Organiser calls for action over playing field floods

Andrew Goodwin (8), Chloe Skidman (8), Daniel Holmes (11), Sam Dark-Williams (9) and Anabell Winterbottom (9) joined in the clean-up operation after bad weather in the run up to the two-week event caused Churchill playing fields to flood.

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THE frustrated organiser of the Saddleworth Village Olympics has lashed out over waterlogged conditions at the event site.

Torrential rain had flooded parts of the field — leaving it 4in under water — while parts of the running track were waterlogged just a day before the start of the two weeks’ of sport on Saturday.

Ben Hilton, who heads a group of volunteers running the annual event, spent hours working with a team from Oldham Council to try and clear water from Churchill playing fields, Greenfield.

Despite their best efforts, organisers were forced to cancel some sports over the weekend, with other activities transferred to Saddleworth School.

About 400 youngsters aged seven to 17 attended on Saturday and took part in the balloon release to launch the event.

Only half the running track could be used, and long jumpers had to forfeit the run up and jump from a stationary position.

Mr Hilton, who has been chairman for nine years, said: “We had about 400 children on Saturday when we normally have about 700 upwards. If you don’t run the Olympics again then we lose the seven and eight-year-olds.

“The Olympics can’t be done indoors because there are no venues in Saddleworth, nowhere safe for it to be held.

“It has to stay at the Churchill Playing fields at the moment.”

It is the second year running that events have been cancelled because of flooding.

Mr Hilton said the time to spend money on sorting out the playing fields once and for all was long overdue.

He said: “It’s tragic that yet again the ground is flooded. It is so sad for the children and our supporters.

“I have no problem with inner Oldham having good sporting facilities but Churchill is the only place in Saddleworth to stage such a big event.

“We’ve been running for years and the time to have spent the money was 10 years ago.

“The council need to get a hand in their pockets and find some funds.

“The only reason we are running at all today is the Oldham grounds maintenance guy who put in a drain last year off his own bat.

“He also repaired an existing drain, and that has allowed us to hold the event this year.”

Councillor Mark Alcock, cabinet member for environment and infrastructure, said park staff had been at the fields all week but rainfall had hampered work and the field was unable to absorb more water.

He said: “The site is very problematic as it lies very low and in the flood plain of the adjacent river. That means the water table is always high.

“The fields flood when it rains hard and it is difficult to find a quick solution that will definitely work and be cost effective.

“One potential solution — to raise the level of the land — would be an enormous and costly job which would also put that site out of use for a lengthy period of time.

“Another would be to install a drainage system to take water from the fields. Again, this is a huge and costly undertaking and funding is always a problem in the current economic climate.”