Artificial pitch scheme for Surfleet scrapped due to cancer concern

A £400,000 project to build a new artificial pitch in Surfleet has been scrapped over fears a link between its use and cancer cases in the USA

Surfleet Play and Recreation Committee (SPARC), the charity that owns the ten-acre Glen Park children's and leisure complex, had been planning to fund a new, all-weather pitch for use by football and hockey teams.

But after committee members learned about a study done by the University of Washington which claimed there was a connection between rubber granules used to make 3G artificial pitches and about 200 cancer patients, the plans were "put on hold".

SPARC trustee Doug Whyles said: "The idea of a 3G pitch first arose about two or three years ago when we had Pinchbeck United's junior football team here and they were nominated as an anchor club by the Football Foundation.

"At that stage, we were looking at rebuilding the changing rooms at Glen Park for the use of football and hockey teams, so we highlighted the prospect of building a 3G pitch after seeing how they operated in Leicester.

"By the beginning or middle of last year, we'd acquired funding for the project and had expected to make a start on the new pitch later this year.

"But as soon as the alleged cases of cancer related to these pitches emerged in the USA, we were persuaded that we couldn't go ahead with the project and it was put on hold."

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