kidmore end cricket club pavilion lease 27 05

KIDMORE End parish council has said a cricket club will need to share the use of a recreation ground or cover the running costs itself.

It has been in negotiations for two years with Kidmore End Cricket Club to hand over the management of the Diamond Jubilee Pavilion as part of a 25-year lease.

The facilities are owned by the council but primarily used by Kidmore End Cricket Club in return for a contribution towards the cost of maintenance.

At a meeting of the council last week, Cllr Iain Pearson, who chairs the playing fields committee, said the club had resisted suggestions to share facilities with football clubs, leaving the parish council to subsidise the loss.

He said a deal to hand over the running costs to the club would encourage it to share the facilities.

He said: “It would be an arrangement to cover the day-to-day running costs and have responsibility for generating revenue out of the building by letting it to other people to help them to cover their costs.

“We hope that by doing this it will align a benefit to the cricket club with a benefit to the community by encouraging them to let it out more than we can now.”

Cllr Pearson added the deal gave the club the benefit of security of tenure which would allow it to apply for grants from the England and Wales Cricket Board.

Cllr Andrew Harland, who is also on the committee, said the club would either have to “pay their share” or compromise on sharing the fields.

The pavilion was built at the recreation ground off The Hamlet in 2011 at a cost of £590,000.

The council took out a £200,000 loan and is paying this back in decreasing annual amounts. It has had to subsidise the running costs after a football club which used to hire the grounds throughout the winter ran out of money.

The facility has also faced rising costs post-covid as a result of fewer hirers and higher bills.

Cllr Harland added: “There has to be closure on the negotiations with the club because they have had it since 2018 when the football club left and I can’t believe the parish council continues to subsidise this.”