7:00pm Wednesday 30th April 2008
By James Morton
POOLE Town FC's £1 million plans to redevelop Branksome Recreation Ground have sparked heated debate since they were announced last month.
The club wants to refurbish the crumbling pavilion, build a new ground for their home games and construct multi-use games areas, as well as upgrade the current pitches.
Many Branksome residents have vociferously opposed the proposals and have drawn up petitions against them.
Dolphins vice-chairman Chris Reeves has spoken to the Echo to discuss the most controversial aspects of the scheme.
PARKING AND TRAFFIC Mr Reeves said nearby Branksome Heath Middle School and Heatherlands First School were being approached over use of their car parks and were "keen" to talk with the club.
He added there were indications Bourne Valley industrial park could also be utilised for parking, as well as a strip of the recreation ground directly adjacent to Recreation Road.
He added: "Reaching an agreement over parking will be paramount. If it genuinely does not work, the development just will not happen."
LOSS OF OPEN SPACE Mr Reeves said only the western end of the rec would be used for the club's new ground, with the majority left open for general use.
He said: "The integrity and future of the rec would be guaranteed and there will be substantial community gains from the facilities."
Mr Reeves said enclosing the ground would involve the construction of a two-metre- high perimeter wall and stressed the ground would be on nothing like the scale of a Football League stadium.
He said: "A stadium is far too grand a word for what we are planning - the correct term would be ground.
"Our run-of-the-mill crowds are only 130-140."
FUNDING Mr Reeves said he expected the majority of the £1m funding for the scheme to come from grants from the Football Foundation (FF) and the Football Stadia Improvement Fund (FSIF).
He said: "We had a meeting with the FF, FSIF and the Football Association and their initial response has been extremely favourable."
Mr Reeves said any council funding would come solely from the planning obligation fund - mandatory contributions made by developers specifically set aside for developments such as this.
He said: "There would be no cost to the council tax payer at all."
The club would also contribute substantially to the scheme, said Mr Reeves.
ALCOHOL The refurbishment of the pavilion would see a bar installed for hospitality purposes, but the rec was designated an alcohol-free zone by the council in 2004.
Mr Reeves said the bar would only be used for hosting opposition players and officials before and after matches, with no drinks allowed outside at all.
He said: "We have not had one complaint with regard to our ground at Tatnam Farm.
"Our people are far too vigilant and too appreciative of the facilities to allow anything untoward to happen."
He added any decision to grant a licence would ultimately lie with the council.
NOISE Mr Reeves said singing and chanting was not a feature of non-league football.
He added: "Football matches go on at the rec now without anything to soak up the noise. We will have an enclosed ground that will keep everything inside."
FLOODLIGHTS Mr Reeves said modern technology meant light pollution from floodlights was unlikely to worry residents.
He said: "Light spillage these days is virtually zero and I would say it would be almost impossible for light to shine into someone's property."
INFORMATION Some residents had been unhappy at only finding out about the club's proposals second-hand. Mr Reeves said 1,000 leaflets had been dropped in the area around the rec and a formal meeting, hosted by the council, would soon be announced to allow residents' voices to be heard.
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