Agenda item

Committee is asked to approve an option for the Kensington Dragons football club (KDFC) proposal.

Steve Hollingsworth, Assistant Director of Leisure, Sports and Culture, presented the report and discussed the recommendation that the Trust supported in principle Option 2 and worked with Kensington Dragons to deliver a hybrid pitch, while not limited future redevelopment opportunities for the stadium.

Miriam Shea asked if the proposed work with the consultant would delay the timeline for the hybrid pitch. David Burns, Assistant Director – Growth, said if Kensington Dragons supported the proposal, they could set up a couple of workshops with the team to work through the proposals and implications. It shouldn’t cause any delay to the timeline.

Chris Shirley from Kensington Dragons addressed the committee and made the following points:

·       They supported meeting with consultants in the proposed timeframe.

·       They also supported the recommendation that the terms of the lease don’t limit future development opportunities.

·       He requested more detail on what the Trust had in mind for an ‘enhanced offer’ but generally supported the principle of youth football competitions and summer soccer school etc.

Councillor Helen Rowbottom said the Trust would like to see more girls football teams, teams for differently able players, and to allow local schools to play their finals on the pitches. And in the spirit of improving access to sport and great representation – to have a woman on the leadership team.

Chris Shirley said they supported having more girls football teams and there were a number of women leaders in the club including on the Board of Trustees and in the coaching staff. He added that the club were very keen to recruit more players from a wide range of backgrounds and abilities. The club had trained its coaches to work with blind, deaf, and disabled players – and were happy to work with the Council to continue to improve in this area.

Steve Hollingsworth noted that the inclusion elements could be captured in the service level agreement.

Stephen Waley-Cohen and Miriam Shea noted that they both supported the recommendations.

The Chair put the recommendations to the vote and they were unanimously agreed.

RESOLVED

1.    That the Trust supported in principle option 2 and working with KDFC to deliver a hybrid pitch, but that redevelopment opportunities for the Stadium must not be limited at this stage and this should be reflected in any property agreements with KDFC.

2.    That the Trust delegated authority to officers to:

·      Review with KDFC and the business case consultants the inclusion of the KDFC proposals, the impact of this on any of the business case options, and reflect this in the final business case report to the Committee in September

·      Ensure that the terms of the lease does not limit any future redevelopment proposals or opportunities

·      Advise KDFC that if proposals for redevelopment of the stadium site are approved and move forward in the future they may be required to move from the proposed location, and that the property terms will reflect this

·      Secure commitments from KDFC for an enhanced community use offer and develop a service level agreement for an enhanced community offer.