Alliance Leisure has completed three separate projects for Ceredigion County Council. All of these projects were completed in partnership with Surfacing Standards Limited and South Wales Sports Grounds, and were procured through the UK Leisure Framework (managed by Denbighshire Leisure). The projects focused on updating the existing facilities across the three sites, bringing them up to a new high standard and providing first-class venues for the local community. At Synod Inn, an investment of £138k resulted in the upgrade of 5-a-side and hockey pitches, which were significantly worn after over ten years of use. The pitches were replaced with new 3G pitches, providing greatly improved surface quality and durability against not just wear-and-tear, but also the weather.

The weather provided challenges at the beginning of this project, which commenced in January of this year. The team had to work through snow, high winds, mist and fog, as well as high winds in order to get the project underway. Despite this, the project was delivered ahead of schedule and to the highest standards. The next development took place at Cardigan Leisure Centre, following a £419k investment to improve the existing pitches. Similarly to the pitches at Synod Inn, the pitches had reached the end of their lifespan, which lead to them no longer being suitable for use in bad weather. As well as updating the pitch surface, the pitch lighting was also replaced with more efficient heads.

These improvements have already demonstrated their value, due to the new pitch at Cardigan Leisure Centre being the only pitch remaining open during a day of significant pitch flooding across the county. A further £305k investment was made to improve the pitch facilities at Lampater Leisure Centre. The project so far saw the installation of a new 2G hockey pitch, as well as replacing the existing halogen floodlights with new LED spotlights.

Carwyn Young, Corporate Manager, Wellbeing Centres Service for Ceredigion County Council says: ‘The upgrade of our Artificial Turf Pitches was the first time the authority used the UK Leisure Framework, and the knowledge and expertise that Alliance Leisure provided was invaluable. Having a nominated point of contact in Will Gardner meant that any queries were dealt with promptly and there were no surprises during the project delivery.’

Discover more Alliance Leisure projects here.