Ferndown residents will foot bill for £1m KGV Fields Charity redevelopment and provision of youth facilities in the town Report by Janine Pulford
F
erndown Town councillors have approved the budget for the £1m KGV Fields Charity redevelopment. The decision was made at a full council meeting on 30 January and followed a public meeting held at King George V Pavilion on 23 January where plans of the proposed KGV Field Charity redevelopment were on display. Over 50 people attended. The council as sole trustee of the charity says it has a duty to future-proof the charity for the next generation of users. If the plans are approved by the planning authority, the redevelopment could be completed by this time next year. In a mission statement the town council states it wants to enable residents of Ferndown and its surroundings to enjoy high quality social, recreational and cultural facilities within the town and seek the continuing improvement and development of these facilities in accordance with the wishes of residents. The working group that formulated the redevelopment plans are the Mayor of Ferndown, Cllr Mike Parkes, Town Clerk Vanessa Ricketts, Cllr Terry Cordery and Cllr Steven Lugg.
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The proposals are: • To redevelop the pavilion, add 20 car parking spaces and extend the existing workshops • Redevelop the existing play area • Install a MUGA (multi use games area) on tennis courts 5 and 6 • Extend the floodlights • Resurface 4 tennis courts • Install an outdoor fitness trail • Improve gates to include automated access • Project management
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osted at £1m, the project includes putting a roof over the existing quadrant within the pavilion; installing a bar to service the existing wedding room as well as other events; installing new changing areas and lavatories; extending the existing tennis club to three times its current size and adding bi-fold doors
opening onto the courts as well as adding bi-fold doors to the existing bowling club. Funding was explained at the public meeting on 23 January. The town council will apply for a Public Works Loan at a fixed rate of 2.4% for 30 years and gift the money to the charity for the work to be carried out. The repayments of £50,000 a
year would have to be paid off by residents who would see their precept rise. For a band D property this will amount to an additional £7 per annum. When asked if there were contingencies for over-spending it was explained that the council would also approach other organisations for additional funding, which would give a buffer on top of the £1m.
Provision of youth facilities Also at the meeting on 23 January, it was reported that Ferndown Town Council has submitted a bid to Dorset County Council to run the youth facility Riffs, which shut last July, whilst encouraging the existing groups such as sexual health and counselling to remain. The mayor said the
council wanted to give a home to youth in the town because there was nothing to meet those requirements. “We have seen an increase in anti social behaviour since it [Riffs] closed. We agreed to bid to take over youth provision in the town. We owe it to the youth of Ferndown to do something major.”
The cost of running the youth provision along with a contingency for repairs was estimated at £30,000 per annum. The council admitted it did not have the resources to fund this amount and that £4 per annum (band D) would have to be added to the precept to cover these costs.
Dorset residents support rise in policing element of council tax A six-week consultation has shown that Dorset residents are overwhelmingly supportive of the proposal to raise the policing element of council tax in the county. The Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) engaged with residents online, as well as at a series of face-to-face roadshows across Dorset, to find out whether they would be prepared to pay an extra £3.80 per year to support police in the county. Members of the public were informed that the rise would be invested in three key areas: protecting adults at risk of harm, improving the response to common, non-emergency types of crime and embracing new technology to continue to meet the challenges of modern policing. Almost 4,500 residents gave their views and 80% said they would be prepared to pay an additional £3.80 per year to enable Dorset Police to invest in these areas. Dorset PCC, Martyn Underhill, said, “Dorset Police has experienced real terms cuts of £19m in central Government funding over the last five years. It will continue to experience these cuts at a rate of £1m per year for the next three years, making it more difficult for the Force to develop innovative ways to address emerging issues and growing demand.” The £3.80 increase the Commissioner is proposing will create revenue of £1.07m, offsetting the yearly budget decrease imposed by these central government cuts. If a rise is implemented, it will take effect from 1 April 2017.