Westbury and District Cricket Club’s plans to take over responsibility of the green space at Leighton Recreation Centre are moving forward after it was decided that the club should approach the Westbury Area Board of Wiltshire Council directly.
The club had previously approached Westbury Town Council to ask the local authority to take on an asset transfer of the area, to then lease it back to the club, with a 125-year lease. However, as there are no buildings involved in the asset transfer, it has now been decided that the club should instead approach the Westbury Area Board directly.
At the recent full town council meeting, cllr Ward Jones said, “This will hopefully be an easier way forward to get the cricket club to the point where they want to be in terms of managing the ground. As I understand, the club is aware of what we are doing and they are content to move forward in that way.
“We are saying we will put to one side the plans that we had and would encourage the cricket club to move forward in direct communication with the unitary authority to progress the transfer of these responsibilities and that we as a council do all that we can, should we be needed, to support that transfer.”
James Mawson, chair of Westbury and District Cricket Club was also in attendance at the meeting. James said, “I would just like to give my appreciation to the work of this council as this asset transfer is so important to us as a club.
“We recently ran a survey on how the Leighton field is being used to ensure it is being used for the community beyond the cricket club, to enable dog walking and other sports to be played. Hopefully, this will be taken into account when the area board think about the asset transfer.
“From the club’s point of view, we need the town’s continued support because ultimately part of the process about having an asset transfer is so we have access to the facilities to be able to change (as it is a league condition to have changing room facilities) and it was uncertain how much we could use of the Leighton Centre. It’s important to understand that the cricket club isn’t just the square in the ground and protecting that space so we can use it, but it’s actually about the facilities required to enable the club to function.”
Cllr Mike Sutton said, “I very much support this, but I hear what has been said. I understand there will be a consultation and a lot of thought about the view of dog walkers and the allocation of land for other people to use, but having that process does not automatically mean that the cricket club will do a number of things and I would like it put on record that most of us would be very upset if access to the field for dog walking/recreation was in any way encumbered by this process. But I do fully support this.”
In response, cllr Ward Jones said, “It was always going to be part of the ongoing exploration that access to the public would be part of that debate and I would suggest that as the club proceeds with this, they could keep in touch with the town council so we can work together, even though we are formally out of the process as a town council.”
