New sports facilities including a floodlit all-weather pitch could be coming to a Great Dunmow and Newport after the council approved funding.

Uttlesford District Council has voted through £200,000 worth of grants to Great Dunmow Town Council and Newport Sports Committee for multi-use games areas in Great Dunmow Recreation Ground and Gaces Acre. Both will receive £100,000 each.

The authority’s cabinet met on September 1 to vote on the plans, which beat five other bids for the funding.

According to a council report, Great Dunmow Town Council still needs to raise a further £50,000 for the project, and its grant will be released once this is in place.

The project brief, included in the report, continues to say the town council believes there is “considerable” scope for improvement at Great Dunmow Recreation Ground, which is already home to a children’s play park, skate park and dedicated sports pavilion.

A section read: “Specifications are under consideration to ensure the facility is as accessible as possible for all areas of the community, with a priority for amateur and social games as opposed to a professional facility for team playing and paid hires.

“It is envisioned the facility will be freely open at no charge to the public.”

There are already plans to rebuild the public toilets and car park, with a budget of £300,000. £30,000 is also being put towards new footpaths from the Dourdan Pavillion through land near River Chelmer, the report continues.

The second multi-use games area will be built in Gaces Acre in Newport, according to the report.

A section read: “This new facility will provide an all-year-round play area for multiple sports. Both organised sports and casual play will be catered for.

“The floodlit and all-weather surface will allow sports/play in the evenings throughout the year.”

The brief for this second project says it will be located near the Scout, Guide and Beaver hut, Newport Youth Club and Newport Primary School.

This year’s budget for the projects is £150,000, in addition to £105,000 rolled over from last year. Any money not spent on the games areas will be rolled over to next year, according to the report.

Other applications which missed out on the district council funding included a replacement boiler at Arts Centre Dunmow, climbing and outdoor gym equipment at Debden C of E Academy and replacement toilets at Great Chesterford Bowling Club.

Bids for new goals and pitch rental at Thaxted Rangers Youth Football Club and a newly formed Walden United football team were also rejected.

Several of these bids were out of scope of the grant or did not fit the criteria, and the latter two were passed to Active Essex to seek funding, according to the report.