Clubs urged to take over management of sports facilities

MORE sports clubs and groups are being urged to come forward to take on the running of pavilions, playing fields and pitches across the county borough.

Bridgend County Borough Council’s Community Asset Transfer (CAT) programme sees local organisations take over responsibility for self-managing facilities, helping to protect them for the future.

Many local clubs and town and community councils have already expressed an interest in CATs, with agreements at various stages of development.

Bryncethin RFC became the first sports club to complete a CAT deal with Bridgend County Borough Council in 2018, taking over the ownership of their playing field and pavilion from the local authority.

As well as agreeing a 35year lease, the club also secured more than £500,000 of funding from a variety of sources including £165,125 from the council to transform the pavilion.

In December 2020, Rest Bay Sports which represents FC Porthcawl and Porthcawl United, signed a five-year lease for the playing fields and pavilion at Rest Bay. The clubs had been working with the council for more than three years, setting up a company limited by guarantee and developing ambitious plans to extend and refurbish the pavilion.

Bridgend County Borough Council allocated the company just over £45,000 towards the cost of redeveloping the pavilion and a further £10,000 for pitch maintenance equipment from its £1m CAT Fund.

Last month, the council’s cabinet approved the business case from Cefn Cribwr Athletic Club to take over the management of the bowls pavilion and green, two rugby pitches and tennis courts at Cae Gof Playing Fields. The club has also been awarded funding of nearly £160,000 from the council’s CAT and Change Management funds to extend the bowls pavilion and bring rugby changing facilities up to WRU standards, as well as improving drainage on the pitches and purchasing maintenance equipment.

Cefn Cribwr FC has expressed an interest in completing a separate lease for the main pavilion and two football pitches and discussions are ongoing.

The county borough has about 60 clubs and 530 teams that use the pavilions and playing fields maintained by the council’s Green Spaces Section. To date, all of these facilities have expressions of interests for self-management from sports clubs and town and community councils with 55 CATs currently being progressed at various stages.

Town and community councils are also actively participating in the CAT Programme.

In total, 30 expressions of interest have been approved with business cases or financial plans being developed, 10 informal expressions of interest have been received with discussions ongoing and 12 transfers have been approved with heads of terms or leases being finalised – three have already been completed – Bryncethin Playing Fields (Bryncethin RFC); Pencoed Pavilion (Pencoed Town Council); and Rest Bay Playing Fields (Rest Bay Sports).

Pencoed Town Council has worked with the council to refurbish the pavilion at Pencoed Recreation Ground after more than £120,000 was invested in updating facilities.

Pencoed Town Council are also in discussions to take over the responsibility for the maintenance of the rugby and football pitches at the site.

In addition, 10 bowls clubs have taken over the maintenance of their bowls greens either under a lease or tenancy at will (while a lease is being finalised).