Council unveil plans for Canterbury City's new stadium

CANTERBURY CITY Council have unveiled plans to build a new football stadium in the town, with facilities for progressive Canterbury City - and the local community - in time for August 2010.

Although not underestimating the complexities of planning procedures and the possibility of opposition, David Ford, Canterbury City Council’s Assistant Head of Culture, gave an up-beat report on progress towards a football ”hub” that is not only intended to become a home for the club but serve the whole of the community when he addressed members, supporters and councillors at City’s open meeting at Westgate Hall on Friday, May 16, 2008.

Using “walk through” graphics, he outlined the proposed complex, which as well as having a stadium designed to become City’s home ground, would contain practice and five-a-side pitches, also a gymnasium.

However, he stressed that because of on-going negotiations it was not yet possible to indicate where the “preferred site” was located, but he pointed out that the target date of 2010 was still feasible.

Mr Ford said there had been a lot of work going on behind the scenes to bring “this exciting project” to fruition but added: “This is more than finding the football club a home but the club is at the heart of what we want to do and we share objectives in respect of community development”.

He pointed out that it was among the council’s “highest priorities and it’s in black and white”.

He said: “It would have been comparatively straightforward simply to find a home for the club but we were keen to cater for much more than that.

“So that created a number of issues. Success on the field is crucial to all this but it’s the work (chairman) Phil Knight and the club has done behind the scenes and in the community that has really impressed our members. And that is reflected in the commitment the council is making to this".

He continued: “In terms of the site, there is a preferred one in the Canterbury area. Nevertheless, there are some planning and transport issues which mean that at this stage we can’t say where it is, although I hope that shortly we will be able to do that.

“The intention was to come along tonight and say where it is, but there are some issues that still need resolving. They can be resolved and hopefully an announcement will soon be made on that”.

He explained that a lot of the focus of the work had been on planning what sort of facility was required.

“We are very close to agreeing what the facility will do. There has been a lot of work with key partners beyond the club; the County Council, the county FA, and others. We have established a delivery group. It’s an ambitious scheme.

“You may think, how on earth will the Council deliver this? In terms of capital funding, when I spoke last year I was talking about a £2.5m scheme. It’s now over £5m. Nevertheless, potentially in terms of the delivery option the funding in place, before Lottery and the Football Foundation funding, is in the region of 70 or 80 per cent of capital cost. It’s there on the table.

“The heart of the mix for the facility has always been the football pitch for the club, with spectator seating, clubhouse on two floors, with the club facilities on the ground floor, including café and bar and gymnasium for community use and meeting facilities on the first floor as well as an artificial pitches plus a range of other pitches including five-a-side and car parking”.

He said the proposal was that there would be Premier League standard changing accommodation. “We are allowing space to increase room for spectators if necessary. As this is a community facility we are looking carefully at how we manage match days, with controlled access for paying spectators. As far as revenue is concerned, that’s crucial to the football club”. He explained that the expected floodlighting was “something we need to work through in a way that would satisfy planners”.

A commercial element that would allow the project to happen was the provision of four outdoor five-a-side pitches and possibly an indoor facility for all the year round use.

He said: “We are exploring ways how the facility will be not just a football facility, and can be used by other clubs”.

He pointed out that the five-a-side pitches “would be there for commercial use during peak time, evenings and weekends, “and that’s very import for making this a commercial success, as will be the gym.

“There will be all sorts of opportunities for the other pitches as well for community and school programmes. This will enable the club to run their own programmes rather than be spread all over the area”.

He said: “There have had some interesting discussions with the KCFA. From a council point of view we are keen to underpin the project around a policy of developing football through target groups, which has not happened before.

“There has not been this focus on football from a council point of view in this district for a number of years.

“So we are working with the KCFA and others on a policy of how the facility is going to be used and who is going to use it - and when.

“How can we make it affordable? And what are the barriers against people participating in football at the moment? How do we, working with the club, address those things? So that is why we are doing that work and with other potential partners. It has to be partnerships that make it work. It’s all about the council enabling this development and about the council delivering”.

The company providing the proposed plans, which he said was among the market leaders, was satisfied that the facility would work at the preferred site.

“The Council is now looking into the risks involved in this venture that we are potentially entering into. The company, or any other company that provides similar services, would design, construct, project manage and deliver the facility.

“They would then start and operate the facility and certainly operate the five-a-side commercial element and make a business plan work around that.

“Where it has been successful elsewhere they have made it work from a commercial point of view but they’ve also made it work from a community point of view. So this is not a facility that will price out those who can’t afford to play football on a facility of this type. We are talking to Active Life, our own leisure operators, about them potentially running the health and fitness side”.

He said there was potential for profit sharing and the council was currently looking at underwriting the risk He said the £472,000 from the redevelopment of the Kingsmead site was still there, probably plus interest.

“The council’s capital contribution was still “up to” £1m and the private company building and operating the complex (as previously explained) would put in between £2.5 and £3m. “So obviously this is an offer the council is taking very seriously”.

Presentations by himself and Phil Knight had been made to the Football Foundation and the FA Regional Facilities Director who, like the KCFA, were “very excited by this”.

Mr Ford added: “There has been a lack of investment in football in this district and they recognise this. There are gaps in relation to community football here. The whole scheme is far more complex than we originally intended but it is worth working through to achieve it.

“Members of our Executive are excited by this and are aware of where the preferred site is.and are supportive. It looks very appealing. In terms of key decisions, we are now looking towards the autumn (September time), so any announcement of where the site will be will be in advance of that.

“How that announcement will be made must be managed very carefully because it doesn’t matter where you put the facility, if you live anywhere near it there will be opposition. The important thing is that the delivery date hasn’t changed. We are at the moment still heading towards August 2010”.
Club chairman Mr Phil Knight, whose club clinched the Kent County League Division Two East title at the first attempt, thanked Mr Ford for his committed and long term involvement with the project and for the support of councillors.

Mr Knight added: “We started off looking for a piece of grass for a pitch but we’ve ended up planning with the council a £5.5m project. I have to say that without David we would not be saying that”.

Article courtesy of www.canterburycityfc.com