Fiona Bruce MP and Alsager Sports and Recreation Association obtain Sport England’s backing for retention of sports facilities at former MMU site, Alsager.
At a meeting convened in Parliament yesterday by Fiona Bruce MP, the Chief Executive of Sport England, Jennie Price, agreed to give full support for the retention of the sports facilities at the former MMU site for use by the local community, whatever development plans for the site proceed.
The meeting was also attended by Stephen Wade on behalf of Alsager Sports and Recreation Association (ASRA) which in turn represent many different sports groups in Alsager, and Stephen Irvine from the Cheshire East Council Planning Department.
Stephen Wade explained the comprehensive use of the facilities which would be made by a broad cross section of local sports and recreation clubs as well as Alsager High students and other groups such as the U3A, which has over 1000 members in Alsager.
Fiona Bruce MP said:
“This is a real breakthrough. Having the backing of Sport England and their recognition that there is real local demand for these facilities brings us one step closer to ensuring that whatever development occurs on the former MMU site, these valuable facilities are retained. There is still a long way to go, nothing is yet guaranteed, and the exact terms of any planning application have still to be settled but the backing of Sport England for the retention of these facilities in full gives real strength to the case for keeping them. The next big challenge is to source funding for their ongoing maintenance at a quality level to future proof their provision for a generation or more. Sport England has also agreed to assist with this.
Sport England have a statutory right to comment on any planning application involving sports facilities. They would normally do so on submission of an application, so to get their support in advance of any such submission is very positive.
I pay tribute to the responsible and considered way in which ASRA has approached this issue which meant we were able to put some really considered proposals to Sport England.”
Stephen Wade, on behalf of ASRA, noted:
“We are very grateful for Fiona’s continued support in our quest to retain high quality sporting provision within Alsager. There is already a recognised shortfall in the availability of formal play space within Alsager resulting in many local clubs having to travel outside the area to access facilities. We don’t oppose the development of housing on the site but we are very keen to ensure an appropriate mix of both new housing and the retention of a meaningful sporting legacy. We are delighted to have the backing of Sport England which we believe is a clear endorsement our plan.”
Notes
- Photograph of the meeting on Thursday 11th July. Right to left: Jennie Price (CEO, Sport England), Steve Irvine (Planning and Place Shaping Manager, Cheshire East Council), Stephen Wade (ASRA), Fiona Bruce MP and Ben Williams (Sport England).
- Their vision for the development of the site .
- The scheme would provide over 300 residential dwellings and would also contribute five full size grass pitches, four mini grass pitches, one multi user Astroturf pitch and the retention of the existing sports halls and drama studio.
- The sports halls and drama studio were both constructed in the last ten years with the benefit of significant public sector funding from HEFCE.
