Training ground delay

The club hope to install an artificial pitch in place of an existing ash pitch at Allanton playing fields - which will be leased to the club by the council - while a temporary building will also be put there to house changing rooms and other facilities. The case officer's report on the plans - which he recommended for approval - can be seen by clicking here.

Most of the time, councillors go with the recommendation. However, the minutes reveal that at Tuesday's planning meeting, planning board convener Iain Nicolson called for a site visit before making a decision. Quite why he felt the need to do this considering a pitch is already there and we're merely upgrading, rather than developing something new, is a mystery. The next planning board meeting is not until November 11, but it is unlikely a site visit will have been made by then.

If approval is given, the plans will have to go to the Scottish Government to be rubber stamped as the council have an interest in the prokect.