COUNCIL bosses in Selby are set to decide where they should invest up to £250,000 of public money in an all-weather sports pitch for the town.

Two options are on the table and will be discussed when Selby District Council’s executive meets tomorrow.

The choice is between a scheme at Selby College or to upgrade facilities at the Abbey Leisure Centre, both of which would use money made available through the authority’s capital programme.

A report which will go before the meeting has said the leisure centre pitch may have to close if the council supports the college option.

However, deputy chief executive Jonathan Lund also said investing in the college’s project, which would provide a floodlit 3G surface, would also allow it to be used by the community. The latter option would also see £65,000 in funding being provided by the developers of the town’s neighbouring Tate and Lyle site.

Mr Lund’s report said the college had approached the council for financial help after an arrangement with Selby Town Football Club fell through. He said: “The college would manage and maintain the site and retain the income generated from hire, including making provision for repair and replacement.

“The council’s current all-weather sports pitch at Abbey Leisure Centre is in a deteriorating state of repair and would need to be comprehensively refurbished in the near future if it was to continue in use. Investment in a new facility at Selby College could mean the facility at the leisure centre could be closed.

“While this would remove a small income stream at Abbey Leisure Centre – currently £17,000 per year – it would also relieve the council of a liability for repair and maintenance and could open up the site for appropriate redevelopment.”

Mr Lund said Wigan Leisure and Cultural Trust (WLCT), the leisure centre’s operators, knew about this before they took over its running, but had also said a new 3G football and hockey surface at the site, costing up to £250,000, could generate between £40,000 and £50,000 a year in income.

“WLCT would be willing to discuss the possibility of sharing, with the council, both the initial cost of refurbishment and the additional income,” said the report.

“Such a shared investment would, however, necessitate leaving the site as a sports pitch for the remaining nine-year life of the contract.”