Bamford with Thornhill Recreation Ground Trust
Annual General Meeting 15th June 2009
Chairman’s
Report
In this year’s Chairman’s report I would like to pick
up where my last report finished, which happens also to be the issue of the moment: the pavilion. Last year I referred to 2008 as a decision year on the options available; basically whether to refurbish
or rebuild. Taking account of our financial position, our placement with regard
to acquiring grant funding, technical feasibility and timescales, the Management Committee has taken a decision to move forward
on a refurbishment basis, based on the existing building shell. The cost of a
full rebuild would be in the order of £120,000, of which currently we would only able to fund around half. Finding the remaining half has been judged to be out of our reach for the foreseeable future because large
grants are no longer available for this type of project. The prospect of putting
the project on ice for a few years was considered to be an unpalatable option, since even when large project grants do become
available we do not meet general eligibility criteria of being a priority area or a disadvantaged community. Notwithstanding this, the pavilion issue has remained unresolved for so long now that the prospect of further
years’ delays would not be acceptable either to the Management Committee or the local community. We all need to move on.
In terms of the refurbishment, thanks to the volunteer input of
Denis Stephens and others on the Committee, we have assessed the structural integrity of the existing building and it is basically
sound; needing only minimal measures to shore-up. We have reviewed the available
affordable options, and have settled on creating a completely new internal layout. This
will create upgraded changing rooms, shower and toilet facilities to a new layout, and will create a new ‘club room’
and kitchen area by knocking-through the existing kitchen to incorporate the adjacent store rooms to the rear of the building. As I write we are considering tenders for the work, with an anticipated imminent start
date.
Having said all that, the other issue of the moment that must be
resolved before we can consider spending all our hard won reserves on the pavilion is the rising incidence of vandalism. This has become frequent and serious. My
recent article in the Bamford News elaborated on recent incidents and the measures we are now having to take. This involves having to restrict vehicle access to the Ground in the evenings; however it is also important
to work with village groups and the Police to explore a sustainable way forward.
A good news story for the year though, has been the work that the
Playground Group has started with upgrading the playground. So far it has been
cleaned, cleared of overgrowth and repaired. And further ambitious plans are
afoot for new play facilities and resurfacing. So just you watch that space!
I must also mention the departure of Harry Ingham from his residence
in the static caravan of some decades. Now that the caravan has gone completely,
we need to consider options for use of that patch.
Finally, although we have the big projects to manage we must not
forget that we also have to maintain a focus on all the business-as-usual issues of cutting the grass, repairing fences and
generally keeping the ground accessible, useable and safe. We need to bear in
mind that even before a single person sets foot in the ground it costs the Trust around £3,000 per year to pay our fixed cost
bills, such as insurance, grass cutting, rubbish collection, water and Council tax (though I do question why we are charged
this for a field). Many/most village recreation grounds in the area are owned
by the Borough Council and do not therefore incur many of these costs; however we do and so we have an obligation to maintain
a basic level of income from usage of the Ground. We were then pleased (and relieved!),
to attract another large event to the Ground, which is the National Mountain Bike Polaris Challenge, that took place this
last weekend. We must keep our eye open for opportunities to attract such events,
and this is something that both the Management Committee and the village community can contribute to.
So, all-in-all, it looks like we have an interesting year ahead
of us that should see a transformation in the quality of facilities on the Recreation Ground, but in so doing let’s
not forget the basics of having to run a village recreation ground.
John Soady (Hon. Chair)
