Pitching it in Penicuik

Penicuik’s brand new floodlit third generation synthetic turf pitch has been officially opened to the community. Situated in Penicuik Park, the new pitch was unveiled by SFA Chief Executive Gordon Smith and Councillor Adam Montgomery, Provost of Midlothian, at a ceremony on 1st November.

The synthetic turf pitch will be used for a range of sports including football, rugby and hockey by schools during the day and local clubs in the evenings and at weekends. The £408,000 project also includes draining part of the park which was prone to waterlogging.

Councillor Montgomery said, “I’m delighted to see this top of the range pitch now open to the community. This synthetic turf pitch provides a facility which can be extensively used by the local schools and clubs for many years to come. It is the same surface used by the majority of Premiership football clubs in England, including Chelsea and Arsenal,” he added.

The pitch comes in addition to the skatepark which opened in Penicuik Park in the summer and the popular swimming pool and sports facilities which opened at The Penicuik Centre in March. It is hoped that this addition to MIdlothian’s leisure facilities will encourage local people to putr down their remotes and get out and about in a healthier, more active lifestyle.

With an eye to the future, Gordon Smith welcomed the investment. “It’s a pleasure to be invited to open this top class sports facility,” he said. “It is great to see Midlothian Council investing in state of the art facitilities at a local level. This synthetic turf pitch is of the quality that teams play on in international matches, and is FIFA approved. Such provision can only benefit our grassroots players and will hopefully help develop our stars of the future.”

The Midlothian Council project was carried out by Taylor Wimpey in partnership with specialist sports pitch company The ERDC Group.