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Post by Curly Wurly on May 20, 2015 13:19:04 GMT
Please take a look at this.
Local football club with links to Rovers is being forced to close after 66 years.
Surely something that can be done to help??
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Post by CabbagePatchBlues on May 20, 2015 13:46:14 GMT
Councils should be partners in all sports endeavours. All they see is costs, never the positive synergies. Sports help kids develop, which saves us all money and hassle in the long term.
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
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Post by Deleted on May 20, 2015 13:57:47 GMT
It's not the first time a club has been booted out of their home in recent years. This is pretty woeful but the death of Almondsbury Town was a disgrace. Almondsbury were killed by the Gloucester Football Association when they booted them out of Oaklands. Hopefully Hallen pull through, maybe a short term fix could be Manor Farm's Creek?
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Post by Finnish Gas on May 20, 2015 14:01:50 GMT
This is an absolute disgrace!
Hope the Post give the issue some uncomfortable coverage to Almondsbury Parish Council over the forthcoming weeks.
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Post by Blue Mist on May 20, 2015 14:03:46 GMT
For readability.
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.
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Post by Finnish Gas on May 20, 2015 14:14:53 GMT
Questions?
What are Almondsbury PC's long term aspirations for the complex?
What are the LDF/Local Plan allocations for the site?
What is its value?
Would it make a reasonable training base for ourselves (with Hallen as tenants)?
Could we ever afford it?
I recollect the site is very low-lying so drainage is always likely to be an issue.
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Post by Antonio Fargas on May 20, 2015 14:16:07 GMT
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Post by CountyGroundHotel on May 20, 2015 14:17:50 GMT
Please take a look at this. Local football club with links to Rovers is being forced to close after 66 years. Surely something that can be done to help?? Easiest way Rovers could help is take out a 50 year lease with the council & take over the full running of the site & relocate or our training down there. At £20k a year that would be a bargain. Let Hallen & reserves play on the main pitch. Other pitches may need some upgrading but I've already heard we are frustrated at Cribbs with what we can & can't do to the pitches there. The downside though is that Cribbs/Sunlife club & team would probably then fold |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 20, 2015 14:22:37 GMT
Hallen would need the bar to survive.
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
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Post by Deleted on May 20, 2015 16:55:01 GMT
Hallen would need the bar to survive. That was what killed Almondsbury. Their bar was taken over by the GFA for lecture rooms. Roman Glass use a portacabin and pour drinks from cans. They do have a nice 4G pitch though. |
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Post by Finnish Gas on May 20, 2015 17:17:54 GMT
Hallen FC 'facing eviction' from Moorhouse Lane groundAlmondsbury Parish Council denies the club is being evicted An amateur football club near Bristol says it is being "evicted" from the ground it has used for over 40 years. Hallen FC said it had "no option other than to fold" at the end of May, as the parish council was closing The Hallen Centre at its Moorhouse Lane ground. Almondsbury Parish Council said it had provided financial support for the club, "particularly during the past 12 months", while exploring other options. But it denied any suggestion the club was being evicted. "Almondsbury Parish Council have always supported The Hallen Centre financially... while both parties endeavoured to find a viable solution to the financial problems of which Hallen Football Club have been aware for many years. 'Blank cheque' "Unfortunately, a solution has not proved possible and Hallen Football Club are unable to sign any agreement or to pay an economic rent on the premises. "Financial support has been provided for many years by the parish council and our responsibility to the residents of the rest of the parish must be considered." The football club said it had used the Moorhouse Lane site from "when it was a ploughed field" to now, when it meets Southern League standards. It said it had proposed "a number of solutions" but they had all been "denied" by the parish council. A statement on the club's website said Almondsbury Parish Council had asked it to take on the total cost of The Hallen Centre, estimated to be over £20,000 a year. But this, the club said, was tantamount to asking it to sign a "blank cheque", which it is "simply not in the position to do". www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-32811139From the Almondsbury Parish Council website - almondsburyparishcouncil.co.uk/ - it is clear that a lot of information/minutes relating to the Hallen Centre decision-making is missing. [Although I do note a £3,000 payment to Cook & Co for legal advice re the Hallen Centre}. I would suggest that as a starting point a Freedom of Information request should be made to the Parish Clerk requesting every bit of information relating to their decision to close the Centre.
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Post by Finnish Gas on May 20, 2015 17:27:31 GMT
Hallen Football Club to fold after being "evicted" from ground by Almondsbury Parish CouncilBy The Bristol Post | Posted: May 20, 2015 Hallen Football Club has will fold at the end of this month as it will no longer be using the ground at Moorhouse Lane IT has been a thriving football club for more than 65 years – 40 of which it has called the ground at Moorhouse Lane home. But now Hallen Football Club claim Almondsbury Parish Council is evicting them from the ground – forcing the historic club to fold. The club can no longer afford to rent its long-term ground from the council, which is also being used by Bristol Rovers Academy this season for training and home games, as well as cricket clubs and other football teams. The club says that Almondsbury Parish Council has cited financial reasons for why they can no longer use the Hallen Club, but claims the council is sitting on £1.8 million. In a statement released by the Hallen FC yesterday, they say: "It is with deepest regret that as of 31st of May 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. "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 £1000s on a high profile solicitor to eject Hallen FC is very hard to take." The club claims it has made multiple suggestions to the council to try to salvage the situation, including continuing to lease the ground, renting the detached changing rooms and erecting a new club house, but say these options have been "denied" to them. The club added: "Hallen FC have been model tenants since moving into The Centre, always paying their rent on time, and very feel hard done by." Once described as the richest parish council in the country, Almondsbury Parish Council received a windfall profit of £3.2 million for the sale of five acres of its allotment land in 1988 to housing developers. But the parish council has said the football club is not being evicted, and the council had always financially supported Hallen FC. A spokesperson said: "This situation is not quite as it seems from the statement recently released by Hallen Football Club. "Almondsbury Parish Council has always supported the Hallen Centre financially, particularly during the last 12 months while both parties endeavoured to find a viable solution to the financial problems of which Hallen Football Club have been aware for many years. "Unfortunately a solution has not proved possible and Hallen Football Club are unable to sign any agreement or to pay an economic rent on the premises. The Club are not being evicted. Financial support has been provided for many years by the parish council and our responsibility to the residents of the rest of the parish must be considered." Read more: www.bristolpost.co.uk/Hallen-Football-Club-fold-evicted-ground/story-26542017-detail/story.html
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 20, 2015 21:14:16 GMT
This makes me so sad. I grew up in Lawrence Weston, where Hallen were founded as Lawrence Weston Athletic. My dad now lives just a few hundred yards down the road from Hallen, just the Henbury side of the city boundary. They're my backyard club.
What can we do to help?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 20, 2015 21:40:40 GMT
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pirate
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Post by pirate on May 20, 2015 21:54:15 GMT
Question: I don't want Hallen to fold but if they did would the second bottom team stay up? Mate of mine is heavily involved at 'Bourne.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 20, 2015 21:57:26 GMT
Question: I don't want Hallen to fold but if they did would the second bottom team stay up? Mate of mine is heavily involved at 'Bourne. I think it would probably depend on whether Cribbs have applied to go up. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 20, 2015 22:01:48 GMT
this is very sad for me as i played for hallen from 1989-99 and my dad played for lawrence weston athletic for 20 years[they became hallen],,we are both on different team photos in the clubhouse.
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JeffNZ
Administrator
Jimmy Morgan
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 2,761
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Post by JeffNZ on May 20, 2015 22:15:37 GMT
"....pay an economic rent on the premises."
That's it in a nutshell.
Subsidised or non profit community based services and activites are not on the agenda in today's user pay world where the mantra is simply... "Show me the money!"
Very sad.
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Lazza
Rod Hull
Joined: May 2014
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Post by Lazza on May 21, 2015 10:03:09 GMT
Maybe an idea if the admin could make this or a separate petition post a sticky to get as many as possible to sign?
A great club with a long history, great facilities there now too. As you say Jeff, show me the money is all that counts these days - price of everything and value of nothing comes to mind with the way Almondsbury parish council are behaving on this. Far too many community's in the Bristol area have had their souls ripped out from them without adding Hallen to the list!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 21, 2015 10:57:52 GMT
I see one of the councilors involved is also involved with the GFA. Seems like we have a multiple club killer then?
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