World class Astro Turf pitch in Carmarthen

A new state of the art Astro Turf pitch opens at Carmarthen Leisure Centre.

The world class pitch welcomed its first players on Saturday with a hockey match.

It is part of a £1million, two-phase investment in the centre which will enhance current facilities, community provision and offer customers a better experience.

Carmarthenshire County Council is delivering the scheme.

Plans for the second phase will be to replace the current six-lane athletics track with an eight-lane one. This track will be the only one of its kind in West Wales.

Additional parking will also be provided to meet current demand and improvements will be made to ease traffic flow.

Cllr Peter Hughes Griffiths, the council’s Executive Board Member for Culture, Sport and Tourism, said more people than ever are using the council leisure centres.

He said “What a fantastic transformation. This new pitch is of such a high grade that it will be on par with the best pitches in the world. More people than ever are using the centres to get more active and healthy, so it is critical that we are able to provide them with modern facilities that compete with a busy private sector market. If we don’t invest we face the possibility of losing our customers which would have a long term effect on the viability of our leisure centres. We are pleased we are making this significant investment which will benefit our members and the local community and schools.”

Over £2 million is being ploughed into Carmarthen and Ammanford centres to ensure sport facilities are fit for the future.

Cllr Hughes-Griffiths added: “There will be some temporary upheaval whilst these works are underway, and we thank regular users for their patience whilst we await these brand new facilities.”