CAMPAIGNERS have slammed council chiefs for the 'lack of progress' over Crewe's Cumberland Athletics Track.

A meeting between the Cumberland Sports Ground Action Group and the county and borough councils took place last week but according to chairman Pat Slack, very little progress was made.

Mr Slack criticised the attitude of the councils towards the possibility of having to pay more money towards the site and said the officers seemed unprepared.

"We asked them what happens if the cost is £200,000, which we are told it could be, and they could not give us an answer," he said.

The county council has pledged £50,000 with £25,000 coming from local schools, whereas the borough has pledged £75,000, which will be enough for basic repairs.

The track was discussed at a meeting of Crewe and Nantwich Leisure Committee, when councillors' recommendations stated that the Working Group for the track be advised that any scheme developed must not incur revenue costs above the provision of £75,000. Mr Slack maintained that this reflected the council's lack of vision.

"What we are hoping to do is to use that £150,000 as a catalyst to get more money by a lottery grant," said Mr Slack.

He maintained that possible help in putting any bid together was not forthcoming from the councils at the meeting.

It was decided that there would be another meeting in six week's time to enable the councils to meet before hand.

Borough Cllr Dawn Threadgold has also spoken on the issue: "We in the borough have struggled with our limited budget to find our share of £75,000, so you can imagine how we feel to learn that the county is actually only prepared to put in £50,000 to the scheme, passing the rest of the burden on to local schools."

Ian Callister, from Cheshire County Council, said that plans were underway for a meeting between the county and borough councils, Sport England and UK Athletics to take place next week.

"The whole purpose of this meeting is to take a look at all the options, and until we know what options are available to us we cannot move forward on the project," he said.

"Before we get into the question of who is going to prepare any lottery bid let's discuss if a lottery bid is feasible," he added.

Mr Callister was unable to comment on whether more funding would be forthcoming from the county council.

Julia Smith, sports development officer for the borough, attended the meeting and added: "I went there with the commitment that the borough council would support an external funding bid."

Mrs Smith confirmed that specifications were being drawn up to re-lay and re-surface the track but maintained that any lottery bid would have to be done through the school.

"My role is to support and help identify external funding sources they could utilise, there is a difference between writing and assisting a lottery bid. There will be more answers at the next meeting," she added.

Mr Slack added: "The borough have been saying they can't make a move because the county council own it and the county council say they are dragging the borough council along, the right hand does not know what the left hand's doing.

BY PETE HENSHAW