[sanman]

Richard Caborn was interviewed on Radio 4 this week and questioned about Labours record for allowing the disposal of school playing fields. He answered by saying that people didn't want soggy playing fields anymore but would rather have covered astro turfed facilities.

What do you think? Do you have one of these astro turfed facilities near you, are you happy with a grass playing field or don't you have any facilities. In the area near me we have only a 3rd of the recreational playing fields that we should have. I for one would be quite happy with a soggy field.

[Internetowl]

I'm involved with local football - they are running down all the council facs ready for selling off to private concerns - its a disgrace.

[Magneteer]

Astro turf surfaces may be ok for 5-a-side and training purposes but, you need the real thing for league footy/rugby/cricket etc at whatever level. It's just a cop out by councils and government as an excuse to sell the grounds off as prime building land. It's also not an insurmountable problem to install some drainage to a pitch which suffers from waterlogging. We, and future generations NEED these grounds for our sports otherwise we are doomed to become a nation of bone idle lard buckets. Once they've gone thats it, we can never get them back.

[owdlad]

We as a country need playing fields. They are the number one place of enjoyment for every generation of kids.

How many Beckhams, Wilkinsons, and Flintoffs, have got the early love of their respective games from the local "rec" and playing how ever many a side until either it went dark or were summoned in for dinner.

As usual Caborn has lost it, he should be ashamed to even think about it let alone speak of doing it.

I met his father a long time ago, and he would have had to be boiled in oil before he would have given credence to any such scheme. George Caborn would never have forgottten his roots, sadly it looks as if his son has no such problems.

[sanman]

It would seem that this opinion is not Richard Caborns alone, Tessa Jowell said the samething in one of the newspapers recently.

Apparently turf is no longer good enough for New Labour, mind you as the MPs spend all their time in London maybe they've forgot what it looks like.

[miggy]

Backing up internetowl (one of the mick's?), the state of local pitches is unbelievabley bad compared to other cities.