Footballers offered pitch after heated debate with residents over beauty spot

A NEWLY formed football club in Henley has been offered a pitch to train following a heated debate over whether it should be allowed to use a public beauty spot.

Henley Exiles had been in talks with the town council to use Freeman’s Meadow, off Northfield End, for mid-week evening training sessions.

The 11-a-side team had been struggling to find a venue to train as many of the sports facilities in town were already booked up during peak hours.

A proposal for a trial period with a review in January was unanimously recommended for approval by the council’s recreation and amenities committee on Tuesday last week.

The meeting drew a large crowd in the public gallery and councillors heard from club chairman Nathaniel Charles as well as residents who spoke against the plans.

Councillors were interrupted in their deliberations by residents numerous times during public questioning, leading to Councillor Kellie Hinton to brand them as “rude”.

They expressed concerns about the plans, ranging from safety for children and parking to the impact on wildlife and grass.

Jean Garon said that in the past, the Friends of Freeman’s Meadow had worked with the council’s parks services team to put in place a nature corridor project around the boundary to help hedgehogs and other wild animals.

She said: “The site of bats swooping overhead at dusk is a delight. There won’t be a dusk if lighting is brought in and there won’t be grass expanses to play on.

“The meadow is at the bottom of a hill of houses — there is no vehicle access, no toilets and a peaceful small town centre amenity might be lost.”

Linda Bailey-Watson, who has lived in Abrahams Estate since she was four, said her main concern was the safety of children.

She said: “Because the meadow structure lends itself to being a safe place, with only footpath access surrounded by houses, I know that children go there on their own, even as young as eight to play.

“The thought of men coming and playing, as much as it’s a lovely thing to do, I’m concerned about child safety.”

Barry Dent, of Leicester Close, said the meadow was an “entirely unsuitable” location for heavy contact sports.

Anna Ratcliffe, of Luker Avenue, raised concerns that if the meadow was used for training, it may later be used for matches.

She added that Luker Avenue, which she described as “chock-a-block” with cars, would not be able to cope with the additional parking.

Clare Graham said that during a trial period of “ad-hoc” playing last season, cars had been parked on double yellow lines and bad language used towards residents.

She said: “When you requested them to move, politely, you got ignored and they walked off. There was incredibly bad language and we had balls hit at our fences and our property.”

Mr Charles told the committee that, as club chairman, he was keen to “look for solutions” rather than “cause issues anywhere”.

He said that he was not aware of previous issues with parking and would police any that arose and that there had been minimal damage when using the pitch in the summer.

Mr Charles said a lot of his players were from deprived backgrounds or struggling and wanted to support them.

“They’re not all from loving, beautiful backgrounds,” he said. “They are from a wide range of backgrounds and I want to be able to give them all the opportunity to play football at an affordable price.”

Following Mr Charles’s answer that there should be no issue with there being no toilets, as the session was just
90 minutes, a resident interrupted the council’s deliberation.

They shouted: “You are suggesting, in here, that adults can go to the toilet in the park like children and dogs. That is illegal.”

Town clerk Sheridan Jacklin-Edward said the pitch was a town green and the club had a legal right to play there without the council’s permission but could restrict competitive sport.

Councillor Gill Dodds, who chaired the meeting, told the public gallery that she took all the comments “very seriously” but defended the council saying it had open spaces “for the enjoyment of all”.

Cllr Hinton said that similar debates were had when the council rebuilt the skatepark at Makins recreation ground.

She said: “Everyone said, ‘This is going to bring all of the terrible reprobates out’ but, actually, what we saw was a real community growing.

“If it doesn’t work, I will be the first person to want to put a stop to it. But to limit people, restrict them and stop them before they have even had a chance to really, truly show what can work is a great shame.”

After the meeting, the Exiles were offered a training slot at Henley Rugby Club.

A spokeswoman for Henley Town Council said: “Following recent publicity on an agreed trial training booking at Freeman’s, a slot unexpectedly became available at Henley Rugby Club due to the cancellation of a block booking.”

She added that the football club had “acted in good faith” in looking for a suitable space.