A £160,000 sports project for Pool-in-Wharfedale could be in jeopardy because a planning application for new football pitches and a pavilion has been refused.

Thousands of pounds have been raised for the new sports facilities, which would benefit children and adults alike who are part of the numerous clubs in the village.

The council has given five reasons as to why the application was refused, making it look unlikely that the scheme will be able to go ahead as it was planned.

The Recreation Ground Management Committee (RGMC) submitted the application, with the backing of a newly-formed Sports Develop-ment Group, who secured £20,000 of funding from the Redrow housing company.

Peter Wilkinson, from Pool Football Club, said that he was disappointed with the decision.

He said: "We have all been trying so hard to make this work and I am really surprised by the decision and the reasons behind it because they don't seem to hold any water.

"We really need mixed changing rooms because we have got girls and there are more teams.

"I do not know the details yet and we shall have to have a meeting about this but in my opinion, we should definitely appeal because we have come so far already, we can't just drop it."

The football pitches are set to be situated next to the skate park and children's play area on Arthington Lane, with the pavilion at a separate location further up Arthington Lane.

The new pavilion would consist of four separate changing rooms with separate showers, referee and umpire rooms and disabled access.

The development group has already sent a bid to the Football Foundation and also secured the £20,000 grant which came as part of a Section 106 agreement where Redrow paid the money towards projects that would benefit the village.

Leeds City Council reasons for the refusal of the plans include:

l More pitches would mean an unacceptable increase in noise and disturbance levels for nearby residents.

l The size of the pavilion was said to be excessive for the needs of users and was visually intrusive to the Green Belt.

l Given its scale and proximity to neighbouring homes it was felt it would have an overbearing effect on them.

l On advice from the Environment Agency it was considered inappropriate to allow development in the identified flood plain without a full flood risk assessment.

Leeds planners also thought that there would not be enough parking for the number of visitors the new pitches would generate.

Now the RGMC is looking into the refusal and members will decide what course of action to take next - they can either appeal against the decision or amend the application.