Friday 9 May
Present
Matt Priest – Villa Road Earthworks. Theresa King – Parish Council RFO. Yvonne Murray – Parish Council Chair. Neil Davies – Parish Councillor. Sarah Smith – Parish Councillor. Tom McKeown – HI Pump Track Charity Trustee.
Tour
Walking tour of the recreation ground clockwise from Parish building.
Exercise equipment often in use as free and always open for use. Kids also use the space a place to play, sit and chat.
Matt – Tracks can work around the land, using pockets of space.
Theresa – Land past the line drawn from Netball court to line of fur trees is only leased to parish. Lease till 2036. Change would require permission of owner. Owner aware of the project as Charity spoke with them while preparing their 2024 report.
Neil – Should location hide track or display track? Tom- 2023 survey split. Half commented away from housing so that use did not cause disturbance. Half commented near housing so that it is accessible and observation of users. Community Service and Police view is that location better if visible. Provides observation people using the track to keep them from causing trouble, but also observation of people using the track so they are not harassed or predated by others.
Theresa – Hornets have 32 teams. Making use all pitches. 2 Full size and 5 smaller pitches.
North edge area adjacent to Spire access. Theresa – current location for storing large equipment. Neil – Also, the area where marquee is placed for large community events.
Theresa – 5m high netting fence, like that protecting play area, needed in these locations to protect track from cricket balls. Would add cost. Sarah – yes, if decided here that would be built into project budget.
North east corner Vintage pump and seating. Needs to remain as protected.
East edge. Some space by smaller pitches. This is the area most prone to seasonal flooding. Matt – How much? Theresa – Unavailable for two weeks last season. Caused many delayed fixtures. Had to extend beyond end of football season to complete. Potential for parish to incur fines.
Discussed need for access to track. Tom – This should be hard surface otherwise wheels drag mud onto track making it less safe. Matt – Could an access south through woods to the guided busway maintenance track work?
South east adjacent to football stadium. Neil – Strip by football ground possible? Trees would need removal, but already very large (Leylandii?) – likely have to come down eventually, as falling is a huge risk. Also use of some compound space on the football stadium side. Might be worth a conversation with Hornets. Yvonne – Impact on drainage? Tom – Maybe good, roots grow into drainage channels. Maybe bad, trees delay rain reaching ground. Yvonne – biodiversity? Tom – Might be improved as trees all same species and all the very large. Would be opportunity to create mix of habitats with diverse replacement planting.
Matt – Accessible with a path along the ownership boundary? Theresa – possible but needs to be flush and robust so that grounds keeping machinery can cross and not cause damage.
South side. Cricket batting cages. Need location to move cages to. Also, bleachers and rain cover. Tom – Maybe think about wider changes; use the fir tree line to move batting cages. Free space here near to play equipment for track. Theresa – cricket uses a lot of equipment might not like cages moved further away. Boundary line already as tight as it can be for the 1st team. Might not have space for track, and would need 5m fencing like the play area to protect from wide cricket balls.
12 New Road. House intended to stay but garden and compound could become part of track addition to the play area. Yvonne – plans exist for changes? Neil – yes, but Development Group has moved on from them. Agreed to publish them since obsolete.
Returned to Parish office.
Discussion about scope and exclusions. Agreed all to be included. Need a presentation of all possibilities, with the any associated loss of existing facilities included for consideration by Parish Council.
Charity outlined its current thinking for track delivery, funding, planning application, ongoing maintenance and insurance. All in draft form at the moment, willing to discuss with Parish Working Group if asked.
Discussion on report delivery timeline. Agreed for Matt to provide report in time for the Parish Council’s June meeting – Monday 15 June.