Buying the Civil Service Sports Ground

On Tuesday morning I am meeting with the Chief Financial Officer of the Council to talk about the Civil Service Sports Ground.

If a new school is built on the St Marks site then the field could become playing fields for the new school and for use by the local community. Government money to build a new school might become available in 2009/2010. In the budget Gordon Brown announced an aspiration to put more money into schools (raising investment to the level of the private sector). Hopefully this means the City will get the money is hoping for in 2009/2010.

My view is that if the new school is popular with all parties (Church of England, LEA, residents, parents etc.) and that we are confident that Government funding is on its way, that we should obtain the land as soon as possible. This way it can be used by St Marks and local people in the meantime.

The Friends of the Field are about to do a wide ranging consultation on local peoples' views. Local people's views should be the driver for what the land is used for. However in the meantime I will be doing all the back ground work to ensure that we understand all the financial implications of the various options.

I have done a relatively small survey of my own. The results are still coming in. When I have them all back I will publish the results on this site. Initial indicators are that hardly anyone wants housing, and people are evenly split between school playing fields, a community hub and a park. The main message is that the land should remain a green field and residents should be able to use it. These are two things that I whole heartedly support! More to follow...