Plans for a controversial football pitch to be built on Common Good Land in Girvan have been withdrawn – but only temporarily, as planners adjust the location.

The 3G sports pitch to be built on the village’s Victory Park has caused a stir in the town, with residents of nearby properties fearing that the pitch is inappropriately placed. 

But it seems now a compromise might have been reached, after South Ayrshire Council confirmed the planning application had been withdrawn to allow for a relocation of the pitch.

Objectors said they have been told that flooding concerns – an issue that has been highlighted regularly over the last two years – were the reasons they were given for the relocation and need for a new application.

A council spokesperson said: “A new planning submission will be made shortly, there is a slight adjustment to the location of the pitch.” 

One objector, Todor Radic, said that an assessment identifying the risk of flooding in the area of Victory Park nearest Wesley Road, was enough to force the relocation of the pitch to a more central location.

Objectors have campaigned against the development, saying that the site was unsuitable, too close to homes and that the use of common good land ‘gifted to the people of Girvan’ was inappropriate.

The 380-foot by 239-foot surface – which could cost £850,000 – will be behind a 14-foot high fence and lit by floodlights nearly 50-feet high.

Residents pointed towards public land near the fire station at Glendoune as a better solution as it was nearer Girvan Academy.

One resident, part of an unofficial campaign against the plan, said at the time the plan was first mooted: “This land was given to the people of Girvan at the end of the First World War in recognition of their contribution.

“If this goes ahead we will be looking up at the hills through fencing with floodlighting on the top. All we would need is the guards with guns.

“Eight houses would be very badly affected by this.”

Last May, a civil case was brought to settle a dispute over whether the development could go ahead because the park is listed as Common Good Land, having been gifted to the people of Girvan by the Dalrymple-Hamilton dynasty.

The sheriff ruled that the development would be permitted.

At the time, Stephen Galloway, chairman of Girvan Youth Football club, said: “We were having to travel 15 miles to Maybole to play before because the pitch was unusable most of the year. It’s a really good thing.”