No. Whilst Hatfield Town Council may choose to allocate part of its budget to improve the facilities at Birchwood Leisure Centre and the rest of the site, this project will be funded by external contributions. This is new, additional investment for the people of Hatfield.

A group of Hatfield Town Councillors met with various groups representing football in Hatfield. This demonstrated demand for a high-quality grass pitch where Hatfield teams might play their home games.

We are therefore confident the facility will be used and generate sufficient funds to pay for its operation and make a positive contribution to the Town Council accounts.

No. Because this project is being funded using grants Hatfield Town Council does not need to take out any loans or go into debt to pay for it. Hatfield residents are therefore not at risk like other residents in other councils where investment projects have been paid for using loans and debt financing. Therefore, even in the very unlikely event the facility is never used, there would be no financial penalty for Hatfield Town Council and its residents.

The proposal was put together by Hatfield Town Council and was adopted at their full council meeting in September 2025.

 The proposal was submitted to the Hatfield Community Sports Fund Board

Hatfield Community Sports Fund Board has agreed to provide a grant of £903k to build new and improve existing facilities at Birchwood, having concluded that the project met the area’s strategic goals and the Board’s funding criteria.

The project is being led by a cross-party team of town councillors including an Independent town councillor and the leaders of the Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat groups on Hatfield Town Council.

Hatfield Town Council undertook a survey of public opinion in the summer of 2025. This was largely supportive of developing a football ground for local teams playing in Hatfield.

Now that we have developed our ideas of what this will look like, we are planning public drop-in sessions between 1pm and 5pm on Wednesday 20th May 2026 and between 2pm and 4pm on Saturday 6th June, where the public can see the plans and put questions to the councillors who are developing the proposals

The new ground will be available for hire from Hatfield Town Council in the same way as our other facilities. We envisage up to four local teams sharing the facility to play their home games with teams playing their home games on alternate Saturdays and Sundays, with some midweek games on Wednesdays.

The pitch will be hired together with the stand and the changing rooms. The facility includes a club house and separately the Town Council will operate a licensed bar if requested. There will be separate terms for teams interested in requesting this facility.

Everyone. Hatfield Town Council prides itself in being an inclusive sports and recreational facility provider.  Hire prices for the new grass pitch will be set to ensure the facilities are accessible to the community. It is envisaged that teams will wish to make a modest charge to spectators to watch them play to help offset the hire charge for the new facility.

Hatfield Town Council are especially keen to support women’s teams wishing to use the new facility and we encourage anyone representing such a team to contact us.

Given the need to consult, procure contractors and obtain planning permission the final project is unlikely to be delivered in its entirety until April 2027.

Planning permission will be needed for the additional car parking spaces, fencing and lights. However given local favourable attitudes to increased car parking at the Leisure Centre (to ease weekend congestion in neighbouring roads and estates) and for the path across the site to be lit, we believe local residents will be supportive of the proposed plan.

The Birchwood site already has floodlights for its astroturf court, and the addition of flood lights for the new grass pitch will be made with consideration for local residents. This includes installation of highly concentrated floodlights which minimise light spillage to areas outside of the pitch. Use of the new grass pitch will be restricted, and we envisage it will mainly be used on Saturday and Sunday afternoons with the occasional Wednesday evening game.

However, we have received a request from local residents to use this opportunity to light the path across the site towards Tesco. This could provide a well-lit path for all residents between dusk until the shops close (midnight on weekdays and Saturdays and 4pm on Sundays). We will investigate this further with local residents, shops at the retail park, the neighborhood police team and with consideration of the likely costs involved (both installation and operation).

Yes. We are carefully considering the needs of sport teams and dog walkers and believe both can be accommodated on site.  The project will see the introduction of fencing to protect the ground. However, care will be taken to ensure a circulate route around the whole site is retained for dog walkers, runners and walkers.

The estates team at Birchwood have recognized that the traditional upkeep of the site was not doing enough to promote biodiversity. The constant cutting, marking and treatment of the football pitches was not doing anything for the local wildlife.

In response the team introduced an Alternative Land Management scheme, which has seen areas of the site left to grow and become home to a diverse range of wildlife. More information on our Alternative Land Management strategy can be found here.

More environmental options for extending the car park are also being considered.

The money is specifically designated to fund new sports facilities in Hatfield and cannot be used to fund other services. This should be seen as complimentary to services provided by the NHS, Hertfordshire County Council, and Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council.

However it’s important to remember the critical role sport facilities can play in helping residents live a healthy life. Countless studies have shown the physical and mental health benefits of regular excise and partaking in team sports. As a community focused Council, we are determined to ensure the new facilities allow even more members of the community to access sport sessions at Birchwood. We already host inclusive  sessions, catering for those with physical disabilities, learning disabilities, mobility issues and those who feel excluded from mainstream commercial facilities due to their age, financial situation or abilities.