Agenda item

Subject to successful funding applications to the Football Foundation:

1.       That an additional allocation of £100,000 of District CIL receipts to the project be approved, bringing the total funding from District CIL to £300,000;

2.       That the countersigning by the council of a further funding bid to the Football Foundation, in partnership with Winchester City Football Club, for associated stadium improvements at the site be approved;

3.       That an additional budget and expenditure of £461,000 (funded by the additional CIL, increased grant from the Football Foundation and contribution from WCFC) be approved, bringing the total approved budget and expenditure to £1.466m for the installation of a new 3G artificial turf pitch and associated improvements at Winchester City Football Club;

4.       That delegated authority to the Strategic Director - Services be approved to appoint the relevant contractors and to negotiate and agree contractual heads of terms with the contract appointment; and

5.       That delegated authority to the Service Lead: Legal be approved to prepare and enter into all relevant agreements, negotiate the contractual agreements and see them to completion to enable the proposed works at Winchester City Football Club. 

That it be noted:

6.       That the Corporate Head of Asset management will agree the terms of a new lease with Winchester City Football Club under his delegated authority;

7.       That responsibility for operating, maintaining, repairing and replacing the pitch (including index-linked annual contributions to a pitch replacement fund) would lie with the council, but that the facility and these responsibilities would be passed to Winchester City Football Club along with all income, via the new lease;

8.       That if for any reason Winchester City Football Club was unable to meet those responsibilities, the lease would be forfeited and responsibility would revert to the council; and

9.       That the project will not proceed unless the grant application to the Football Foundation secures all necessary funding required to deliver the project in full.

Councillor Tod introduced the report, highlighting the benefits of the proposal particularly in terms of improved access for a variety of different groups of people.  He also emphasised that planning matters had been addressed by the Planning Committee on 15 November 2023.

At the invitation of the Leader, Councillors Lee and Godfrey addressed the meeting as summarised briefly below.

Councillor Lee

He expressed concern about the environmental impact of a 3G artificial pitch in terms of its manufacture, ongoing maintenance and limited availability for recycling at the end of its life.  He highlighted that the EU had banned 3G artificial pitches in September 2023, although an eight year transition period was agreed.  He requested that Cabinet attach strong conditions to the business case to require that the surface management plan was stringently followed to ensure the impact of flood water escape was negligible and that at the end of life, the pitch was recycled to the highest possible standard.

Councillor Godfrey

He spoke in support of the project and the proposed funding as an artificial pitch would allow many more football games to be played each day.  He hoped that the various clubs who played there took advantage of this and more members of the public were able to attend in support.

Councillor Tod responded to comments made including emphasising that paragraph 7.3 of the report outlined the measures proposed to minimise the environmental impact.  The Service Lead – Community advised that DEFRA would be undertaking a research project into the longer term use of artificial pitches, the timing of which should tie in with when it would be necessary to resurface.

Cabinet Members emphasised the wider health benefits of the proposals in increasing the availability of the facility in terms of time available and also different groups of people (for example, both disability and walking football could only be played on an artificial pitch).

Cabinet agreed to the following for the reasons set out in the report and outlined above.

RESOLVED:

Subject to successful funding applications to the Football Foundation:

1.             That an additional allocation of £100,000 of District CIL receipts to the project be approved, bringing the total funding from District CIL to £300,000;

2.             That the countersigning by the council of a further funding bid to the Football Foundation, in partnership with Winchester City Football Club, for associated stadium improvements at the site be approved;

3.             That an additional budget and expenditure of £461,000 (funded by the additional CIL, increased grant from the Football Foundation and contribution from WCFC) be approved, bringing the total approved budget and expenditure to £1.466m for the installation of a new 3G artificial turf pitch and associated improvements at Winchester City Football Club;

4.             That delegated authority to the Strategic Director - Services be approved to appoint the relevant contractors and to negotiate and agree contractual heads of terms with the contract appointment; and

5.             That delegated authority to the Service Lead: Legal be approved to prepare and enter into all relevant agreements, negotiate the contractual agreements and see them to completion to enable the proposed works at Winchester City Football Club. 

That it be noted:

6.             That the Corporate Head of Asset management will agree the terms of a new lease with Winchester City Football Club under his delegated authority;

7.             That responsibility for operating, maintaining, repairing and replacing the pitch (including index-linked annual contributions to a pitch replacement fund) would lie with the council, but that the facility and these responsibilities would be passed to Winchester City Football Club along with all income, via the new lease;

8.             That if for any reason Winchester City Football Club was unable to meet those responsibilities, the lease would be forfeited and responsibility would revert to the council; and

9.             That the project will not proceed unless the grant application to the Football Foundation secures all necessary funding required to deliver the project in full.