Renfrewshire Council has agreed its biggest ever asset transfer to any community organisation and it is all to boost plans for a new sports facility in Linwood. Councillors have agreed to transfer the ownership of the former playing fields at Clippens school to the Linwood Community Development Trust (LCDT).

In addition to transferring ownership of the land for the nominal sum of £1, the council has offered £50,000 towards the cost of developing the top class 3G sports pitches. This will match the Trust’s application for £50,000 of Big Lottery funding. The LCDT aims to raise a total of £700,000 to build the pitches.

Renfrewshire Council Leader, Mark Macmillan said; “This is all good news. The Linwood community is taking ownership of this piece of land but it is also determining its own future and making empowered changes to benefit everyone. The council is proud to work with groups like LCDT and wishes them every success.”

Development on the site will start when the LCDT has raised the money needed to complete the project. If sufficient funds and planning permissions are in place before Clippens School closes in the summer of 2016, all building work will be carefully organised to avoid any disruption to the school.

The Community Development Trust has previously raised £300,000 to fund projects that preserve and develop Linwood’s recreational, cultural, social and educational life. Local people are familiar with Linwood in Bloom, Light up Linwood, Kit and Caboodle and the Healthy Eating in Linwood Project (HELP). This new initiative is an ambitious step in the Trust’s work and one that will bring lasting benefits to the community.

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