The drainage problems were clear at last year's Village Olympics. (picture: Urban Haze)
A well-attended public meeting on the future of Churchill Fields took place at the Civic Hall in Uppermill last night. An estimated 300 people turned out, as councillors asked for the public’s views.
Cllr Barbara Beeley, who has played a leading role in a working group which has been investigating possible plans for the site over the past year, explained details of what that group has been doing, and warned that time was running out to solve the drainage problems at the fields.
She said: “If we don’t take this chance, in five years Churchill could be unusable for anything. It’ll be a wet wasteland.”
But she herself came in for criticism for not involving the Saddleworth Runners club in meetings held so far with users of the fields. The club is angry at the prospect of the existing running track being ripped up, with just a grass track in its place.
Jill Davies, Chairman of Saddleworth Runners, said the club had been using the site for 30 years, and asked Cllr Beeley why they weren’t invited to meetings with various local clubs in November and again on 17 February.
Jill Davies with members of the Saddleworth Runners at Churchill Fields last week.
Cllr Beeley responded: “When we started we asked for a full list of those registered as users of the field. Saddleworth Runners was not on that list. I only found out on the seventeenth that the Runners used the track.”
She said she then tried to contact the club to get them to come to that night’s meeting, but the message apparently didn’t get through until it was too late. Ms Davies said she was happy to put the matter behind them and work together with the councillors from now on.
Cllr Beeley said that past attempts to fix the drainage issues temporarily had been successful at times, but added: “This time we want to permanently remove, as far as possible, the whole problem.” She said investigations had revealed that the existing drainage mechanism was badly silted up, adding that the various mains and wiring beneath the fields would complicate any work further.
She also presented a map showing the area in 1771, which appeared to show what is now Churchill Fields as an island, surrounded on both sides by different branches of the River Tame, instead of on just one side as today. She suggested that gave an indication of why the land has proved so problematic.
Cllr Barbara Beeley
Cllr Beeley presented one possible scenario for the future of the fields, with four full-size pitches for football and rugby, along with one junior pitch and a separate training area. The planned grass track would be marked out on the fields during the summer.
She told the meeting the “ballpark figures” for the potential cost of the work came in at between £250,000 and £400,000. The Oldham Council-funded Saddleworth and Lees District Partnership has offered £50,000, with a further £95,000 available from so-called Section 106 money, which is cash paid by developers for the benefit of the local community.
Cllr Beeley said several sporting bodies had been approached about matching that funding, and said both the Football Foundation and Rugby Football League had given positive signals. She indicated the RFL could put in £50,000, with the FF possibly offering up to £150,000, making the possible total pot of money available £350,000.
The meeting was told that sum would probably just cover the cost of sorting out the drainage issue and setting up the pitches. Further work, such as refurbished changing rooms or a new running track, would have to be looked at in future as part of a ‘phase two’ of developments.
Cllr John McCann
Cllr John McCann, who represents Saddleworth South which includes Churchill Fields, dismissed concerns the process was moving too quickly: “Let’s get real in this room. The money from the District Partnership and Section 106 is time limited. About all this talk of ‘we’re going too fast’ - you’ve only got a short window of opportunity to use the money.”
Addressing the Saddleworth Runners directly, he said: “The running track is 40 years old. It’s gone, knackered, kaput. Some people haven’t paid booking fees for years for use of this track. It may not be popular but it’s time that was said.”
Dominic Wall from Saddleworth Rangers rugby league club told the meeting that the fields were “an embarrassment” to the area. He said he felt “a lot of the damage is caused by commercial activities” such as the shows and festivals which have traditionally been held on the site. He referred to a past Yanks weekend event, which had featured large armoured vehicles.
Cllr Richard Knowles responded by saying that, in future, there would be “no re-occurrence of tanks on Churchill Fields. That was an error. It’s undoubtedly made the situation worse.” He added that councillors and Oldham Council officials were keen to identify alternative locations for shows such as Yanks, for such time as the fields are out of action as any drainage work takes place.
The rugby pitch in the middle of the existing track at Churchill Fields.
The meeting heard that councillors hope to get final proposals approved and funding in place to begin work after this year’s Saddleworth Show on 12 June.
The organisers of the show were told that the repairs would take an estimated 12 months, so in theory could be complete in time for the 2012 Saddleworth Show. Cllr Knowles said: “We may have one year of pain while we get the drainage sorted.”
Diane Moore, a committee member of the Saddleworth Village Olympics, said she’d already collected an online petition of more than 300 signatures, of people opposed to the removal of the running track. She criticised the councillors for not mentioning the idea of getting rid of the track in past publicity about the consultation process, saying many of the people in the room, “didn’t know about it until last week, and that’s why we’re all here.”
At the end of the meeting, a member of the public suggested a show of hands be taken to gauge views on the track issue. Almost everybody put their hands up when asked whether the councillors should try to retain a ‘proper’ running track. People were then asked whether they thought a grass track would be acceptable for the time being, and roughly a third of the audience put their hands up.
Cllr Beeley said feedback from the meeting, including forms which were handed out to the public, would now be fed into the consultation. She said she hoped formal proposals could be developed in the coming weeks, so funding could be secured to allow work on the fields to start this summer.
You can read more articles about Churchill Fields from Saddleworth News by clicking here.
There were some good, valid points raised on both sides. I hope these views are taken on board, as the users’ comments count.
Priorities are:
1) Sort out the drainage - without this then the football and rugby pitches and running track cannot be planned for
2) We can’t afford to wait any longer - the funds that are being rolled over are being done so under a special dispensation.
3) Explore additional sources of funding - Saddleworth Runners applying for a lottery grant for funding of a decent and proper running track.
4) Let’s have a bit more openness on the use of the playing fields. Are there public records of who uses and pays for the facility? It is alleged that although the runners have been using the track throughout the summer months - but do they pay to use it as the football clubs/Rugby clubs do for the pitches?
5) It is also clear that the use of the playing fields for events such as the Saddleworth Show/Yanks dosen’t help the upkeep or defence against the flooding.
6) Why not use this as an opportunity to lead the way in having an excellent running track - encouraging all to get involved in the sport. A great opportunity especially with 2012 round the corner, being proactive in encouraging athletics rather than an afterthought.
Is the Football Federation laying down conditions of the mini pitch as part of matching the funding or can this space not be used for the running track? It was made clear last night that this option is too expensive, but how about seeking alternative funding or fundraising in the community?
Oh, and a note to the 3 lads from Uppermill Football Club using bad language and moaning that the meeting was a “waste of time” - remember you are representing your club, as you were all wearing the club tracksuit top with the club name on the back. A human version of the “how is my driving?” signs on the back of lorries…
Excellent reporting on this meeting I couldn’t attend.
I think the council should be congratulated for both taking action on this issue and consulting on it. I hope that it is a situation where people can work together to find a solution that is pleasing to most, if not all.
Am I reading this correctly though: most groups who use the fields pay subs, and / or the sport’s governing body will contribute to the work. But the runners have not been contributing, not are they planning to contribute, yet they are demanding specialist work?
Times are hard, thanks to injudicious spending by previous governments. We will not all get what we want, when we want it. I do hope that the runners get a good result, but they should not be allowed to hold the work up for everyone else.
so should the skateboarders have to pay to use the ramps on the field, and the local kids have to pay to use the tennis courts? Surely these are council provided facilities for the use of the whole community and individuals shouldnt have to pay to use them (we’ll be renting books from the library next - if they stay open!)
Most people have to pay to use the swimming pool, the gym. We can trade examples all night.
But there will continue to be a problem on the fields. Somebody has come up with a solution to the problem. And there have been generous funding proposals from various sports bodies.
I would not be supportive of a group that is not contributing the extra holding up the progress that will be paid for by others. I agree that a proper track would be beneficial, and I hope funds will be found shortly.
In the meanwhile, I hope that everyone realises that they can’t get everything they want when they want it. I am sure that the council would be very supportive of any efforts that people make to obtain funding from national grants, sponsorship or suchlike.
“The running track is 40 years old. It’s gone, knackered kaput.” Not much hope then for the Town Hall, Central Library, the bank at Mumps. Oldham Council has used Saddleworth as a tax milk-cow for decades and has an appalling record of providing anything back in return. Maybe they should siphon off some of the £22M they’ve got from the EU for over-engineering all the replacement drystone walls round Saddleworth to provide a truly publically-useful amenity for a change.
The comparison with charging for swimming pools & gyms is odious because those facilities have high capital costs & high overheads and people are well-used to paying for access. Public playing fields are a different matter.
I didn’t attend the meeting, am no longer a runner and I don’t have any particlular axe to grind, but the laughable proposal for a grass running-track alternative indicates a total lack of understanding of serious athletic competition or endeavour.
Yes the meeting was well attended, yes there were good points made, but come on …”the drainage has had it” comment is stating the obvious!! These fields have been a disgrace for years. The constant battle to keep the Village Olympics running in the SUMMER (when the pitch is always flooded), only serves to show how fruitless it is to attempt sport on a regular basis in the winter on the same field.
To serve a local community and encourage regular participation in sport, takes serious thinking and strategic planning. No-one is accusing anyone of going too quickly, but having a good idea of where you want to arrive is always a good start to a journey. The mere fact the only reference to time was to look back is thoughtless and lacks vision. Yes, governing bodies will want a say if they are donating large sums of money for their sports participants, thats only fair, but I cannot help but feel that the boat was missed when TESCO was built. Instead of staring at a wet wilderness, TESCO should have been made to foot the bill towards drainage, redevelop the Satellite Centre and make a major contribution towards equipment. (Perhaps they did but the money was spent elsewhere?)
So thanks to the Council, I am now aware that the field needs drainage and that there are insufficient funds to do the project properly and be sustainable long term. If we could have some of the European Regeneration Grant monies the job would have been completed years ago, but we will not get those grants this side of the borough.
I am sure our local sports teams will represent the villages with pride when they play in other parts of the region and that Churchill village will look fantastic in the future.
Oldham Council made a statement to sport at Clayton playing fields, they are doing the same again here. The sooner it is taken away from them and managed by local clubs, the better chance we have for the future as a playing field. Do us a favour, make a viable proposal without wasting money on consultant after consultant, that is cash down a drain we don’t have!