Arbour park

[Stan]

On 22/12/2023 at 09:08, Kaiser Gibbs Batman (KGB) said:

It was my understanding that Martyn Deaner effectively chose to leave Wexham Park in 2003 in order to assist his plans to acquire (with hoped-for assistance from Slough Council) and develop another site for senior football within the town, thereby hoping to avoid the kind of planning obstacles that had bedevilled Alan Thorne's efforts to improve Wexham Park to Football League standard. The problem being that, for as long as the club remained at Wexham Park, Slough Council saw no particular imperative to assist with its relocation elsewhere.  Others can assess the success or otherwise of that strategy.  

Deaner couldn’t get a sustainable  lease to guarantee our place in the league at the time so the club had to move. 
the ground although originally owned by Slough Council is in South Bucks for planning purposes. They would not give the permission for all the other development that Thorne wanted . He thought he could do what he did with Millwall and make a killing on redevelopment but never realised it was in the green belt and not actually in Slough! 
The son would not sell it to Deaner said he’ll wait till planning changes and his grandchildren will develop it one day . 
hence why it’s Sat doing nothing for nearly 20 years . 
 

[Kaiser Gibbs Batman (KGB)]

12 hours ago, Stan said:

Deaner couldn’t get a sustainable  lease to guarantee our place in the league at the time so the club had to move. 
the ground although originally owned by Slough Council is in South Bucks for planning purposes. They would not give the permission for all the other development that Thorne wanted . He thought he could do what he did with Millwall and make a killing on redevelopment but never realised it was in the green belt and not actually in Slough! 
The son would not sell it to Deaner said he’ll wait till planning changes and his grandchildren will develop it one day . 
hence why it’s Sat doing nothing for nearly 20 years . 
 

Another interesting piece of the jigsaw. If I remember correctly, the 1998 deal gave Martyn Deaner five years grace in which to negotiate and complete the purchase of the lease from the Thornes, otherwise they would have the right to buy the freehold of the land from Slough Council at a price to determined by the district valuer. That is what eventually happened with them paying something over £300,000 for it. 

[Bernie Gogan]

5 hours ago, Kaiser Gibbs Batman (KGB) said:

Another interesting piece of the jigsaw. If I remember correctly, the 1998 deal gave Martyn Deaner five years grace in which to negotiate and complete the purchase of the lease from the Thornes, otherwise they would have the right to buy the freehold of the land from Slough Council at a price to determined by the district valuer. That is what eventually happened with them paying something over £300,000 for it. 

This is indeed correct. Given Martyn Deaner's cash flow issues during his tenure it's hardly surprising that nothing came of his proposals, however well intentioned.

[Kaiser Gibbs Batman (KGB)]

I remember the then Windsor and Eton chairman, who later had serious problems of his own, recounting (to the increasing incredulity of the Horsham boardroom) in exactly what diverse ways Mr Deaner was settling the rent for the club's groundshare at Stag Meadow. But we did still beat Walsall on his watch.

[Bernie Gogan]

6 minutes ago, Kaiser Gibbs Batman (KGB) said:

I remember the then Windsor and Eton chairman, who later had serious problems of his own, recounting (to the increasing incredulity of the Horsham boardroom) in exactly what diverse ways Mr Deaner was settling the rent for the club's groundshare at Stag Meadow. But we did still beat Walsall on his watch.

Yes, Mr. Deaner had the right intentions, but struggling to pay rent and players on time wasn't sustainable in the long term. Sadly, the W&E Chairman wasn't able to sustain the money flow necessary to keep that club solvent, hence the peculiar situation where we now have 2 Windsor clubs plying their trade at Steps 6 & 7, one at Stag Meadow, the other at Beaconsfield. Whether they wind up playing each other next season will be a bizarre occasion.

[Reading Rebel]

That reminds me of a game at Stag Meadow, not sure which one, when the players refused to come out of the changing rooms, it could have been at the start or at half time, in protest at not being paid. 

The players did eventually agree to play the game.

I think this was under Martyn Deaner's watch, him being a 'wheeler dealer' with his fingers in lots of pies cash flow was often a problem.

Edited December 24, 2023 by Reading Rebel

[Nathan]

An interesting document that references our proposed new long-term lease (https://democracy.slough.gov.uk/documents/g8481/Public reports pack 30th-Jan-2024 18.30 Corporate Improvement Scrutiny Committee.pdf?T=10, page 25 of the file, marked on the left hand side as page 21) indicates a saving for the Council of £0.015m (£15,000) per year, so it looks like they're going ahead with their plan to up the rent by that much.

Further down the document, there's an interesting table of charges for the use of Arbour Park (starts on page 52 of the file, marked on the left hand side as page 48, and at the bottom of the page as page 22 of 25, (don't ask me why )), which indicates they're not proposing to increase these.

Speaking of charges, does anyone know why the floodlights were turned on yesterday just before kick-off, as it was still broad daylight?

[rebelade]

Floodlights were turned on as requested by the match officials 

[Reading Rebel]

2 hours ago, Nathan said:

An interesting document that references our proposed new long-term lease (https://democracy.slough.gov.uk/documents/g8481/Public reports pack 30th-Jan-2024 18.30 Corporate Improvement Scrutiny Committee.pdf?T=10, page 25 of the file, marked on the left hand side as page 21) indicates a saving for the Council of £0.015m (£15,000) per year, so it looks like they're going ahead with their plan to up the rent by that much.

Further down the document, there's an interesting table of charges for the use of Arbour Park (starts on page 52 of the file, marked on the left hand side as page 48, and at the bottom of the page as page 22 of 25, (don't ask me why )), which indicates they're not proposing to increase these.

Speaking of charges, does anyone know why the floodlights were turned on yesterday just before kick-off, as it was still broad daylight?

Is that the 15k we already pay or another 15k on top?

[Nathan]

On 18/02/2024 at 16:28, Reading Rebel said:

Is that the 15k we already pay or another 15k on top?

Presumably another 15k on top of what we already pay, as they're advertising it as a saving (at least that's how I read it).

[Nathan]

An interesting table of current and proposed fee changes for Council property: https://democracy.slough.gov.uk/documents/b18045/Supplementary Agenda II 26th-Feb-2024 18.30 Cabinet.pdf?T=9

There are no changes for Arbour Park, but the list starts on Page 132 of the document (marked as Page 130 to the left of the page, or Page 18 of 21 of Appendix J).

[Reading Rebel]

7 hours ago, Nathan said:

An interesting table of current and proposed fee changes for Council property: https://democracy.slough.gov.uk/documents/b18045/Supplementary Agenda II 26th-Feb-2024 18.30 Cabinet.pdf?T=9

There are no changes for Arbour Park, but the list starts on Page 132 of the document (marked as Page 130 to the left of the page, or Page 18 of 21 of Appendix J).

It would be interesting to know how these charges compare to the hiring of Burnhams pitch and facilities.

[Nathan]

14 hours ago, Reading Rebel said:

It would be interesting to know how these charges compare to the hiring of Burnhams pitch and facilities.

I'd imagine there's is probably cheaper, as Chalvey Sports left Arbour Park to go to Burnham's 1878 Stadium in 2021. They've since left there to play at the Eltham Avenue Recreation Ground in Cippenham. Unfortunately neither website offers any information regarding prices (https://www.burnhamfc1878.co.uk/3g-pitch/, & https://www.slough.gov.uk/sports-activities/pitches-hire/2) so it looks like you have to contact them directly.

The only place I've seen that advertises their pricing is the George Pitcher Memorial Ground in Burnham (https://www.burnhamparish.gov.uk/pitch-hire-charges), which (like Eltham Avenue) is a Park Pitch where I gather some teams from the East Berkshire Football League play. These are the prices for a full season, not a single date.

Assuming that the prices for Eltham Avenue are comparable, is it any wonder that teams like Chalvey Sports opted to go there rather than stay at Arbour Park or the 1878 Stadium?

[Reading Rebel]

8 hours ago, Nathan said:

I'd imagine there's is probably cheaper, as Chalvey Sports left Arbour Park to go to Burnham's 1878 Stadium in 2021. They've since left there to play at the Eltham Avenue Recreation Ground in Cippenham. Unfortunately neither website offers any information regarding prices (https://www.burnhamfc1878.co.uk/3g-pitch/, & https://www.slough.gov.uk/sports-activities/pitches-hire/2) so it looks like you have to contact them directly.

The only place I've seen that advertises their pricing is the George Pitcher Memorial Ground in Burnham (https://www.burnhamparish.gov.uk/pitch-hire-charges), which (like Eltham Avenue) is a Park Pitch where I gather some teams from the East Berkshire Football League play. These are the prices for a full season, not a single date.

Assuming that the prices for Eltham Avenue are comparable, is it any wonder that teams like Chalvey Sports opted to go there rather than stay at Arbour Park or the 1878 Stadium?

Agree but hopefully if we get control of the ground we can make our charges more competitive to bring the punters in.

No point in having a nice ground and facilities if it's too expensive for groups to use.

[Nathan]

18 hours ago, Reading Rebel said:

No point in having a nice ground and facilities if it's too expensive for groups to use.

Quite! But as after 8 years things like the Slough Town Cup final is still held at Burnham at not at Arbour Park, I can't help but wonder if the ground is simply too nice (and therefore too expensive) for sides that ought to be playing there (like Chalvey Sports).

Edited March 30 by Nathan

[Reading Rebel]

24 minutes ago, Nathan said:

Quite! But as after 8 years things like the Slough Town Cup final is still held at Burnham at not at Arbour Park, I can't help but wonder if the ground is simply too nice (and therefore too expensive) for sides that ought to be playing there (like Chalvey Sports).

It's pretty simple.

With the way prices are going up everyone is looking to cut costs and if Burnham down the road offer a 3G surface a lot cheaper than us they will go there.

We need to be competitive or cheaper with our pricing if we want to get these clubs to play in Slough rather than Burnham.

 

 

[DonnyNo6]

On 29/03/2024 at 00:27, Reading Rebel said:

It would be interesting to know how these charges compare to the hiring of Burnhams pitch and facilities.

To give a bit of context, my pitch is £120 an hour for the full surface(can be split in three if needed), FIFA/FA accredited. 

Not sure how much AP/Burnham or Beaconsfield is to be honest but I'd imagine they'd be commercial rates for hire whilst mine is leisure hire but includes outside changing rooms and ample parking.

[Curtis]

Wycombe Campus in Flackwell Heath- 3G pitch is £72.50 per hour for a full pitch on a weekend (before discounts for FA accredited clubs & multi bookings).

[DonnyNo6]

2 hours ago, Curtis said:

Wycombe Campus in Flackwell Heath- 3G pitch is £72.50 per hour for a full pitch on a weekend (before discounts for FA accredited clubs & multi bookings).

That's decent, good set up as well if I remember rightly.

Such a short supply of good 3Gs about, I've got over thirty clubs use mine across the week with numerous enquiries every day.

About to have Brentford start here.

[Nathan]

Whatever we do (should it ever be our place to do it), it should be done quickly before Maidenhead muscle in on the 3G pitch market and all the potential business goes to York Road and not Arbour Park. 

https://www.maidenhead-advertiser.co.uk/gallery/football/195764/maidenhead-united-considering-a-menu-of-options-to-improve-york-road.html