Volunteers sought for Parish Council sport and leisure working Group

The Parish Council has started a search for volunteers to join a working group to further the initial work of the Neighbourhood Plan team in the area of sport and leisure. The statement from Councillors cites the use of its land to the north of Milton Road for “sports pitches and community land” but notes this is “not just for football, but other sports too”. It is understood groups in the village have already come forward to say they may use the Hall for their meetings or for other indoor sports or fitness uses.

The remit of the Working Group would also additionally include looking at improvements to the Lucy Plackett Playing Field.

The full statement from the Parish Council reads:

“A number of years ago, the original owners wished to donate some land in the village to improve the sports facilities that the village has. As residents may be aware, the current provision which is located at the Lucy Plackett Playing Field frequently floods and is unusable on a number of occasions during the year.

The process for transferring the land is controlled under the Planning authority and when it was given to the Parish Council, it had a restrictive covenant that it could only be used for ‘sports pitches and a community facility’. There was nothing the Parish Council could do about the covenant, given that the land was being donated, not purchased, by the Parish Council.

Now that the land is in the Parish Council’s ownership, it has to work within the restrictive covenant which has been placed on it. The Parish Council has agreed to set-up a Working Group to investigate how the land could be used, under the legal restrictive covenant, not just for football, but other sports too. There are other groups in the village who have already indicated that they would potentially use the Hall for their meetings and other indoor sports/fitness sessions. There would also be provision of car parking on the site.

It is also envisaged that part of the remit of the Working Group would be to look at the Lucy Plackett Playing Field and improvements which could be made on that site. However, this would be as well as, not instead of, developing the Milton Road land.

There have been other suggested uses for the land and although they are all valid submissions, the Parish Council has to work within the remit of the restrictive covenant.

The Parish Council appreciates that not everyone will be in agreement with the development of the land. However this is an opportunity which may never arise again for the village and a village such as Adderbury, with a population of over 3000, deserves good sports facilities and a decent sized Hall which everyone can be proud of.

Once the Working Group has met and has some ideas in place, there will be a full and transparent consultation process with the village, on how the project moves forward.

Meanwhile a last ditch attempt to stop the above plans have been launched by a small group of villagers. A so-called “call to action” flyer has been circulated in small areas of the village urging villagers to “join us” at the Parish Council AGM tonight (Tuesday 04/04/17). The flyer is unsigned but duplicates the views on the personal comments website of Lester Close resident Nigel Wood who has campaigned throughout the Neighbourhood Plan process against Adderbury Park Football Club and its plans to create additional opportunities for village youngsters.