DEAR editor,

It was with interest that I read Vale of Glamorgan MP Alun Cairns’ column in the Barry & District News addressing the issue of Vale football league fixtures being affected by wet weather.

The Vale of Glamorgan Council currently maintains pitches at 12 locations across the Vale. While there have only been three weekends so far this season when no games have taken place at all, it is certainly true that the Welsh winter often renders pitches unsafe for play.

In his column Mr Cairns appears to call on the Vale of Glamorgan Council to build more artificial pitches to solve this, something he says he has “long campaigned for”.

If this is the case I’d be interested to know how much of this campaigning has been undertaken in Westminster where he represents the Vale of Glamorgan. This is because this is where the money to pay for the pitches would need to come from. Money that Mr Cairns and his colleagues have been cutting every year since he was elected.

Despite the savage cuts imposed on local government services by central government, the Vale of Glamorgan Council has continued to do all it can to support grass roots football, and community sport in general.

In 2014 we built a state of the art pitch that is open to all as part of the Penarth Learning Community. Last year we invested in a new 3G playing surface for Jenner Park to enable us to open the stadium up to the whole community. This year we will be building artificial pitches at the Colcot Sports Centre.

While Mr Cairns should be aware of these schemes, his comments make clear that he is not aware of how much a 3G pitch costs. The new pitch at Jenner Park cost around £445,000. If he is suggesting that the council should raise the money locally then I’d point out that a one per cent increase in council tax would raise only around £600,000, the cost of a little more than one full size pitch. The money therefore clearly needs to come from elsewhere.

The council, like all fans of grassroots football, want to see better pitches that enable people to play the game they love 365 days a year. We are doing all we can to make this happen. If Mr Cairns shares this vision then I’d suggest he start working to secure more funding rather than continuing to oversee its removal.

Councillor Gwyn John,

Cabinet member for visible services and leisure,

Vale of Glamorgan Council