MONMOUTHSHIRE council’s cabinet passed plans to increase the budget for the building of an artificial sports pitch in Caldicot.

The project to build a 3G pitch at Caldicot Comprehensive School will now cost £660,000 – £50,000 more than was originally anticipated when plans were originally passed in 2012.

Councillors from Magor had attacked the proposal because money to help with the increased costs will be partly made up of funds originally meant for their area.

Mill Councillor Frances Taylor told the cabinet meeting on Wednesday that her ward “badly needs” infrastructure improvements to deal with a recent population increase.

Now £35,000 which was originally going to be spent on Magor and Undy community hall and Kingfisher Rise will now be spent on the pitches. But the council’s deputy leader Cllr Bob Greenland said it was “absolutely appropriate that monies should be given from people from that area” given how many people from Magor and Undy would use the pitches.

Work was originally going to start in 2012 but unchartered sewer and water pipes were found under the site. Work to divert the pipes was funded by £300,000 from Monmouthshire council in May 2013. The pitches should be built by October, the council said. The council’s community infrastructure coordinator, Mike Moran, said the increasing costs have been incurred because of the project’s delayed progress and materials becoming more expensive over that time.