Industry
A predisposition to install an artificial pitch without
considering the natural alternatives is fundamentally unwise and potentially very costly
surface. It is as though the limitations and requirements of working with natural soils have been forgotten. One of our clients recently had around £30,000 worth of sand banding done on two football pitches established on a very poor topsoil. Unfortunately, very heavy and persistent rain just a few days after completion of the work forced them to cancel matches which caused them to question the efficacy of the sand banding. This seems to me to be entirely unreasonable. An AGP would certainly not have required them to cancel these matches under the same weather conditions, but the £15,000 spend per pitch of the sand banding is equivalent to around 5% of the cost of installing an AGP (with no fencing or floodlighting), so the comparison is entirely inappropriate. Certainly, one of the biggest advantages of an artificial surface over a natural one is its capacity to sustain play in almost all weather conditions. Natural turf can be made to perform very well in this respect but, even with very substantial investment, a grass pitch will probably never achieve the reliability and wear tolerance of its artificial equivalent. In a direct comparison along these lines therefore, natural turf will always disappoint. If, however, you have the land and you
were to give me the funds necessary to install a single fenced and floodlit AGP, I would be able to provide you as an alternative with four or five natural turf pitches of outstanding quality requiring no more than the usual maintenance procedures. Those pitches would fulfil all of our green expectations whilst adding substantially to the social fabric and outdoor experience of the wider community to boot. Cheap at twice the price I would have thought and with far less risk in terms of return on investment! I am not opposed to artificial pitches, nor am I in favour of covering the country with them. If they are built, it is vital that they are built properly and that they serve the needs of those they are intended for. This is why SAPCA’s codes of practice etc. are so important for the industry. What I am concerned about is that the
needs of the wider community are met whenever such facilities are incorporated into the public realm. I am not convinced that those needs are being met all the while artificial surface installations appear to be favoured over naturals. Combined natural and artificial sports
surfaces can provide the best of both worlds. If they are properly and imaginatively designed, such facilities can also serve the more diverse needs of the wider community.
”
The negative environmental aspects of artificial pitch installation may be diminished through careful integration with natural turf playing surfaces and other environmentally and socially beneficial features. This holistic approach, however, requires
consideration to be given to sections of the community in addition to the actual players of the game and to concepts other than just player experience. Even the economic aspects have ramifications beyond the simple determination of whether or not a particular facility can pay for itself over a certain period of time (and this is by no means proven concerning artificial pitches for community use). The whole business requires a great deal of thought. A predisposition to install an artificial pitch without considering the natural alternatives is fundamentally unwise and potentially very costly. At the very least, detailed appraisal of all aspects of a development should be undertaken for each individual circumstance if the most advantageous outcome, for all concerned, is to be achieved.
www.agrostis.co.uk
PC FEBRUARY/MARCH 2015 I 39
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