Disposal of disused playing field land to a community sports club – Section 77 Consultation

Dean Trust Rose Bridge

Disposal of disused playing field land to a community sports club – Section 77 Consultation

Purpose

The purpose of this consultation is to determine the views of the following proposal from the school, the neighbourhood and the wider community. The proposal aims to return the detached, disused playing field back into council ownership, who then plan to lease it to a local community sports club.

Background

Dean Trust Rose Bridge is a mixed Secondary Academy in Ince which is split into two sites. The main site for the school includes all the school buildings, hard and soft play and playing fields. The secondary site is detached and includes the disused playing field.

The detached playing field is not used by the school due to its remote location away from the schools’ main buildings and the poor condition of the field. The school have not used the fields for 10+ years and struggle to undertake maintenance of this unused area. A review of the size of the whole campus (both sites) including the amount of playing fields has taken place indicating that the detached playing field is surplus to the school’s educational requirements.

A local community sports club is currently interested in utilising the detached field. Their aims are to seek grants from appropriate funding agencies to invest and make improvements to the field. Any secured investment would take the form of increased maintenance to improve the quality of the playing surface, the facilities and drainage improvements.

Above – View showing the existing “desire line” for walkers across the playing fields.

Above – View of the site from Ince Hall Avenue looking south towards Manchester Road.

Above - Manchester Road seen from the junction with Holt Street, looking east towards the playing fields.

Expected Benefits

The benefits of this proposal include the improvement of the field's potential usage, quality of playing surface and bringing an underused playing field back into use. The sports club’s investments into the playing field would lead to increased maintenance, improved facilities, and drainage improvements. If the proposal proceeds, the school will continue to retain use of the detached field during school hours at no additional cost via a shared use agreement.

Timeline

The consultation process will commence on the 24th February 2025 and will run for a duration of 6 weeks to close on Sunday 6th April 2025.

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