PONTELAND RUGBY FOOTBALL CLUB

Transcription

1 PONTELAND RUGBY FOOTBALL CLUB 7, Trevone Place Seghill Northumberland NE23 7TY Yasmin Aston Children s Services FREEPOST MP135 County Hall Morpeth Northumberland NE61 1BR 8 th August 2016 RESPONSE TO THE PROPOSED REDEVELOPMENT OF THE CURRENT PONTELAND LEISURE CENTRE SITE Ponteland Rugby Club would like to engage in the consultation process regarding the proposed new Leisure Centre for Ponteland and this letter constitutes the club s representations. We would like to make NCC aware that no other organisation or body has been endorsed by the Rugby Club to present our views on our behalf. In principle, Ponteland Rugby Club welcomes Northumberland County Councils commitment to spend many millions of pounds on providing new educational and leisure facilities within Ponteland. However we feel that we are unable to comment directly on the proposed development that is currently the subject of this consultation exercise. The reasons for this are because the level of provision for all sports, including rugby, are unclear. For example we currently have the use of 3 full size rugby pitches of which one has training floodlights yet in the consultation document under Initial plans for the leisure facilities have been drawn up, which include : are listed - Fully licensed food and beverage facility including meeting rooms and function rooms Cricket pitch Grass football pitches Grass rugby pitches All this list does is raise further questions. For example, How many grass rugby pitches? Will one of the grass rugby pitches have floodlights? Will the food and beverage facility be able to provide food on Saturdays and Sundays? What will be the size and number of changing rooms? Equally at the last User s Group Meeting it is minuted that; Phil Evans set out the basic elements of the brief: - a 6 lane swimming pool (4 lanes currently); - a square teaching pool; - a 100+ station gym ( a big increase, thereby increasing potential membership); - 2 studios (to be shared with the schools) which should allow for more classes;

2 - a dedicated spinning studio, theatre style; - bar and catering facilities; - 3 adult rugby pitches; - 1 cricket pitch; - 2 adult football pitches and 2 junior pitches; - 2 3G pitches for shared rugby and football use; - 4 badminton courts in the Sports Hall - archery to overlap with rugby and football pitches; - tennis courts (outdoor); - additional facilities, subject to results of consultation eg soft play, bowling, spa; - no squash court, as popularity has waned. Does Active Northumberland, via Phil Evans, mean that the leisure provision that we are being consulted on will have 3 grass rugby fields and two 3G pitches shared with football (total 5 pitches) or does he mean there will be one grass rugby field with two 3G pitches shared with football (total 3 pitches)? This is, at best, confusing and what we are being consulted on is very unclear. The lack of detail, the lack of clarity in the information and indeed the contradictory messages coming from Active Northumberland and NCC are totally inadequate and due to this it is not possible for the Rugby Club to provide a considered response as it is unclear what the current proposals actually are. Due to our inability to comment directly on the proposals the only way forward for the Rugby Club is to provide NCC with a list of our needs which would sustain our current level of operation. Below we identify what we consider to be the minimum range of facilities that a new Leisure Centre in Ponteland will need to offer for the Rugby Club to sustain its current level of operation. Pitch and Pitch Side Needs 4 x pitches all full size (RFU regulations 124 to 144 metres long by 70 metres wide. In actual game play there should be 100 metres between the two try-lines, with anywhere between 10 and 22 metres behind each try line to serve as the in-goal area. Full details in RFU Document Pitch Size Regulations ), whereby - all pitches are level and well drained and meet the Pitch Quality Standards as identified by Institute of Groundsmanship. ( ) - 1 pitch (1 st XV pitch) to meet RFU requirements for barriers, technical area and space for players warming up at both ends of the pitch. (RFU Regulation 13. Para Page 214 of 2015/2016 RFU Handbook) - The above pitch to have the space for the siting of a 40 seat portable stand with provision for disabled access from the car park to the stand - 1 pitch to have floodlights. For an explanation of Community and Competition floodlighting go to - All to be maintained by a grounds person who holds a recognised qualification as recommended by Institute of Groundsmanship, ( ) - All to be aerated, over seeded, sand dressed, fertilised, weed killed and chain harrowed and allowed to recover over the summer period as per Active Northumberland expectation from their 2015 questionnaire. Pitch-side storage for equipment. There is a need for storage with proximity to the pitches for post protectors, posts and training equipment but also to the changing rooms for such

3 items as strips and water bottles. Currently the club has the garage (19m 2 ) and the shipping container (11.5m 2 ). Our current external storage is 30.5m 2. Ambulance / emergency vehicle access onto the playing fields either from the entrance road or car park. The ability to display advertising / sponsors boards around the 1 st XV pitch, and possibly across the other pitches. Approximately 40 boards. They could be fixed on a wall near or overlooking the pitch(es). Erection of a scoreboard by the 1 st XV pitch. Changing Room Requirements 6 x changing rooms within reasonable distance of the pitches which meet RFU requirements of en-suite toilets and showers. Current RFU guidance for a 16 player changing room is 30.6m 2 inc. en-suite provision. (Fuller details and dimensions can be found in RFU Facilities Guidance Note 5 Changing Rooms and Clubhouses at NOTE : senior teams now have 18 players in a team squad for league games and a team squad of 21 players for County Cup games. 1 x Physio / treatment room. (Could also be designated as a First Aid room.) This room to have sufficient room for a treatment couch with sufficient room around the couch for the physio to undertake manipulations and treatment. To include a sink with H&C water, small desk on which to complete record keeping, storage for physio and 1 st Aid equipment. 2 x Match Officials Changing Facility. (RFU Recommend 2 x changing rooms to allow for female match officials. We had male and female match officials on 14/11/15 and 21/11/2015). This would include en-suite toilets and showers. Guidance for a 1 x 3 official changing room is 8m 2. (Fuller details and dimensions can be found in RFU Facilities Guidance Note 5 Changing Rooms and Clubhouses at Access to male and female toilets from the outside playing area without the need to go through changing rooms. Storage which could be linked with the same topic under Pitch and Pitch Side Needs above. PRFC Changing Room Allocation Whiteboard to indicate which team has been allocated to which changing room and the pitch they ll be playing on. Other Building Requirements Access to a Social Area where visiting teams can be hosted and shown hospitality which - is licensed and can be accessed on match days, after senior training sessions and when committee meetings are held - where hot food can be prepared and served for visiting teams and, ideally, for club functions such as Sponsor s Lunches and Presentation Evenings - where the club s honours board and other memorabilia can be displayed Access to a meeting / committee room which can accommodate about 15 people.

4 Other Needs The ability to erect a Home of PRFC Board at the entrance into the new Leisure Centre or on the roadside, as appropriate. (It is anticipated that this would be similar to the existing board). When calculating Leisure Centre car parking the following needs to be borne in mind (this assumes that Leisure Centre and school parking will be shared so the current scenario of using the schools car parking as overflow would no longer be an option) - on Saturday when 2 teams are playing at home this will generate a need for an additional 100 parking spaces. (Assumes visitors share cars but home players don t). - on Sundays some teams play away whilst other teams visit. An additional 200 parking spaces will be needed in addition to normal Leisure Centre needs. - when PRFC host junior and mini rugby festivals, about twice a year, an additional 350 parking spaces will be needed in addition to normal Leisure Centre needs. Agreement to hold Community Events such as the PRFC Annual Beer Festival and Family Fun Day on the Leisure Centre site, possibly on one of the rugby pitches with associated storage requirements and vehicular parking. The proposed site is low lying in relation to the surrounding houses and roads, especially the area covered by the current 1 st XV rugby pitch and the land across the burn that is proposed to be playing fields. Due to this drainage has always been a problem. Over the last 5 years 70k of Sport England funding, County Councillor Grant funding and Rugby Club money has been spent on improving drainage on two of the rugby pitches. When this work was being undertaken issues relating to the flood plain were so significant that the Environment Agency had issues of where the excess soil could safely be deposited. All new pitches must have drainage that is at least as good as has just been achieved on the current 1 st XV pitch and training pitch. Whilst not directly related to the proposed plans the Rugby Club has further issues that relate to the transition or building phase when pitches at the Leisure Centre site would be taken out of use to be built on which would last for about a 2 year period and the subsequent re-instatement of other land into playable fields of, at least a further 18 months. (6 months for construction and 1 year before the fields could be played on). We would welcome being involved in a dialogue with NCC and Active Northumberland on this matter at the earliest opportunity. In conclusion, whilst welcoming elected members commitment to investment in Ponteland we are unable to comment directly on, or endorse, the current Leisure Centre proposals as the proposals that have been presented to us are unclear, contradictory and at best vague however we are able to identify and present our needs. Tony Murphy President Ponteland RFC Richard McGlashan Secretary Ponteland RFC c.c. s see next page

5 c.c. Cllr. E. Armstrong, Ponteland East and Stannington Cllr. R. Dodd, Ponteland North Cllr. P. Jackson, Ponteland South with Heddon Cllr. V. Jones, Ponteland West