Result! Funding secured for new all-weather pitch

A NEW all-weather sports pitch in Henley has secured funding.

The 3G synthetic pitch at Jubilee Park, off Reading Road, will cost just over £1 million.

The town council, which owns the site, now has confirmation that it will receive a grant totalling more than £700,000 from the Premier League, the FA and the Government’s Football Foundation.

It will also contribute £300,000 from its own reserves to complete the project and construction is anticipated to begin in January.

The artificial grass pitch is designed specifically for football and the council hopes that this will help free up the existing all-weather Rhinoturf pitch, which is more suited to hockey.

The new 91m x 55m pitch was supported by both AFC Henley and Henley Hockey Club, which currently have to share the existing pitch.

The football club also has use of smaller grass pitches at Jubilee Park which are used by younger players but are sometimes unplayable due to the poor condition of the ground.

Councillor Michelle Thomas said: “I am so pleased for Henley and all of the children who are going to benefit from this facility. Having an all-weather pitch is essential to be able to train throughout all months of the year.

“It is a very complex process and we had to take it one step at a time and make sure that we involved lots of different people and agencies and worked with all the different stake holders.

“The whole community is going to be involved with this, it certainly is going to be very busy with football and other sports that want to use this.

“When my son was playing for AFC Henley he went all through from the age of seven to 17 and my husband was a volunteer coach so it has been in my DNA. I look forward to moving forward with this. It is very exciting.”

Mayor Rory Hunt said: “It is a fantastic testament to the hard work pu in on this which predates my time on the council by many years. It is very satisfying to see it come to completion as it will allow more sport to be played in the town thoughout the year.

“It is important that we aim to get to parity with the girls’ football and that is a really positive thing for me. Women’s sport has been the big growth area and something that we should be really proud of as a community and a country, it will be great to see Henley do more.”

Trevor Howell, former chairman and current treasurer of AFC Henley, said it had been a long time coming.

He said: “After eight years of business cases, presentations and negotiations we have finally got the green light from the football foundation to build this 3G pitch.

“They have been very prescriptive about what they expect from us because they are putting in so much money but we have overcome all the difficulties with negations with them and we are looking forward to seeing this pitch hopefully in the early part of next year.

“It is great for the community because facility will be there as a community facility seven days a week, but we will have exclusive use on a Saturday morning when we play all our matches from our perspective it will be great and attract people to the club.

“It is quite a relief, everything takes so long. This one started about eight years ago when I did an outline business case for the council and then we did a presentation to the town council and gained momentum and then it ended up on our ground which wasn’t the intention.

“It feels like all our work has been justified. It is a great relief, it is a nice legacy to have. I have been looking forward to this for a long time.

“The Football Foundation is very keen on girls’ football and they want to see pathways and they want to see minority groups targeted and given the opportunity going forward.

“It always takes so long to do these things for us it is a very big competitive advantage, because on a Saturday morning we will have exclusive use of the 3G pitch.

“And Saturday morning is when we do our matches. So, if you walk in to the club on Saturday morning for the first time you will see a 3G pitch and think, wow.”

Jon Grocock, chairman of Henley Hockey Club said: “Our hockey club is really pleased that the 3G pitch funding has been signed off, it will make a real difference for the club once it is finished.

“The new pitch means we will get additional time, it means we will have much better quality training sessions and can provide a better experience for everyone across the club.”

Robert Sullivan, chief executive of the Football Foundation, said: “The Football Foundation is working closely with our partners, the Premier League, the FA and Government. To transform the quality of grassroots facilities in England by delivering projects like this across the country.

“Good-quality playing facilities have a transformative impact on physical and mental health and play an important role in bringing people together and strengthening local communities.

“This grant award to Henley town council towards developing a new 3G pitch is fantastic news for the local community and will help give more people access to a great place to play.”

In addition to the 3G pitch, the council has allocated £70,000 to enhance the remaining grass pitches at Jubilee Park.

This investment included the removal of an old track and bund and levelling the slope towards Reading Road, which has now been completed.

The project also includes a plan to dispose of surplus land next to the Tesco supermarket to provide low-cost housing for 56 flats, with 23 of them classed as “affordable”.

The council plans to use the proceeds to build a new pavilion in Jubilee Park, to be used mainly by the football and hockey clubs and to include a gym facility.

This phase of the development is still in the planning stages and is awaiting the outcome of an outline planning application that was submitted last year.

At a town council meeting in September, councillors agreed to spend an additional £11,000 from the community infrastructure levy for the installation of changing rooms.

This was considered necessary by the Football Foundation and is a condition for their grant funding.

During the public participation session at the meeting, former mayor Pam Phillips asked the council for assurance that social housing would be provided.

Councillor Laurence Plant replied, saying the council is working hard to set up a community land trust which will aim to provide affordable housing in Henley.