Football clubs and community groups will be able to use the all-weather sports pitches at Great Western Academy in Tadpole Garden Village.

When the pitches were first installed at the school in William Morris Way in 2021 the permission to put them in came with a condition that they would only be used by the school “in connection with the delivery of the national curriculum and bona fide extracurricular activities”.

The reasoning behind the restriction was to prevent an over-supply of artificial grass pitches, which could lead to the closure of some, which would in turn lead to an undersupply of all-weather pitches.

Of particular concern was the possible impact of opening the school’s pitches to community use on the facilities at Moredon sports hub recently built.

While the school, Wiltshire FA and Sport England had worked together on the proposal, Spirt England told planners at Swindon Borough Council it was concerned to ensure the viability of Moredon, and asked the school to produce a programme of users that did not include the main users of the Moredon hub.

Wiltshire FA and the school had come to an agreement to allow community use of the pitches in Tadpole Garden Village with close monitoring to ensure little impact on facilities elsewhere.

Central Swindon North Parish Council had objected to the proposals on the grounds that it would damage the expensive Moredon facilities’ viability.

But the report by the council’s planners said: “Great Western Academy, Sport England, Wiltshire County Football Association and the Football Foundation have found that there is significant and separate demand for both facilities and that each can operate viably. The local planning authority has no evidence to contradict these findings.”

The other concern was disturbance of people living nearby. The council report giving permission said: “The proposed use of the pitch for an additional hour, between 9am and 10am, on Saturdays and Sundays, is considered unlikely to be harmful to the amenities of the occupiers of the nearest residential properties.

“Nor is use of the school car park by hirers considered likely to cause harmful noise and disturbance.”

The scheme permitted says any funds coming in from hiring the pitches out over that which is needed to cover the costs will be used “towards the development, ongoing support, improvement and upkeep of the facility” and that “the operation of the facility must be self-financing without impact on, or financial support from, the school’s budget”.