promotion of the facility including managing pitch bookings via their software system. They intend to enter into an agreement with AWR for maintenance of the facility.

The final decision on whether the funding will be granted to Ardrossan Winton Rovers will be made by the cabinet at North Ayrshire Council.