Letter from NCFG Press Officer Lee McDougall to Newbury Weekly News:
I read with great envy in last weeks NWN how Basingstoke and
Deane Council were funding £5,000 towards a football stand at a ground in
Tadley
We have the complete opposite in West Berkshire where the
Council have taken a perfectly good football stand at our community football
ground in Faraday Road and REMOVED it!
They plan to re-open the ground as a bookable venue in the
Summer (originally it was September 18) but with a total disregard for the
children’s teams who may wish to use it (and the standard zero consultation)
parents will find they no longer are able to either sit or shelter from the
rain while they watch their children play or train.
The only possible glimmer of hope was that Cllr Cole finally
admitted at the Exec meeting on Thursday that the Council understood it’s
commitments to replace the ground should they get permission to redevelop LRIE
and the recent Press Release from WBC highlighted plans for a new FA Step 6
facility at Northcroft. A Step 6 Ground must have floodlights, 1.83m fencing surround,
a club house, parking, turnstiles and… a stand!
It is beyond comprehension that they plan to spend what I
conservatively estimate to be well over £1m on a football ground in Northcroft
to replace the one they have so very unnecessarily destroyed. I am sure a
change from a Tory dominated Council on May 2nd’s elections could provide a
Council more committed to its community and not deals with property developers
(both lawful and unlawful)
Lee McDougall
Newbury Community Football Group
See NWN article below:
