Jackpot

May 29 2003 By Christopher Beesley, Ellesmere Port Pioneer

ATHLETICS: TOP-CLASS athletics meetings may come to Ellesmere Port next year after Sport England granted £385,897 of lottery funds towards a new track.

The four-way partnership of West Cheshire AC, the borough and county councils and Stanney High School, where the facility will be located, cleared their final hurdle last week when they received the cash needed to get the project off the ground.

Although WCAC chairman Dennis Wall remains cautious until the track is actually built, he is excited by the prospect of Ellesmere Port hosting major club and county meetings.

He said: 'Although the track will be primarily a training facility, we are hoping to stage Northern Men's and Women's and National Junior League meetings there.

'There is also a possibility that we could eventually get County Championship and Cheshire Schools' competitions here too.'

Before the final project can go ahead landowners Cheshire County Council must appoint a contractor and work could begin next month.

Mr Wall added: 'We were hoping to avoid disrupting the school term but the porous surface needs to be laid at the correct temperature.

'It is expected work will be completed by autumn and will be ready for winter training. The floodlit track will consist of six lanes with an eight-lane sprint strait and a full range of field equipment such as a hammer cage.

'It has been a long hard road for everyone involved but we're now confident that the dream can become a reality.

'Our first discussions were back in February 1999 and we've had many ups and downs since then. We didn't receive any guarantees about anything until last month as we waited on getting the 65% share from Sport England.'

Total cost of the project is £600,000 with the club raising £200,000 towards costs through their own fundraising and contributions from the borough council, the Single Regeneration Budget, Landfill Tax and private sponsorship.