ARC
c/o The Junction
16 The Square
Aldbourne
SN8 2DU
Registered charity number: 1161160
28 April 2017
Dear Councillor,
We would like to take this opportunity to update you on the proposals for the Aldbourne
Recreation Centre in advance of the Parish Council meeting next Wednesday, 10th May.
Please find enclosed a short briefing document, which provides information about the history and
background to the project; the proposed facilities and benefits they would bring to local residents
of all ages and abilities; community consultation and support; latest indicative plans for the site;
and how we believe the project should progress to the next stage.
We hope you find this information helpful. Should you have any queries, please don’t hesitate to
contact us.
Email: [email protected]
Phone: Malcolm Pryce - 07786 946831
Rich Englefield - 07702 488864
Yours sincerely,
The ARC Trustees and Associate Members
A recreation centre for the village
for all ages and all abilities within the community.
Background
Palmer’s Field, on the southern edge of Aldbourne, was donated to the village 12 years ago as an amenity for
the benefit of the whole community. It is adjacent to Southward Lane Field, which has been used as a football
pitch and for other sports activities for decades. Both fields are currently administered by the Parish Council.
With 1900 residents, a thriving shop, post-office, café, two pubs and a primary school, it is very unusual for
a village of Aldbourne’s size not to have any outdoor recreational or sports facilities. In recent years local
volunteers have contributed a great deal of time and energy to develop and now deliver the holistic vision
for both Palmer’s and Southward Lane fields to be developed and managed as a single recreational asset for
the benefit of all of the village. This led to the formation in 2015 of the Aldbourne Recreation Centre Charity
(ARC), with five local Trustees, to work closely with the Parish Council and community to move the project
forward.
Public consultation
ARC has carried out extensive consultation with local residents and we have been delighted by the positive
feedback received. In the last two years we have held five well-attended drop-in events in the village, and
most recently a public meeting hosted by the Parish Council on February 8th 2017 was standing room only.
We have held separate consultations with most of the local sports and community groups, including the
cricket club, Fitness with Friends, the football club and veteran footballers, touch rugby, St. Michael’s School,
Aldbourne Youth Council, the Youth Band and the running group. The Heritage Group has devoted a major
part of their display at the Heritage Centre to the history of sports in the village, demonstrating its longstanding importance to village life.
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We also have a regularly updated website, www.palmersfield.org.uk, and an active Facebook page with over
130 followers. Positive comments have also been received on the Facebook pages for other community
groups such as Scouts and Guides and the Friends of Aldbourne Band, who will of course benefit directly from
the new recreation centre facilities.
Outside our formal consultations, supporters of ARC have had many conversations with families in the village
about the project. Notwithstanding a few understandable specific concerns and queries, overall reaction to
our plans has been extremely positive.
Proposed facilities
The Recreation Centre should be a partnership between the people of the village, their Parish Council and
ARC. Residents have told us they would like to see the following facilities:

A full size football pitch and separate rugby pitch, to allow youth and adult matches, plus a changing
room pavilion, with showering facilities for two teams and officials, and a social area. This is a legal
requirement for us to be able to host other teams, and we have had support from the FA, RFU and
Sport England.

The Big New Hut, for use by Scouts and Guides.

A Band rehearsal room with scope for general music use.

A Mini-Football / Mini-Rugby pitch, plus a Rounders and Softball pitch using the remaining flat ground
on Southward Lane Field. This land can also be used for village events (e.g. Fetes).

A vehicle access route with access management and car park on Southward Lane Field, with suitable
landscaping and new planting, linked with a ‘running / walking / biking’ track to allow non-car access
to the site across Southward Lane Field.

Open areas will all be retained to ensure plenty of suitable dog exercising areas, including ‘dog
exercise obstacles’.

Other proposals put forward by the community are a Parkour Course, a walking / running trail with
exercise stations around the perimeter, a skate-park, all to complement the existing zip wire and
BMX track.
Please see the indicative plans included with this document, refined in the last month following consultation
with residents.
Benefits
As befits a dynamic and growing village, the Aldbourne Recreation Centre will provide local and accessible
sports, leisure and recreation facilities for all ages and abilities, helping promote health and well-being. It will
ensure we remain a vibrant community, based around village life, maintaining and boosting Aldbourne’s
image as one of the most desirable places to live in this part of Wiltshire.
While the site currently sometimes attracts the wrong type of behaviour (car racers, loiterers and litter), the
new facilities will transform it into a purposeful, flexible facility the village can be proud of. It will provide a
focal point offering people the opportunity to enjoy the social aspects of working together, whilst
volunteering their skills, and giving something back to the community.
Taking a partnership approach means we can be far more effective at fundraising, boosting the confidence
of prospective funders that the enterprise has momentum and will achieve its aims. We will be able to build
on the grants already obtained for preliminary work from Marlborough Area Board and The Medlock
Charitable Trust, and seek additional funds for specific projects from other bodies such as Sport England, The
Arts Council, Lottery Funds and the Landfill Communities Fund.
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Achieving the vision
Much has already been achieved. Wiltshire Council has granted planning permission to build the access track;
our fund-raising efforts have already raised £5,000 in local donations plus an additional £10,000 in seed
funding, contingent on a long-term lease; and the project has attracted recognition and support from our
Wiltshire Councillor James Sheppard and our MP Claire Perry.
We are extremely grateful to the Parish Council for their continued support, without which the project would
not be where it is today. At the last parish council meeting on April 5th it became clear that there was a
difference of opinion on the essential details of the lease. Without resolving this we cannot sign the Heads
of Agreement and progress will stall.
ARC believes that we can only deliver the successful outcome we know the village wants with a single lease
including both Palmer’s Field and Southward Lane Field. Our reasons are as follows:
Confidence for funders and the community
A single lease will demonstrate the Parish Council’s fulsome and public support for this project, and its
commitment to retaining this whole area for sports and recreation, as was intended when the land was
donated and bought and as laid out in Parish Council policy.
A single lease is therefore essential in providing confidence to the major funding organisations and
demonstrating the need for their involvement. A fractured lease begs the question, “What else do the Parish
Council have in mind for this separate piece of land? If they are planning a commercial sale, this should be
done at the outset and the proceeds used to fund the development.” Difficult questions like these would
prejudice the project’s development, making it impossible for ARC to raise a six-figure sum of external funds,
with the Village losing out as a result.
A single lease showing a clear commitment to the project is also essential in demonstrating leadership to the
community and galvanising them to donate both time and expertise as well as funds to the project. Wavering
simply puts people off volunteering.
More efficient delivery
The single lease needs to support the holistic development of the complete site: not only the main pitches
and buildings, but also the comprehensive access plan for both vehicular and non-vehicular traffic, and the
variety of other facilities listed above that will make this a truly versatile, well used and valuable Village
asset. It should be noted that the area allocated for Village events/mini-football and rugby, combined with
additional parking and the access track, will already take up 85 to 90% of Southward Lane Field.
Lower costs
The single lease approach will reduce costs, meaning that funding can go to deliver the key benefits of the
scheme rather than on legal fees. Consultations have identified that additional parts of Southward Lane Field
will need to be incorporated into the project for future phases, for additional parking areas and access, etc,
which would require expensive amendments to a fractured lease each time if this approach is adopted.
Conclusion
All too often, we hear criticism of councils for selling off sports and playing fields for housing or other
commercial development. The Parish Council has an opportunity to safeguard these two fields as a valuable
amenity for the benefit of Aldbourne’s residents for at least a generation. We very much hope you will agree
that a single lease for both fields demonstrates fulsome Parish Council support, and is the best way forward.
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