Agenda item

The Chair has agreed to accept the following item of urgent business:

‘Football Investment Strategy – Aylestone Playing Fields and Riverside College site’

The full report will be circulated as soon as it is available.

The Chair agreed to accept the following two items of urgent business:

1.                  FOOTBALL INVESTMENT STRATEGY –         Appendix AOUB

            AYLESTONE PLAYING FIELDS AND

            RIVERSIDE COLLEGE SITE

The Chair agreed to accept this as an item of urgent business in order to allow scrutiny of a decision to be taken by the Cabinet on Monday 4 July 2011.

A report was submitted which asked the Board to consider a revised football investment scheme at Aylestone Playing Fields and the Riverside College site, which replaced the original scheme which was withdrawn following failure to obtain planning permission. 

The City Mayor introduced the report to the Board.  He extended thanks to the Football Foundation for showing patience following the refusal for planning permission of the previous scheme, and for pledging financial support to the extent of £5million towards the provision of football facilities in Leicester.  Additional funding for Football Investment Strategy had come from Leicester City Council, NHS Leicester City and a number of other partners.

This revised proposal for Aylestone Playing Fields/ Riverside College site would result in an additional cost of 0.7m due to the additional cost of the new scheme. 70% of this would be provided from the Council’s capital programme and the remainder being financed through prudential borrowing, with the associated interest repayments of approximately £21,000 to be paid for from savings identified in Sports Services. 

Members heard that the outcomes from the Football Investment Strategy included the generation of 240 new football teams which would equate to 3,170 new players participating.  The City Mayor explained that as a consequence of the previous proposal for football facilities at Aylestone Meadows being refused planning permission, it was therefore necessary to consider alternative options, and the proposal for the Aylestone Playing Fields/Riverside College site had in his view, the potential to deliver a better facility than the original scheme. 

The City Mayor also reported that this proposal added value to the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) Programme as it would enhance the sporting offer for young people with learning disabilities when Ellesmere College moved to the site.  It was also noted that as a BSF site, Ellesmere College would also have an enhanced community role bringing additional benefits to the community.  In response to comments stressing the need to ensure that the project is delivered at no detriment to the school, the City Mayor informed the Board that the project team had engaged in very productive discussions with representatives from Ellesmere College and that they were looking forward to accessing the facility once it was complete.

It was questioned whether this latest proposal had received support from residents living both in the local city wards and those within Blaby District Council who lived locally.  Councillor Clair explained to Members that all residents close to the site within both authorities had been made aware of the proposal and dialogue with them was ongoing.  The Interim Director of Cultural Services further stated that the authority had written to residents living in the vicinity, held two community meetings and a newsletter was also being distributed to keep people informed about the scheme.

In a response to a query, it was confirmed that although the proposal related to two separate sites, it was anticipated that one planning application for the proposal would be considered.  It was also confirmed that the proposed strategy would encompass seventeen grass football pitches. 

A question was asked around whether the Council were to approach Leicester City Football Club for a financial contribution towards the programme, citing the fact that the Club’s ladies team planned to use the facility, and the club’s commitment to engage in community development.  In response, the City Mayor stated that requesting funding from Leicester City Football Club was not presently proposed, and stated that the club were already actively involved with the Sports Trust, and hoped to look at wider ways of encouraging them to contribute to the development of the city. 

It was questioned whether any further future options had been compiled should this current strategy not progress.  The City Mayor stated that there was no reason to anticipate failure of the new scheme, and given the general positive response from all stakeholders, was confident that the scheme could progress.  He also stated that he would not be confident of retaining the investment from the Football Foundation should this proposed scheme be withdrawn.

Although the proposed new scheme was broadly supported, members stated that they would not want the progression of this scheme to adversely effect existing service operation, such as the opening hours of leisure facilities.  Officers stated that the finance required through prudential borrowing was unlikely to affect existing services, with the only savings identified from current services being in relation to the Council’s support towards Fullhurst sports-hall which will not be required from 2012/13 onwards.

RESOLVED:

(1)       That the Board supports the proposals as detailed within the report; and

(2)       That Cabinet be asked to consider the comments made by the Board on the Football Investment Strategy.

2.         At the request of the chair, the City Mayor was in attendance to provide a briefing on the events that surrounded the decision to initially not grant the 9^th/12^th Royal Lancers a city centre parade on their return from Afghanistan. 

The City Mayor explained to Members that he was initially provided with a briefing on the matter some weeks ago.  He referred to the briefing notes which were provided to him at that time.

The City Mayor stated that on reflection, the briefing note did not provide an accurate picture of the request and did not give sufficient detail of the history of the relationship between the regiment and the city.  He informed Members that in hindsight, the briefing note was not satisfactory and agreed that he should have probed particular matters which were not explicitly portrayed in the briefing note. 

It was reported that the briefing note informed the City Mayor that freedom of the City was granted to those that had a strong local connection to the City and that the lancers were often recruited from areas including Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Northamptonshire.  The City Mayor explained that he then became more greatly aware of the regiment’s strong local connection, and took a view that a home-coming parade would be appropriate to allow the people of Leicester to pay thanks to the work of the regiment. 

The Chair thanked the City Mayor for providing the briefing, and suggested that in future, it may be beneficial for other members to provide an input when responding to such requests, and felt that in this particular case, a wider level of input could have assisted the City Mayor when deciding whether to grant a home-coming parade.  The City Mayor agreed that it would have been beneficial to engage in wider discussion with his colleagues.