Plans to relocate an all-weather sports pitch in Oakdale are expected to move a step closer this week.

The current multi-use games area (MUGA) at the village’s former comprehensive school site has to be moved to make way for a new 82-home housing development.

Planning rules mean a like-for-like facility has to be provided somewhere in the local community to replace the MUGA that is being lost, and the council has chosen Islwyn High School as the best location for the new pitch.

The school has also asked for a “dedicated wellbeing space” to be built next to the new MUGA, according to a Caerphilly County Borough Council report.

Costing an estimated £466,500, the wellbeing space is being funded by the school – but potentially expensive drainage and site investigation works could mean that sum eventually rises.

Cabinet members are expected to meet on Wednesday to approve an extra £145,000 of funding from the council’s Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) fund, to supplement the project.

The CIL is currently worth around £514,000 and exists to cover infrastructure projects that cannot be funded through other means.

In this case, the school’s contribution to the wellbeing area will be paid in full, and any leftover CIL cash will be returned to the fund after the project is completed.

The MUGA, meanwhile, is being funded by Caerphilly Homes, the council’s arms-length housing organisation which is leading the redevelopment of the former Oakdale Comprehensive School site.