- Target:
- Almondsbury parish council and South Gloucestershire council
- Region:
- United Kingdom
Statement from Hallen Football Club – Wednesday 20th May 2015
It is with deepest regret that as of 31st May 2015 Hallen Football Club are to be evicted by Almondsbury Parish Council from our Moorhouse Lane ground, and therefore with no playing facilities we have no option other than to fold.
The decision by Almondsbury Parish Council to close The Hallen Centre will not only affect our First Team, playing in the Toolstation Premier Division and our Reserves, it will also mean the end of our thriving Hallen Juniors (Under 6’s, 7’s, 8’s, 9’s & 15’s). Other sporting activities that will cease include; Saturday morning church football, 2 x Sunday football teams, 2 x Hallen cricket teams and 4 x Skittles teams. Bristol Rovers Academy who have used the ground to train and play their home matches this season will also need to relocate. As well as the football the residents of Hallen Village will lose their Community Centre where the Village Committee meet and host activities such as the Autumn Club and Horticultural Show.
During the 2014/15 season in an attempt to save the facility from closing our annual rent was increased to £12,000, with our small Hallen Committee, all of whom are volunteers having run the whole centre and maintain the grounds also. For the 2015/16 season Almondsbury Parish Council have asked us to take on the total cost of The Hallen Centre which is estimated to be over £20,000 per year and we are simply not in the position to sign a 'blank cheque'.
To try and avoid our 66 year old club folding, we as a football club have proposed a number of solutions to Almondsbury Parish Council which included renting the detached changing rooms and erecting a new club house, or even just continuing to lease the pitches but all have been denied us.
During our 40 years at Moorhouse Lane the ground has been turned from a ploughed field to a Southern League standard football ground. This has only happened through the love and dedication of a very small committee for the enjoyment of so many. To see this taken away by Almondsbury Parish Council citing financial reasons when they have £1.8million in the bank, and have just spent £1000's on a high profile solicitor to eject Hallen FC, is very hard to take.
Hallen FC have been model tenants since moving into The Centre, always paying their rent on time, and very feel hard done by.
We, the undersigned, ask Almondsbury parish council to stop the closure decicision of The Hallen centre and re-evaluate the options, as the centre is a very important part of the community and home to many sporting groups.
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The #HelpsaveHallenfootballclub petition to Almondsbury parish council and South Gloucestershire council was written by Hallen AFC and is in the category Local Government at GoPetition.