THE opening move for the development of an all-weather sports pitch will be played out on Wednesday. Then Michael Thrower will be outlining the case for such a pitch in Royston. And as acting chairman of the Royston Community Project he already has £150,

THE opening move for the development of an all-weather sports pitch will be played out on Wednesday.

Then Michael Thrower will be outlining the case for such a pitch in Royston.

And as acting chairman of the Royston Community Project he already has £150,000 to pay towards the costs of the project.

The money has been earmarked for the scheme after Johnson Matthey's sports club closed last year and made the cash available.

Mr Thrower was meeting other members of the project team tonight (Thursday) to assess the current situation.

He will be giving a presentation next week to members of North Herts District Council's Royston area committee.

It is believed Herts County Council is also looking at the project and the possibilty of using a school site for the all-weather pitch.

This could mean that a site on county council land at Greneway School or The Meridian School could be used.

The development of an all-weather pitch is expected to cost a total of £500,000.

Originally, there were plans to have such a pitch included in proposals for the Royston leisure centre.

These plans, however, were dropped after protests from nearby residents and the scheme was not included in a bid for Lottery cash.

In the past Sport England has recognised the need for an all-weather pitch in the area.