Ladies and gentlemen
This is a brief note to describe the current problem that we have with
Maldon District Council, about which some of you may be aware.
The issue at hand is that MDC are refusing to pay the £850 required to
pay for two people from Places for People to keep the building open from
6 pm to 8 pm on Saturdays such that we can change and shower in it
after the game. This has in fact been a problem
for about 10 years now but has, in recent years, been resolved without
much of a problem. The issue arises because MDC inserted an apparently
anomalous clause in their contract with PfP allowing closure at 6pm,
creating an issue for the cricket club when it
should be no concern of ours.
In the late 1980s, an agreement was reached between MDC and Burnham
Sports Club that allowed for 'priority' use of the facilities when they
were required by the Sports Club; however, the wording used was so loose
that it contained many loopholes which are able
to be exploited by MDC.
Also, said agreement contains no reference to payment for use of the
facilities, but MDC, for the reasons given above, has decided that it is
our responsibility to pay for the facilities to remain open.
Sue has been corresponding with Maldon Council on this matter, and Sue
and I also met with John Whittingdale MP recently to ask him to
intervene; we await the result of this meeting.
I was at pains to point out to Mr Whittingdale that this is a
potentially existential crisis for the Cricket Club. I told him that we
could not and should not have to pay, and that it is a nonsense that we
cannot simply lock the building ourselves when we are
finished.
What happens from here is of course still unclear but we will probably
end up having to have a club meeting to decide whether or how we carry
on, assuming that we do not pay this money, and MDC refuse to yield.
All of this is a sad reflection on our local politicians who ought to be
doing everything in their power to make life easy for organisations
like us, rather than the opposite. Regrettably this is the situation we
find ourselves in but I will send more information
as and when it becomes available.
For now it's business as usual so please come along to the nets on Tuesday evenings at Ormiston Rivers.
Neil