Rec must be left as ‘an open space’

The most valuable outcome of the Charity Tribunal process 2012 -2016 was securing an annual income to the Recreation Ground Trust ensuring it can be well maintained for the citizens of Bath to enjoy in perpetuity. In addition, B&NES Council was shamed into paying for its refurbishment and the restoration of the cricket pavilion after many years of neglect. All that is outstanding is to open the Rec to the riverside to create a green lung at the heart of our World Heritage City. The ‘new-look Rec is something exceptional’ and has never looked better, but the trustees of the Bath Rec Trust are pushing to destroy our beautiful Recreation Ground and condone the building of a massive structure with bars, restaurants and an 800 car park. Dwarfing the Abbey so it would look like a small village church! Not only bringing competition to struggling Bath businesses and adding to vehicular pollution but also risking our World Heritage status. Why doesn’t Bath learn the lesson of the London Olympic Stadium, sited in a run down area of the city which is now regenerated and rejuvenated as a result? The 1956 conveyance between the Bath Recreation Ground Company and the mayor, aldermen and citizens of Bath upheld the 1922 wishes of Captain Francis Forester that “the sixteen acres, two rods and eleven perches of the Rec shall not use the property conveyed as otherwise than as an open space”, together with other restrictive covenants. Gone is the reliance the Rec had for income from any tenant. We need to hold the current trustees to account to manage the Recreation Ground to Captain Forester’s vision: An open space facility for all the citizens of Bath, managed and available for use by the many, and not the few. Rosie Carne Johnstone Street Bath