Agenda item

Elaine Clarke, Community Facilities Project Officer, introduced the report which presented three requests for the release of S106 Contributions for consideration. She confirmed that she would present the first two applications to the Panel and then the third application from Colwell Ground CIC after those discussions.

The applications which were recommended for consideration by the Panel are set out below:

The Member noted that the Council owns the building for the Crawley Down Gatwick Football Club and hoped that the Club would have sought to raise a little more funding themselves. He asked if the release of S106 contributions was linked to the Council receiving the benefits of the project as it is Council-owned and so more could be funded or whether it would be reasonable to ask if the football club would be able to raise more of the funds for the project themselves.

The Community Facilities Project Officer explained that the Section 106 receipts are available and allocated for this site and added that the Club had difficulty raising match-funding as they do not have security of tenure.

The Vice-Chairman expressed disappointment that there is no offer of funding from the Football Association. He enquired whether the Football Association has been approached on this occasion to see if they would support the project.

The Community Facilities Project Officer highlighted that, from the conversations with the applicants, they are intending to apply to get match-funding from the Football Association however they do hit a stumbling block as we own the site but the Council can support the Club in their application.

The Chairman felt particularly pleased that some of the funding will go to retiring the noisy diesel generator.

The Community Facilities Project Officer presented the application from Colwell Ground CIC. She outlined that the community building was previously funded by the Cabinet Grants Panel however the grant offer was withdrawn as St Francis Sports & Social Club was unable to raise match-funding.  The Colwell Ground CIC has now come forward with a new proposal which is of different design to the previous and are proposing to upgrade the grass pitches there and put in three new all-weather pitches for football and hockey.

The Vice-Chairman said he fully supported the application and has been an aspiration for Haywards Heath for approximately ten years. He noted a specific pot of Section 106 monies that was allocated specifically for the museum and hasn’t been used for a long time. He queried if the money is still available and cannot be used in any other way.

The Community Facilities Project Officer replied that the monies are specifically ring-fenced for that purpose.

The Vice-Chairman then asked whether the views of Haywards Heath Town Council have been sought to see if they are happy with this one-off money to be spent in that way.

The Community Facilities Project Officer explained that there haven’t been any detailed conversations with the Town Council at this point however there is an intention to get them involved as the project develops more.

The Member noted the history of the site. He sought further clarification on how the previous projects link to this project and whether there are any concerns about having to use Section 106 monies by a particular time.

The Community Facilities Project Officer confirmed that the Colwell Ground CIC has been properly constituted and that as the project moves forward there will need to be proper scrutiny from colleagues in Legal and Finance. She highlighted that the difference from the previous project is that St Francis is intending to lease all the land to the south to the Colwell Ground CIC with St Francis retaining the swimming pool and the northern part of the site. St Francis is still proposing to complete the works on the changing rooms which have been previously funded.

The Chairman stated that the governance arrangements need to be carefully looked at and agreed from a legal viewpoint. He then noted that no Member wished to speak so moved to the recommendations on the applications which were agreed unanimously.

The Community Facilities Project Officer presented the summary of Section 106 project extensions and variations.

The Chairman mentioned Spring Copse and was pleased to see Clarion Futures working toward alternative provision. He also drew attention to the Scouts at Barn Cottage Recreation Ground which he felt was a very important project and hoped that the legal process would be concluded as soon as possible. He noted that no Member wished to speak so moved to the recommendations as detailed in Appendix B which were agreed unanimously.

RESOLVED

The Cabinet Grants Panel agreed:

1. That £8,250 of S106 Contributions be released to Burgess Hill Bowls Club to fund the installation of bi-fold doors subject to the special conditions detailed in Appendix A.

2. That £100,028.93 of S106 Contributions be released to Crawley Down Gatwick Football Club to fund an upgrade of the facilities, the Club intends to replace and move the team dugouts, install a new mains connection, LED floodlighting and ball stop fencing subject to the special conditions detailed in Appendix A.

3. That £1,450,147 of S106 Contributions be released to Colwell Ground CIC to fund a capital project to deliver three new all-weather sports pitches suitable for hockey and football and a community building with ancillary facilities at the St Francis Sports Ground, Haywards Heath subject to the special conditions detailed in Appendix A.