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Can 19th century law save Branksome rec?

7:00pm Tuesday 30th June 2009 in


ANOTHER heavyweight presence has joined the battle for Branksome Rec.

The Open Spaces Society, Britain’s oldest national conservation body, is backing the Branksome Rec Action Group in its campaign to stall Poole Town’s £1m redevelopment plans.

The support comes just days after the Campaign for Rural England also joined opponents of the scheme.

And the backing comes at a significant juncture in the Branksome Rec saga, with the football club poised to submit a planning application.

View our achive of stories about Branksome Rec

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Kate Ashbrook, general secretary of the Open Spaces Society, said: “This open space in the heart of Poole is of immense value to local people for quiet recreation.

“If the football club gets its way, the land will be enclosed and used solely as a football ground. The community will be deprived of a vital amenity.”

Poole Town has repeatedly stressed its new ground would only use 17 per cent of the open space at the rec.

The Open Spaces Society is advising the action group to register the 17-acre site as a town green, in recognition of its long use by people for informal recreation. Miss Ashbrook said: “We believe that this land may qualify as a town green because local people have used the area for 20 years without asking permission or being stopped.

“If the land is registered, the rights of people to use it are confirmed and it is protected from development by 19th century legislation.”

Poole council received the town green application in February but said it was unlikely to be heard until September at the earliest.

Poole Town won council backing for their proposals, which also includes the upgrading of the rec’s current facilities, during a tumultuous meeting last month.

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Comments(27)

John T says...
9:04pm Tue 30 Jun 09

Please keep the Open Spaces Society away from the Head of the Head of Poole Council or they may try sticking a preservation order on that!

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kin-hell says...
11:20pm Tue 30 Jun 09

get POOLE TOWN FOOTBALL CLUB back to its rightful place:- POOLE STADIUM

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shrekmizen says...
8:36am Wed 1 Jul 09

Well i don't want a huge football stadium at the end of my road i think this is good news for residents around branksome rec and i do agree though that a upgrade of the toilets etc should definatly be considered not a huge football stadium.

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Strawbs_78 says...
9:31am Wed 1 Jul 09

shrekmizen...you really are a complete nimby cretin. "A huge football stadium", it's not old trafford that's being built at the rec, it's a very small lower league stadium suitable to poole town's needs that will allow them to climb the non league football pyrimid if and when they gain promotion. Branksome rec is more often than not completely deserted, save for a few dog walkers and the thing that idiots like you seem to forget is that aside from the football ground the whole rec will be getting the revamp it desperately needs. An ancient bye-law isn't going to stop the stadium and re-development going ahead so you really should save your energy and stop spouting your inane drivel.

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In Absentia says...
9:49am Wed 1 Jul 09

A huge football stadium? For 150 supporters? Laughable.

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lucyd says...
10:05am Wed 1 Jul 09

Firstly I strongly object to being called an idiot. What everybody is forgetting is that the Rec is to enable the PTFC to increase league status. This will eventually bring in many more supporters of Football.

Nobody is denying the fact that the Rec needs a good overhaul. But this is years of council neglect and as such it is council responsibility to maintain not to pass off to private enterprise to manage the whole of the recreation ground.

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Strawbs_78 says...
10:29am Wed 1 Jul 09

The liklihood is that the highest level PTFC will ever reach is the Blue Square Prem (the division directly below the football league). However this in itself is highly unlikely and if it were to happen, given Poole's current position within the non league football pyrimid would take a minimum of 10-15 years. Even then the maximum crowds they would attract would be between 800-1,500 which will hardly put a strain on the local roads/car parks. I honestly feel that people are worrying about nothing, Branksome rec is going to massively benefit from this development and as so many people seem to forget initially only 17% of the overall land will be used for the football stadium. So seriously, GET OVER IT.

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ann1 says...
1:36pm Wed 1 Jul 09

I wonder if the person who feels that more traffic would not be a problem in and around Recreation Rd actually knows the area, it is a narrow road as are the majority of roads close by, there is traffic calming in place so why should we want to encourage more traffic? The rec. used to be the place to go and meet with friends fifty years ago, the area is very built up and it provides and nice open space that should be retained.

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John T says...
2:43pm Wed 1 Jul 09

In Absentia wrote:
A huge football stadium? For 150 supporters? Laughable.
Yes, your 150 figure is laughable. They had over a 1000 for a pre-season friendly and their highest home attendance last season was over 600. You must have been In Absentia for these matches and for all their other home games where their DECLARED AVERAGE attendance was 261.

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Strawbs_78 says...
2:55pm Wed 1 Jul 09

Yes ann1 I currently live a 7-8 minute walk away from the rec and have lived in and around the parkstone/branksome area for the past 24 years! I know the area extremely well and although regular crowds in excess of 1,000 would potentially cause some possible parking issues, likely crowds of between 200-500 should present no issue what so ever. If and when (and hopefully this will happen one day) PTFC reach a level where the crowds are dramatically increased then I agree the parking issure should be looked at. However given the fact that realistically only people from within the Poole conurbation are likely to attend matches, one would hope that the majority will do so using public transport, therefore rendering the parking issue null and void. As with any development of this kind there are always issues, however nothing should detract from what will be an excellent development.

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kinc says...
3:11pm Wed 1 Jul 09

Anyone complain when Bournemouth Gasworks Athletic played there?

Thousands would turn up to watch!

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Dorset_Born_n_Bread ! says...
4:07pm Wed 1 Jul 09

Locals complaining about the noise levels, crowds of people and traffic!?

I dont hear anyone mentioning (or complaining) when the fair ground set up there from time to time. The caravans, generators and loud rides and PA systems blasting music until 11pm do you?

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Lord Spring says...
7:08pm Wed 1 Jul 09

kinc wrote:
Anyone complain when Bournemouth Gasworks Athletic played there? Thousands would turn up to watch!
That was the otherside of the road and the best dressing room facilities in the area,the stand was tucked in under the hill and the car did not dominate the world. Is not locating at the Rec a lopsided location not a mile or so from the town boundary and fairly close to the Poppies ground ,

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Steve_B says...
9:29pm Wed 1 Jul 09

Strawbs_78,
The attendances in the leagues you are talking about are closer to 4 - 6,000.
Anyone know Poole Town's Highest League Position? 16th, Southern Premier League.
Anyone know Poole Town's home record attendance? Over 11,000 against Watford.

Also, the 17% figure is misleading, as it will be double that amount walled off and unusable. Look at the plans.
And Branksome residents will lose the pavilion, it is even marked on the plans as a Clubhouse!

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Steve_B says...
9:42pm Wed 1 Jul 09

Strawbs_78 wrote...although regular crowds in excess of 1,000 would potentially cause some possible parking issues, likely crowds of between 200-500 should present no issue what so ever. If and when (and hopefully this will happen one day) PTFC reach a level where the crowds are dramatically increased then I agree the parking issure should be looked at.

PTFC have plans to attract AFCB fans to boost numbers, by offering half price tickets, so attendances could rocket next year, and in the future.
The time to deal with parking issues is beforehand, not try to fudge something when everything becomes gridlocked.

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shrekmizen says...
10:05pm Wed 1 Jul 09

Whoever is calling me an idiot i would love to meet you and your possy !!!!

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anderton says...
10:12pm Wed 1 Jul 09

shrekmizen wrote:
Whoever is calling me an idiot i would love to meet you and your possy !!!!
You have just proved what you have been called,typical bully boy tactics of objectors.

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Steve_B says...
10:32pm Wed 1 Jul 09

Posse or ****? :-)

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Steve_B says...
10:34pm Wed 1 Jul 09

Obviously p-u-s-s-y (as in cat) is a banned word.

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shrekmizen says...
11:58pm Wed 1 Jul 09

Strawbs_78 wrote:
shrekmizen...you really are a complete nimby cretin. "A huge football stadium", it's not old trafford that's being built at the rec, it's a very small lower league stadium suitable to poole town's needs that will allow them to climb the non league football pyrimid if and when they gain promotion. Branksome rec is more often than not completely deserted, save for a few dog walkers and the thing that idiots like you seem to forget is that aside from the football ground the whole rec will be getting the revamp it desperately needs. An ancient bye-law isn't going to stop the stadium and re-development going ahead so you really should save your energy and stop spouting your inane drivel.
Please do explain what a nimby cretin is !!! And im not a bully boy !. Honestly I do think PTFC should find some other piece of land i know a bit of nice land you'll have to go to bournemouth for it. The Waterfront Imax theatre by pier approach !!!! And the fact that Fairs and Circus came up ! well it only happens for like a week at a time its not going to be every week and when they go we do get most of our rec back ! Not having a great big glorified walled garden that is the soul use for PTFC. I feel BOP council do not listen to there residents and im sure very soon they will do..........

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John T says...
1:30am Thu 2 Jul 09

kinc wrote:
Anyone complain when Bournemouth Gasworks Athletic played there? Thousands would turn up to watch!
Yes, I remember my Grandad telling me of when in 1930, Bournemouth Gasworks beat Percy Main in front of over 1000 in the Quarter Final of the FA Amateur Cup. Percy Main's share of the gate receipts that day was £105/12/9d.
Who would have thought that,80 years on, Chris Reeves could have bought off Poole Council for less than half this amount?!

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Square Old Codger says...
8:48am Thu 2 Jul 09

This is and always has been a Sports Ground, I was kicking a football around there 60 years ago, usually in the mud and played many a game of both football and cricket there. It isn't a "Village" Green or a place to allow dogs to foul, but a bare and open and low lying Sports Ground.The nearby Gas Works Sports Ground was destoyed years ago and concreted over for housing, that offered superb facilities, I don't remember an "out cry" then. A Sports Ground it always was and should continue to be.Good luck to Poole Town.

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Strawbs_78 says...
9:19am Thu 2 Jul 09

Steve_B I'm not being in any way confrontational as shrekmizen seems to think I am but crowds of 4-6,000 simply dont happen in the lower leagues, except on very rare occasions (I think the weymouth vs dorch fixtures a few years ago attracted around the 6,000 mark and that is known as one of the fiercest rivalries in non-league football). The average attendance in League 2 is well under 4,000 (AFCB averaged 4,900 last season) and PTFC play around 6 or 7 tiers maybe more further down the ladder. This is a guess but I would be almost certain the average attendance in Blue Square prem (the highest level PTFC are ever realistically going to achieve) is no more than 1,500. Perhaps the 17% figure is somewhat ambiguous and could do with some clarification, however regardless of what the exact figure is, the fact remains that the development will dramatically improve an area of land which is more often than not deserted. Also with regards to PTFC's plans to attract AFCB fans to their games, that's the first I've heard of that. For my sins (and no doubt this will attract further criticism) I am a loyal, die-hard AFCB fan and although I may take in a PTFC game from time to time if it doesnt clash with AFCB playing, I think the liklihood of PTFC attracting large numbers of AFCB fans on a regular basis is highly unlikely. Football fans (especially AFCB ones) are extremely loyal and although many AFCB fans obviously live in parkstone, branksome and other areas of Poole I doubt very much if any of them will swap allegiances. And just to clarify I neither have and nor would I want to be part of a posse, however if it was me that used the word idiot I apologise however issues such as this tend to make emotions run high.

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John T says...
10:40am Thu 2 Jul 09

Strawbs_78
The average
attendance in Blue Square Premier was in fact just under 1800 last season... more than 10 times what some of the supporters of PTFC's move to Branksome Rec would have people believe the attendanc there may be.
I have supported Poole Town for over 50 years and was in the crowd of over 11000 at Poole Stadium for the FA Cup Replay against Watford, having travelled to Watford the previous Saturday.
PTFC are clearly ambitious and it is for that reason I would like to see more honesty in their proposals. It is my belief that rather than move to Branksome, they should go to Canford Magna, where there would be more room for them to expand to meet their ambitions.
Good Luck to PTFC, wherever their new home is.

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Strawbs_78 says...
11:12am Thu 2 Jul 09

John T, Ok just under 1,800 so slightly higher than my guestimate of 1,500 but still a lot lower than some of the crazy figures some people are mentioning, and even then crowds of that magnitude are unlikely to be seen for a very long time. Also I should add that although I'm in favour of the development at branksome rec I agree a return to their spiritual home at poole stadium or somewhere like canford magna would indeed be better and offer more scope for further future development. I agree PTFC should be more honest about their future ambitions, they are right to be ambitious Poole is after all the largest town/city in the country without a professional football club and despite being an AFCB fan myself would love to see PTFC be succesful, how great would it be to one day see a competitive fixture between the two clubs. Preferably I might add through the rise of PTFC rather than the fall of AFCB.

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PoisonedPen says...
1:39pm Thu 2 Jul 09

Dorset_Born_n_Bread ! wrote:
Locals complaining about the noise levels, crowds of people and traffic!?

I dont hear anyone mentioning (or complaining) when the fair ground set up there from time to time. The caravans, generators and loud rides and PA systems blasting music until 11pm do you?
That's because it isn't football and the social-apartheid brigade who are objecting just hate football.

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Steve_B says...
9:23pm Fri 3 Jul 09

Strawbs_78,
PTFC are offering AFCB fans half price tickets to games, including season tickets.They have arranged most of the fixtures so that PTFC are home one week, and AFCB are home the next.It makes me wonder, if they can do this, why they cannot ground-share at Dean Court.AFCB could do with the extra money. BTW, they are playing each other July 8th at Tatnam, 7pm.

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