SPORTS enthusiasts in Petersfield who feel they are getting a raw deal are planning to make their voices heard.

In a radical bid to strengthen their position they are hoping to put forward their own candidates for Petersfield Town Council seats at the next local government elections in 2003.

Their move coincides with planning developments which could give the town council an estimated £3 million windfall from the sale of land at Penns Farm. And sports representatives want to make sure they get their slice of the cake.

Leading sportsmen and women in the town have long criticised the council for what they claim has been its negative attitude to sport.

Prominent sportsman Andy Owen says he believes it is time to level the playing field between thespians on the town council and people who put sporting issues at the top of their agenda.

Mr Owen, who is president of the Petersfield Hockey Club, said: "There are a number of sporting associations in the town that feel it is necessary to redress the balance between the thespians on the town council and the sporting community.

"This view has been expressed by a number of individuals who have decided we have got to do something about the situation.

"We are not going to have any more effect by just increasing the pressure on the council. There are a number of individuals who feel that the council is just not interested in sport."

He added: "The town council is set to receive millions of pounds from the sale of land at Penns Farm. I think it would a good idea to get sporting persons on the council when this is being spent.

"This could put the sporting community in Petersfield on the map, it is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

Ann Saunders from Steep Tennis Club told the Herald she would stand for a town council seat if she had the time.

She said: "I think it's a marvellous idea, any sports representative standing for the town council would get my vote.

"Bob Ayer is interested in sport and we do get help from Brian Dutton but that's about it. The town council is not working alongside clubs in the town, at times it seems as if they are working against them."

Petersfield town mayor Kenneth Hick said he would like to see the town produce athletes of a national standard through its own clubs. He believes the facilities are already in place and is inviting sportspeople to talk.

He said: "I would welcome anyone standing for the council. My advice to them would be to be seen as someone who wants to represent the whole of Petersfield and not just its sporting clubs.

"I would be only too willing to help anybody who wants to stand on that basis and offer them the benefit of my experience.

"At the moment we don't appear to have a strategy plan to take sport forward, but I would remind people that it was this town council that looked well forward in 1976 and bought the playing fields at Penns Farm for the future. I don't see them being overused."

Town councillor Brian Dutton, who served as a physical training instructor in the Royal Navy, said he has "some sympathy" with the problems faced by sports clubs in the town.

He said: "If the sporting community wishes to put people forward to stand on the town council for these reasons than so be it, it is a democratic society.

"I would welcome people from sports clubs on the town council but they should remember that the money that is spent is not theirs, it is taxpayers' money.

"Every year we try to keep the budget as low as possible and still achieve the same standard. We try to represent Petersfield sports clubs but I do have some sympathy with their notions."