CREWE'S 10 Labour borough councillors have written to Cheshire East Council chiefs demanding they deliver improved sports facilities in the town.

The councillors are angry after £80,000 of S106 money from a housing development on the site of the former LMR Club on Goddard Street was initially recommended to go towards upgrading the Sutton Lane Playing Fields at Middlewich.

The developer, Guinness Partnership, had to pay the money to compensate for the loss of the former pitch on Goddard Street but borough council officers had said there was no suitable site in Crewe and recommended the cash be diverted to Middlewich.

The officers also argued the £80,000 could not go towards ambitious proposals put forward by Crewe FC to build a pitch and changing rooms for club and community use on an unused part of the King George V Playing Fields.

Eventually the southern planning committee approved the 73 affordable home application last week but on condition the £80,000 be held for five years for a suitable site to be found in Crewe.

At the time ward councillor Anthony Critchley told the committee: "Call me sceptical, but I think we can safely say that there will be no proactive effort from Cheshire East, be it Green Spaces or Ansa, to seek such appropriate locations."

In response planning officer Dan Evans listed a number of sites which had been considered but, officers said, were unsuitable.

Now the town's 10 Labour councillors are putting pressure on the council to speak to local clubs, groups and businesses who currently use facilities in the town to establish whether there are suitable locations.

They have also asked that the Playing Pitch Strategy adopted by Cheshire East in 2017 be changed because "there is no current requirement of the council officers to be proactive, meaning the policy document is doing little but gathering dust".

In a statement released by the Labour councillors, Cllr Critchley said: "I think it's vital now [after the planning decision] that we, as councillors, ask that there is that proactive approach, and to use whatever resources necessary to ensure that the needs of the community are met – be it in hiring a sports consultancy group or simply engaging with the service users, i.e the community clubs and teams, and where there are policy difficulties in doing so, change the policy.

"I would like to hope that when Crewe FC formally submit their plans, they would be considered for these funds should they tick the right boxes. My support for what they want to do for themselves as a club, and more broadly the community use of additional facilities that their plans offer, is unwavering."

Crewe West councillor Connor Naismith said "People of all ages deserve to be able to find decent playing facilities within the town where they live, particularly if you live in a town with such a proud sporting history as Crewe.

"We cannot continue to accept this farcical situation where land is being bought up and developed for housing and yet our capacity to offer facilities for sport are ever-shrinking.

"It is also important to work in partnership with local grassroots clubs who have a shared goal with the council – to promote active, healthy lifestyles in our community and develop the sporting talent of the future.

"I am personally hugely impressed with Crewe FC's proposals and want to support them to succeed in getting their new facility, which I feel will be a benefit to the whole community."