This page will keep you up todate on the Club's relocation programme
The Club needs your support now. See below a copy of a circular being sent to all members. If you haven’t already done so please read and act on the information.
Dear Member or Friend,
FUTURE REDEVELOPMENT OF L&Y RUGBY CLUB
You may have noticed in the press recently that L&Y has been mentioned in Waveney's proposals for a new Local Development Framework (LDF) - the document that sets out their ideas for building development of the whole borough over the next 20 to 30 years. They have whittled down a long list of proposed projects to a shortlist of "Preferred Options" which have now been disclosed for consultation and public comment.
Through long discussions with WDC, we managed to persuade them to include our ideas for the long term future of L&Y into these Preferred Options and now WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT to make sure they are included in the final LDF. More details are explained below.
What we would like you to do is both respond in person and help us widen and prove the level of support we have by getting this e-mail and or copies of the consultation forms to as many people as you can, ideally Waveney Residents but others are also welcome. This means getting your family, friends and work colleagues involved as much as you can, either by sending them a copy of this or by printing out a number of the Comments forms and getting them completed and sent into the Freepost address provided.
Whilst the Club are very keen to secure as much support as possible it is also important to us that the use of e mail as a means of distribution is done responsibly and does not become a source of irritation to people receiving it on more than one occasion. If you are in a position to pass this onto a number of people then we request that you place all of their names in the Bcc box on your E mail header. This means that you do not disclose the e mail addresses of everyone you have e mailed to everyone else and prevents any “reply all” responses that can be quite annoying to less or none interested parties.
Please feel free to vary and personalise this header as you see fit when you pass it on but we suggest that the body of the e mail from here down is left unaltered as it has been approved by the Club as its official position and request for support.
Thank you for your support.
Forward Planning Committee
Lowestoft & Yarmouth RUFC
Support for the Re-location Project
Through a discreet lobbying process the Clubs Forward Planning Committee have managed to achieve the inclusion of Gunton Park and two alternative sites in the Preferred Options Consultation Document issued by Waveney District Council on the 17 November. What this means in lay terms is that the planners are prepared to support t he project subject to certain conditions and to the results of the consultation process which is taking place over the next two months. As a Club we need to get involved in the consultation process and prove the level of support we have amongst members and the general public.
Please understand that at this stage no decision to move from Gunton Park has been made, such a decision will only be taken after full consultation with and the approval of Club members. A move would only be proposed if we knew beyond doubt that the alternative site was achievable, affordable and would be of major benefit to the Club. However keeping the site allocation for housing in the Preferred Options part of the new Local Plan means that a move in the future would be much easier to achieve as it would then be in line with the Local Plan.
A copy of the official WDC response form is attached (click here). There is also a chance to comment on line by following this link:
http://www.waveney.gov.uk/Planning
This link also provides access to the full document for those interested in reading it, otherwise, the Site numbers in question (which need to be noted when you comment) are as follows:
Site 191 Gunton Park (click here)
Site 193 Land to the North of Corton Long lane as an alternative site (click here)
Site 190 Land at Dip Farm as an alternative site (click here).
Extracts of the main consultation document for each of these sites are also attached.
The sort of thing that can be included in your response could include the following:
a) You fully support the proposed use of Site 191 for Residential Housing to facilitate new sporting facilities for the Rugby Club in North Lowestoft.
b) The scale of development (number of houses) on Site 191 needs to be enough to cover the new site development costs.
c) You understand the current problems the Rugby Club have – lack of changing rooms, shortage of pitch availability, poor pitch drainage, inadequate car parking etc and the increasing contribution to youth involvement in sport via the ongoing expansion of our youth section.
d) Waveney needs Ist class sporting facilities, chances like this to achieve it a limited or no cost to the public purse are few and far between.
e) Site 191 is sustainable for housing (on transport links, accessible to Tesco’s without using a car etc.) but not for Rugby at the level and with the numbers we can achieve.
f) Site 191 is better for housing than any of the low lying, flood risk prone sites in the Lake Lothing area.
g) Of the sites you think 193 is a better choice than 190 but ideally they should both be left in the local plan as earmarked for sports since other sports clubs may also need to move and expand in the future.
Finally, thank you for your support and if you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us at either mkjary@aol.com (Matt Jary) or rrs@sinclair-intl.com (Dick Smith).