Arbour Park

[Sir Rebel1965]

It has now come to light that Arbour Park could be at risk of being sold off as part of the "Improvement & Recovery – Asset disposals programme" of Slough council.

 

Link to report https://democracy.slough.gov.uk/documents/s69643/Report.pdf

 

In the report it states:

2.32. It is also expected that other sites that have had a number of enquiries, may be brought forward for marketing in the short term.

2.33. It is recognised that some sites that have a community value will need to be considered for disposal. This includes sites where there are rent arrears and where action needs to be taken to recover the property from the current occupants. One particular site is Windmill Road occupied by a voluntary sector body. The Council will consider its equality duties when making decisions and where the disposal of the asset is deemed to be significant in terms of its impact on more than one ward, the decision on disposal is reserved to elected members

 

So, reading this, if a number (does not say how many) of offers come in for Arbour Park, it could go forward as a potential property which could be disposed of.  I think it would also depend on how much is offered.

However, the council look like they are prioritizing out of area site first, however they do need to raise £100 million in the first year and a total of £600 million over 5 years.

So, although we may miss the first years sell offs, there is a good chance that Arbour Park may well be sold off in coming years. 

 

[Rebellier]

What a fabulous council we have!  ?

[Ian g f]

I totally agree but they keep on getting voted in ?

[GlenSTFC]

Let’s hope the club are in immediate dialogue with the council to get some sort of reassurance. The club can’t operate or plan for the future knowing their ground could be sold or bulldozed. None of us want to go back to groundsharing, that would be an absolute nightmare and could well finish the club.

[Shredding Green]

1 hour ago, GlenSTFC said:

Let’s hope the club are in immediate dialogue with the council to get some sort of reassurance. The club can’t operate or plan for the future knowing their ground could be sold or bulldozed. None of us want to go back to groundsharing, that would be an absolute nightmare and could well finish the club.

I hope that the Steering Group have considered how the purchase of Arbour Park could be financed if it was put up for sale.

99 years old Captain Tom Moore set a target of £1,000 to be raised for NHS Charities Together from his garden walks behind his zimmer frame but raised £32.74 million in 24 days. 

Personally, if Arbour Park came up for sale and Orchard Community Sports Limited was able to complete it's purchase, I would get considerable satisfaction from making my contribution. As far as I can see, Go Fund Me allows a person authorised by a limited company to set up a fund raising page for a community project of the limited company.

And after that, Orchard Community Sports Limited would be in total control of all activities, the bar and regulations!!!

 

[Sir Rebel1965]

7 hours ago, Shredding Green said:

I hope that the Steering Group have considered how the purchase of Arbour Park could be financed if it was put up for sale.

99 years old Captain Tom Moore set a target of £1,000 to be raised for NHS Charities Together from his garden walks behind his zimmer frame but raised £32.74 million in 24 days. 

Personally, if Arbour Park came up for sale and Orchard Community Sports Limited was able to complete it's purchase, I would get considerable satisfaction from making my contribution. As far as I can see, Go Fund Me allows a person authorised by a limited company to set up a fund raising page for a community project of the limited company.

And after that, Orchard Community Sports Limited would be in total control of all activities, the bar and regulations!!!

 

SG here is an Idea:

 

If you walk 23 miles a day, in 30 days you can be in John O’Groats, that should raise some money! - one way.

[Kaiser Gibbs Batman (KGB)]

Whilst a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing I think the problem may be that Arbour Park is regarded as a "brownfield" site-given its former use etc.-and may therefore command a price based on its potential for development. There would probably be little point in the council being forced to dispose of it if it were not. If I remember correctly Wexham Park was bought, on the face of it quite cheaply, on the basis that it was, and is likely to continue to be, classified as "recreational" land not amenable to development.  

One might add that, while it is legitimate to criticise the council for the financial position into which it has put itself, plenty of other councils would not even have considered constructing a facility of his kind in the first place. I, for one, are grateful that it did.   

[Ian g f]

I agree but that's the only thing they got right and we could lose that

[Sir Rebel1965]

You will note that in the original post I use the words "could" and "may" to describe the possibilities outlined in the report.

The big issue is that we do not know if the ground is secure or not, or if and when it MAY be sold off.

There are a lot of variables which we don’t know, and may never be privilege to, and suddenly find the ground is no longer owned by the council.

When we moved in there was an agreement for the initial “tenancy”, which would now have expired, did this get renewed, and for how long?

As usual, more questions than answers.