THE cutback in spending on Bishop Castle's new sports and arts centre shows the Government is failing to respond to the needs of rural areas says a county and district councillor.

Coun Peter Phillips (LibDem) is disappointed the £2.8m project had to be slimmed down to £1.5m after plans for an all-weather multi-purpose sports pitch were scrapped.

"Shropshire is hardly flush with cash and we depend on match-funding from outside - and it failed," he says.

Coun Phillips adds that county hockey players have a round trip of 75 miles to play on an appropriate surface.

Similarly, he points out, Bishops Castle football club players have to travel to Newtown to practise and members will, inevitably, be tempted to join that club instead.

"Rural deprivation is about big distances and thin public transport and a sparse population," he says.

Administrators in London, or even Shrewsbury, fail to understand these dimensions.

"Responses like 'its a lot of money for relatively few people', or, as I had from the Learning and Skills Council recently, 'the numbers aren't big enough' demonstrate exactly the failure to grasp the rural plot.

The SpArC (Sports and Arts Centre) will be sited at the Bishop's Castle Community Centre and have accommodation for teaching sports and games plus a new fitness suite and changing rooms.

A squash court will also be built and the existing main hall and gym renovated to provide a top-class venue.