News archive

ITV News report on Faraday Road 22/11/21

Uncategorised Posted by NCFG Info 23/11/2021 18:00

Football could return to Newbury site after four years without a home

(including interview with NCFG!)

https://www.itv.com/news/meridian/2021-11-22/football-could-return-to-newbury-site-after-four-years-without-a-facility

Comments(0) https://news.ncfg.uk/?p=305

Clandestine football ground demolition continues 03/11/21

Uncategorised Posted by NCFG Info 03/11/2021 18:30

Fence protest by Newbury town councillors at Faraday Road football ground

https://www.newburytoday.co.uk/news/fence-row-sees-west-berkshire-council-branded-as-worst-type-9223756/

Comments(0) https://news.ncfg.uk/?p=302

NCFG’s objection letter to Monks Lane with evidence 27/10/21

Uncategorised Posted by NCFG Info 27/10/2021 17:43

Sent to West Berkshire Councillors and Officers 21/10/21

NCFG response to Sports Hub Planning Application

Dear West Berkshire Councillors and Officers

Please find attached Newbury Community Football Group’s detailed response to the Sports Hub proposal and Planning Application

After a detailed review and evaluation and following meetings with Sport England, the FA and the Football Foundation, with regret NCFG cannot support this proposal as a replacement for the existing Newbury Football Ground at Faraday Road.

Furthermore, given the excessive costs, the loss-making business case, the priority (and exclusive financial inducements & free use) given to rugby-club use and the overall design, NCFG also object to the planning application as a standalone 3G football pitch and as such will formally object to Planning Application 21/02173/COMIND.

On top of capital costs of around £3m and based on West Berks Council’s own business case, the total running costs over the period of the lease to the West Berks Council Tax payer is £3.6m. It rises to £6.1m if you include the missing costs identified by Sport England.

A total cost of £9.17m for a replacement scheme that is not of equivalent or better quality than Faraday Road Football Ground.

To spend this amount on a facility that is not a replacement football ground is an abhorrent waste of tax-payers money. As Sport England stated in their objections, this money could be much better spent on addressing the facility needs across West Berkshire.

The business case fails significantly as Newbury Rugby Club have not only negotiated an “extremely high rent “ (according to Sport England) of £41k and receive a one-off “lease-premium” of £250,000, they have also managed to negotiate free access to premium slots of the 3G pitch as well as heavily discounted rates for other slots. This means that football teams have to not only pay a much higher rate than rugby teams, but that children’s football teams do not have access to many of the key slots, such as midweek evening for training and Sunday morning for matches – The net impact is a dramatic hit to revenue that forces the scheme to run at a loss every year for 40 years.

It is important to note that NCFG’s own Planning Application to redevelop Faraday Road with a 3G pitch and Step 4 ground grading with expansion space to Step 2, comes at a cost to the local tax payer of just £500k capital outlay (due to anticipated Football Foundation contributions). It also has a fully self-sustaining business case with no requirements for running cost support. It is of course rent free as a WBC property and allows full access to all, with no subsidised slots. Furthermore our business case has been formally approved by Sport England.

We would strongly recommend withdrawing from the currently negotiated proposals with Newbury Rugby Club and that an urgent review is carried out of the current governance, over-sight and experience of West Berkshire Council’s negotiating team.

All details can be found in the attached document:

https://usercontent.one/wp/news.ncfg.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/NCFG-Objection-Summary.pdf

Kind Regards

Lee McDougall

NCFG

News update late October 2021

NCFG has reviewed the plans and business case for Monks Lane. Please see below why we have to object to this over-priced and inappropriate planning application.

The link to the open letter we have sent to the council is here and the supporting document here.

Comments(0) https://news.ncfg.uk/?p=298

How much?!? 19/10/21

Uncategorised Posted by NCFG Info 19/10/2021 17:01

Sport England objects to Sports Hub plan at Newbury Rugby Club’s Monks Lane ground

https://www.newburytoday.co.uk/news/41k-a-year-to-rent-pitch-from-monks-lane-rugby-club-9221511/

News update September-October 2021 “Grounds for concern”

Plans for Monks Lane slowly emerge but no detailed (high) costs yet. Local residents are not happy about the traffic and Sport England criticises the incomplete business plan. The council scraps its planning application to demolish Faraday Road as it’s already been accomplished by the mysterious fire, so it will open as a field.

And WBC has accepted Newbury Town Council’s renewal application for the Faraday Road football ground to again be an Asset of Community Value (ACV)!

Comments(0) https://news.ncfg.uk/?p=294

WBC’s proposal for Monks Lane 12/10/21

Uncategorised Posted by NCFG Info 12/10/2021 18:46

21/02173/COMIND

The proposed development is for a single storey sports pavilion building and car park providing facilities and social space to support a proposed artificial turf pitch, F2(C). The proposed artificial turf pitch forms part of this application and includes fencing, storage, spectator seating and artificial lighting. The building will provide approximately 400m² of internal floor space of use class F2(B)

Newbury Rugby Football Club, Monks Lane, Newbury, West Berkshire, RG14 7RW

https://publicaccess.westberks.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?keyVal=QYCHBRRD09N00&activeTab=summary

For more information about the proposals, details, plans, consultation, correspondence and objections see the Documents tab > View associated documents and scroll down…

Comments(0) https://news.ncfg.uk/?p=291

A tale of 2 councils 12/10/21

Uncategorised Posted by NCFG Info 12/10/2021 18:25

Newbury Town Council’s application to renew the Faraday Road Football Ground as an Asset of Community Value (ACV) was approved by West Berkshire Council on the 20th of September.

https://www.newbury.gov.uk/news/faraday-road-football-ground-renewed-as-an-asset-of-community-value/

meanwhile…

West Berkshire Council withdraws its Faraday Road planning application to “demolish the ‘former’ clubhouse, create additional car parking on the site and to enable the temporary opening of the sports and recreation space whilst redevelopment plans were drawn up” and is to open temporary public sports and recreation space at the site by the end of the year.

http://info.westberks.gov.uk/article/38557/Withdrawal-of-Faraday-Road-Planning-Application