NEW netting to stop wayward footballs and cricket balls could be installed at a village sports ground.

Milborne St Andrew Sports Club has applied to Dorset Council for permission to install removable 6 metre-high netting on the southern boundary, as well as increasing the height of netting currently on the west side.

The club said the installation of the new protection would mean a new cricket team could take up residence at the ground, as well as allowing competitive football to continue, including hosting the likes of Poole Town Ladies FC.

“The Sports Club has been approached by a group who wish to establish cricket on the site and have already registered a team with the Dorset Cricket Board,” the application said.

“The income generated from the two football pitches is essential for the future financial viability and survival of the Sports Club.

“The introduction of cricket has the potential to further enhance that viability and to establish an income stream both summer and winter.”

How the layout of the pitches could look if plans are approved

However, without the netting, matches cannot take place, it added.

“Football scores are not like netball or basketball, they are low, sometimes 0-0,” the application went on.

“That means that the vast majority of shots towards the goal are off-target requiring the use of some ball stopping arrangement, particularly in respect of high flying balls (both cricket and football).

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“At the easterly end of the site, the ball retention netting of a lower height than that required behind goalmouths will enable the uninterrupted playing of games without the need to continually retrieve balls or to require people to enter a field of grazing stock.”

The plans will now be considered by Dorset Council. For more details, and to comment on the scheme, log on to www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk and search for application reference P/FUL/2024/00231.