Removal of electric cables above sportsground postponed

The electric cables above the Oaklands sportsground in Ponthir were due to be buried this weekend after the club raised thousands of pounds to pay for the work. But ground conditions are so poor following heavy rain brought in by Storm Dudley, that the crucial work isn’t able to go ahead.

It comes as Gwent braces itself for Storm Eustice, which is set to batter the region from Friday morning, bringing with it winds of up to 100 miles per hour.

The club's football pitch is regularly waterlogged.

Ponthir Sports and Community Club told the Argus back in November that burying the electric cables – which run over various parts of the ground – was fundamental to the club’s long term future.

Since then, the club has been putting all its efforts into raising enough funds to get the cables rerouted underground.

Last month, the Argus reported that the club had successfully raised the £21,000 it needed to pay Western Power Distribution for the work, which had been earmarked for this weekend.

“It’s very disappointing,” Ponthir Sports and Community Club’s grounds director Mike Holcombe said.

“We were about 72 hours away from being able to bury the cables, but conditions underfoot are so waterlogged that the trenches already dug are just collapsing.

These cables would have to be removed if a football pitch is to be built.

"If our contractors tried to do work at present, even with their specialist machines, it would cause irreparable damage to the working area.”

Waterlogged pitches are a common problem for the sportsground according to the club’s secretary John Parfitt.

“Our football pitch gets waterlogged regularly and because we don’t have a second one, we’ve actually lost a lot of junior clubs to different locations," he said.

“Which is why getting these cables buried underground is such a big priority for us because it’ll give us an alternative playing space.”

The club has plans to make space for a new pavilion, a multi-use games area and a second football pitch that meets Gwent Football League standard.

Club treasurer Anthony Pead and secretary John Parfitt.

But the league previously told the club that the proposed area for the pitch wouldn’t meet playing standards unless overhead electric wires were taken down.

The green space proved to be a big hit with families during the first lockdown when travel restrictions were in place.

Club treasurer Anthony Pead said: “We were jam-packed here during lockdown because families with young kids had nowhere else to go. I’d say since the lockdowns the popularity of the sportsground has grown massively.

“We’re the only green space between Caerleon and Cwmbran so it’s really important to us that we make it an attractive space as possible to people living here."