NORTH Devon Council has agreed more than £60,000 in funding to relieve waterlogging on sports pitches used for grassroots youth matches and to improve a children’s play area.

The council’s strategy and resources committee approved a request from Fremington Parish Council for £46,000 to install a primary drainage system on the northern boundary of the Tews Lane Playing Field.

The pitches used by Barnstaple FC for training and by the youth sides for matches are often waterlogged.

Money will be allocated from the council’s section 106 public open space funds with Fremington Parish Council responsible for any funding shortfall required to complete the project.

The 106 fund is made up of community contributions from developers who secured planning consent for local schemes. In the case of the pitches the money was from the Glenwood Farm on Old Bideford Road.

Town Walk play area in Barnstaple, which is owned and managed by North Devon Council, will get a new swing with safety surfacing to the tune of £16,000 from the 106 fund (from the 22/23 High Street, Barnstaple development).

It will also receive upgraded fencing together with a repaint of the existing play equipment will be done by the council’s parks team using the existing budget.