You may all have noticed that a new hoarding is going up around the war memorial pavilion. This is part of efforts by the new owners to protect the building from continuing vandalism. The new owners have confirmed that this is part of remedial plan to include –
All of this is to be welcomed as there were seven years of complete neglect under Quantum, and more recently there was considerable water damage to the building.
Looking beyond the immediate flurry of activity the Foundation continue to press for the resumption of community sport on this site. Our latest correspondence with the owners is as below –
Thank you for the update.
Everyone will also welcome the action being taken to preserve the historical war memorial pavilion.
The original drawings which you tabled with me indicted the Mr Wu’s plans sought to preserve the majority of the pitch layout the pitch shown on the Foundations plan below. If this remains the case then I would be keen to explore bringing the pitches back in to community use sooner rather than later. Both Hearts of Teddlothians and Thamesians RFC could make immediate use of this space. Please come back to me if this is a possibility for 2023/24.
Regarding Sports England, the above plan was developed after exhaustive dialogue with not just SE, but also the national sporting bodies – LTA, FA, RFU and ECB. It would seem unnecessary to go back to square one, and I would be happy to run through how this pitch layout was arrived at.
I also had previous dialogue with three companies offering Agronomy services - PSD (Professional Sportsturf Design),TGMS and STRI . On sports lights I dealt with both Abacus and Musco. On tennis court resurfacing I sought advice from Trevor May – who my company also employed at the Queens Club. I have passed these contact details on to Mr Wu’s Architect.
If you want community input via the Foundation then I would be happy to engage. The previous effort was very much focussed on real need in the borough, and had universal support from the local clubs.
As soon as there is any more news then I will update everyone
Political momentum for a CPO growing
The Udney Park Trust have released a ‘press release’ updating everyone on the momentum gathering for a CPO of the fields at Udney Park. Local hustings were held as a prelude to this week’s general election and the Trust raised a question regarding the future of the site. It was confirmed at the hustings that there was universal support for a CPO from all parties.
The tragedy of the War Memorial Pavilion has been revealed by arial photos taken by residents. These reveal that under the ownership of Mr Wu the building has fallen into such disrepair as to render future renovation work hugely expensive. The project had been to bring the changing rooms back into early use for the community clubs playing on these fields. There were relatively new boilers and heating systems installed just before Imperial College sold the site. The building interior had been dry – even if the changing rooms needed to be brought up to modern standards.
It is hugely disappointing to report that Udney park is now under offer from another group of investors headed up by local resident, Keith Williams.
Udney Park is an Asset of Community Value, defined in the Localism Act (2011) as "Land is an asset of community value if its main use is to further the social wellbeing or social interests of the local community." The Localism Act states that ‘social interests’ include cultural, recreational and sporting interests
