With piling work at the Victoria Pleasure Grounds now complete, Goole Town Council and the Goole Town Deal Board have offered an insight into the next steps in the £7 million redevelopment of the venue.

As the piling work, which involved inserting large quantities of steel and concrete into the ground to create a sturdy base for the new pavilion, was also the most disruptive stage of the entire construction project, the council and board have also extended their thanks to local residents and businesses for their co-operation and understanding as this took place.

By the end of last week, more than 75 per cent of the stone that will need to be transported onto the site was in place, and work to install the kerbing and spectator fencing had begun. The floodlight bases were in place and work to apply a polymeric surface (a durable, shock-absorbent surface made from rubber granules bonded together, commonly used in sports and recreational areas) is due to be complete by mid-June. This will be followed by the hotly-anticipated installation of the artificial grass pitch, which is expected to be finished by early July, along with the installation of new athletics facilities.

At various stages of the development of the artificial grass pitch, a number of key stage inspections (KSIs) are carried out to ensure that it meets the relevant construction standards, the requirements of the governing bodies of the sports that will be played there and has the appropriate ‘playing characteristics’ (this refers to relationship between the playing surface, the player and the ball) for the sports that will be played there. The project must ‘pass’ each of these inspections before being signed off and handed over.

Meanwhile, Goole Town Council has also begun the process of appointing a third party operator to run the venue. In July, the council will issue a formal invitation for interested parties to tender for the contract.

Once the artificial grass pitch has been installed, the spectator area is ready and both have passed the relevant key stage inspections, it has been agreed that the town’s semi-professional football club, Goole AFC, and professional rugby side, Goole Vikings Rugby Club, can play their home games at the Victoria Pleasure Grounds. This arrangement has been made to ensure that neither team incurs a financial or operational penalty from its respective governing body for not being able to fulfil its fixtures once the 2025/2026 season begins.

However, with construction work still taking place elsewhere on the site to create a new two-storey pavilion and enhanced parking facilities, use of the Victoria Pleasure Grounds will continue to be limited until the project is completely finished in spring 2026. Due to the need to carefully manage health and safety on site, particularly in relation to children and young people, grassroots sports teams and community groups will continue to train and play their matches elsewhere until then.

Brian Robertson, Clerk to Town Council, said: “At a recent meeting, council members received a report highlighting the need to ensure that we comply with health and safety legislation, particularly in relation to the safeguarding of minors, by continuing to allow only limited use of the site until all of the construction work is complete. It was agreed that Goole Town Council does not have the capacity to manage these health and safety risks in order to safeguard children and young people on what is essentially still a building site, or guarantee the security of the site.

“On behalf of Goole Town Council, I’ve written to all of the grassroots teams and community organisations that use the site to update them on progress so far and explain the anticipated timescales for their return. We are inching ever closer to our end goal of being able to offer the local community sports facilities that they can be proud of, and I’d appeal to everyone to bear with us as we enter the final phase of the construction project. The end goal is now very much in sight!”

Phil Jones, Chair of the Goole Town Deal Board, said: “We are incredibly grateful to the local community for bearing with us during what has been the noisiest and messiest phase of construction work at the Victoria Pleasure Grounds. This genuinely is a case of short-term disruption for long-term gain because we’re inching ever closer to delivering first class sports facilities for everyone in the town to enjoy.

“It’s exciting to hear we’re only a few months away from grassroots teams and community groups being able to return to the Victoria Pleasure Grounds.”

As the main contractor for the project, Scunthorpe-based Britcon is responsible for the redevelopment of the site, with the exception of the artificial grass pitch, which will be installed by S&C Slatter, a specialist contractor.