Content

RESOLVED
 
KEY DECISION
 

That the
Executive:
 

a)   
Approved the proposal to develop the Council’s
relationship with the Northamptonshire Football Association (NFA)
by way of a concession contract together with an ancillary
long-term peppercorn lease for a 30-year period, to include an
agreement for continued use for Harriers Athletics club.
 

b)   
Noted that the grant of the lease will require the
NFA to have financial repairing responsibilities for the site
including business rates and insurance, the agreement will include
a net profit share.  The agreement will
be a secure business tenancy but will not have an automatic right
of renewal.
 

c)   
Approved the proposal for a contract variation for
the Freedom Leisure contract to remove the facilities from the
existing Leisure contract and end the lease with Harriers Athletics
club.
 

d)   
Noted the development of the Football Foundation
funding application for the site, by North Northamptonshire Council
in collaboration with the NFA.
 
 
Reasons
for Recommendations
 

·       
The artificial pitch, pavilion and
athletics track all need investment. 
The NFA are a credible organisation intent on providing football
opportunities for the community.  The
proposed way forward will enable increased funding opportunities,
redevelopment of the site and development of a delivery programme,
supporting existing and future users.

·       
Match funding from the Council of
£150k has already been identified within existing Leisure
Services Capital budgets, the earmarking of this budget has been
discussed and agreed at Strategic Capital Board in April
2022.  This would attract maximum return
from the Football Foundation with the NFA support.

·       
The Community will see an increase
in quality of the facilities and services on offer in
Kettering.

·       
The NFA will create a sinking fund
for redevelopment in future years to comply with Football
Foundation funding requirements which will secure investment in
future years.

·       
To have increased opportunities of
success to redevelop the areas needed, to ensure that the whole
scheme is delivered to support the sports on the site and to
achieve maximum leverage of funding from the Council’s
£150k capital investment, the NFA is the only organisation
who will be able to achieve this from the Football Foundation as
they are the National Governing body for Football and also have the
staff resource to manage the site and deliver the sports
development programmes.
 

Alternative Options Considered.
 

·       
Continuation of scheme by the
Counciland no NFA involvement -
The Council continue to develop and submit the funding application
to the Football Foundation on its own to redevelop the artificial
pitch. This would limit the opportunities for success as the
Council would not be able to leverage the percentage funding needed
for the site and could result in just a resurface of the
pitch.  This in isolation would
potentially be deemed insufficient by the Football Foundation to
demonstrate viable security of payback of investment.  The level of staffing resource to manage the site
and future delivery of the sport development programme would put
extreme pressure on the in-house leisure team and restrict other
areas of work for the Leisure Services.

 

·       
Freedom Leisure - continue with the
leisure operator managing the site as part of one of the Kettering
Leisure Contracts.  The associated
revenue and capital investment costs required for the site will put
increased cost pressures onto the leisure contractor.  The escalating costs of this type of project
significantly reduce the viability for leisure providers. The
requirement for match funding and the future ability to leverage
further funding would be as limited as if the Council were to lead
the project, and so could result in the project being just a pitch
resurface and deemed insufficient for the Football Foundation
funding application. It is fair to assume that there would also be
further demands on NNC Leisure to provide expert support in
ensuring the funding criteria is met, at a time when workforce
demand is at capacity. Under the Football Foundation grant terms
and conditions, a sinking fund must be established to ensure
£20k/£30k is annually ringfenced for 10 years, to make
end of warranty, surface replacement possible. It would be
incumbent on Freedom Leisure to ensure that there is enough income
generated to cover this and NNC to maintain budgets throughout the
lifecycle.  There
is only 5 years left on the Freedom Leisure contract which makes
any investment of resource unattractive to the
contractor.

 

·       
Community Asset Transfer to Northamptonshire Football Association – the asset would
be transferred in perpetuity; this would not allow time to fully
develop and embed a relationship with the NFA.  The delay that this process would entail could
undermine the timing of an expert third party seeking an
opportunity to deliver from this type of site and may mean they
explore a similar alternative elsewhere.  There has already been a lengthy delay in
re-establishing the provision at the pitch and what this means for
the local community who want to see this site back in action as
soon as possible.

 

·       
Do nothing on the site and to not invest in the
facilities - this would be of detriment
to football and athletics offer for Kettering and North
Northamptonshire.  The Council is
committed to supporting the community to be active and provide
quality facilities and opportunities for its residents.  The local community, football clubs and
development opportunities have been limited and restricted since
the pitch was closed for use.  The
community have been keen to see the pitch resurfaced and opened for
use, they have been successful in raising funds for football in the
area.  The funding contributed towards
some goals being installed in the local park so young people could
have access to informal football whilst the pitch is out of
action.  This shows the level of feeling
in the community and how important the pitch is to the local
area.  Not investing in this scheme was
not considered an option for local sport or the local community, it
would also have a longer term financial and staff resource
implication for the Council as there would be a need to upgrade and
bring the facility back into use at a later date.