Kett's Park Sports Hub

This project delivered a full-size floodlit artificial (3G) grass pitch at Kett's Park, Wymondham. This facility is available for community use all year round and the addition of the 3G pitch to complement the existing facilities of tennis courts, natural turf football pitches, a multi-use hall, extensive car parking, changing facilities and a community centre, formed the basis of a community sports hub.

Prior to this project, the existing grass pitches were in a poor condition and were not able to accommodate the demand for play, particularly when bad weather made the pitches unplayable. The Greater Norwich Playing Pitch Strategy (2013) had identified this as a barrier to growth in football participation in the area. The Greater Norwich Growth Board (GNGB) chose to support this project as it would provide the local community with a full-size artificial grass pitch that could be used extensively all year round, helping to facilitate recruitment and retention of active footballers, in an area of high housing growth. 

Following the GNGB's funding commitment, the project was also able to secure match funding from the Football Foundation for the purchase of specialist grounds maintenance equipment to improve the pre-existing grass pitches at the site. The site was handed over to South Norfolk Council to manage in its entirety and this has resulted in further improvements and expansion of the facilities at Kett's Park, including the resurfacing and expansion of the tennis courts with LED floodlights and the addition of a netball court. 

Since its opening in December 2018, far fewer matches have been lost to bad weather over the winter period, and hundreds of customers from a wide range of local clubs and residents are using the pitch annually.