You may all have noticed that a new hoarding is going up around the war memorial pavilion. This is part of efforts by the new owners to protect the building from continuing vandalism. The new owners have confirmed that this is part of remedial plan to include –
All of this is to be welcomed as there were seven years of complete neglect under Quantum, and more recently there was considerable water damage to the building.
Looking beyond the immediate flurry of activity the Foundation continue to press for the resumption of community sport on this site. Our latest correspondence with the owners is as below –
Thank you for the update.
Everyone will also welcome the action being taken to preserve the historical war memorial pavilion.
The original drawings which you tabled with me indicted the Mr Wu’s plans sought to preserve the majority of the pitch layout the pitch shown on the Foundations plan below. If this remains the case then I would be keen to explore bringing the pitches back in to community use sooner rather than later. Both Hearts of Teddlothians and Thamesians RFC could make immediate use of this space. Please come back to me if this is a possibility for 2023/24.
Regarding Sports England, the above plan was developed after exhaustive dialogue with not just SE, but also the national sporting bodies – LTA, FA, RFU and ECB. It would seem unnecessary to go back to square one, and I would be happy to run through how this pitch layout was arrived at.
I also had previous dialogue with three companies offering Agronomy services - PSD (Professional Sportsturf Design),TGMS and STRI . On sports lights I dealt with both Abacus and Musco. On tennis court resurfacing I sought advice from Trevor May – who my company also employed at the Queens Club. I have passed these contact details on to Mr Wu’s Architect.
If you want community input via the Foundation then I would be happy to engage. The previous effort was very much focussed on real need in the borough, and had universal support from the local clubs.
As soon as there is any more news then I will update everyone
Local MP, Munira Wilson, gave an impassioned speech emphasising the importance of retaining playing fields for community use rather than allowing them to be land banked by developers.
I thought that I ought to update everyone as the latest moratorium period under the ACV is about to expire. At this point Mr Wu can market the site again to commercial bidders. Before the moratorium period he attempted to sell the site over a twelve-month period and attracted an offer from a single developer called Mr Williams. This bid later evaporated. No doubt Mr Wu hopes for more meaningful interest the next time around.
The Foundation has received welcome support from the football community as the statements below -
Lee Doyle, CEO of Brentford FC CST
"The Brentford FC Community Sports Trust aims to deliver exciting, progressive and socially inclusive multi-sports participation, coach education and facility development programmes, enabling participants, coaches and volunteers to realise their potential through community sport. The Trust supports the aims of the Udney Park Community Fields Foundation to buy and run these precious playing fields in Teddington"
