A £200,000 multi-use games area (MUGA) to replace one demolished more than three years ago has been given the green light by City of York Council.

A new MUGA for the Westfield ward is set to be built at York Acorn Amateur Rugby league Sports and Social Club, less than half-a-mile away from the old site.

The old Kingsway MUGA was removed in winter 2018 to make way for the extension of Lincoln Court sheltered housing, despite objections from Sport England. The council’s executive committed in March 2019 to replacing it.

The new Thanet Road site will be larger than the old one and will be used for both football and rugby league, along with other sports and activities.

There will be charges for use to pay for the upkeep of the MUGA, but negotiations are underway to set aside free sessions for young people outside school hours and in holiday periods.

There are a limited number of sports clubs in the Westfield ward and concerns have been growing in recent months about the amount of anti-social behaviour in the area.

Labour group leader Cllr Pete Kilbane welcomed the news but said he would like to see more robust guarantees around the free sessions to ensure it remains accessible to the community.

He added: “We are greatly concerned it has taken three years to get this far. During that time, anti-social behaviour in the Westfield ward has grown to the point where we can now fairly safely say it’s now out of control, with residents suffering greatly.”

The council’s executive member of culture, leisure and communities, Cllr Darryl Smalley, said the old MUGA was “much missed”.

He said the new MUGA’s larger size would offer “even more opportunities for residents in that area”.

Approving the new plan, he added: “It’s unusual to have a new site as large as this going in without lots and lots of residents with concerns and objections and things like that, so I think it’s a demonstration of how welcome this investment is and how we’ve found almost a perfect location for it in many ways.”

A planning application for a new artificial grass pitch with flood lighting and fencing will now be submitted.