COMMUNITIES are to pool cash to fund large sports projects like new football pitches and swimming pools. Wedmore, Cheddar, Axbridge and surrounding villages are to share cash handed over by developers in return for planning permission in individual parish

COMMUNITIES are to pool cash to fund large sports projects like new football pitches and swimming pools.Wedmore, Cheddar, Axbridge and surrounding villages are to share cash handed over by developers in return for planning permission in individual parishes under a new strategy being drawn up by Sedgemoor District Council.Several hundred thousand pounds worth of sports facility funding is currently on hold while the authority thrashes out its strategy. One of the considerations is where larger sport developments should go.Traditionally, parishes get their own pot of funding to spend on projects. But this can leave smaller parishes or ones with few building projects with limited funds. Even with relatively large pots, parishes can have trouble funding bigger projects.Six 'clusters' in Sedgemoor will share cash from August, when the authority's full council is expected to agree the strategy. Sedgemoor's leisure manager Nigel Roderick said: "We are trying to better allocate resources."Some parishes might have £1,000 funding for a small population and you have to ask whether they need a fully blown football pitch. The cash should be used for projects used by as many people as possible for the overall cluster area."We have been consulting with people, clubs and national bodies. It's going to be about where these groups want the money to be spent.