Southborough Community Hub

Press Release

7 November 2018

Southborough Hub secures £500k grant from the Premier League and the FA Facilities Fund as new proposals are submitted to planning

Following a bid to the Premier League and the FA Facilities Fund the Southborough Hub project has successfully been awarded a grant of £500k towards the construction of the new pavilion for the town. The funding has been jointly awarded to Kent County Council and Southborough Town Council and is thanks to extensive input from Tunbridge Wells Youth Football Club, who has been assisting in the preparation of the bid. This outcome will see the football club getting a long lease of the premises while also protecting the fields through a restriction on the land.

Fundraising towards the pavilion from the TWYFC is well on its way with over £50k having been received to date and a further £25k yet to come in – for more information on the fundraising event and how you can support them please see their website which can be found here. http://tunbridgewellsyouth.com/events%20%26%20calendar/index.html

The revised plans for the Southborough hub development have been agreed by the board and are being submitted to planning on the 9 November. The new plans reflect the previous aspirations for the facility and include a hall/theatre, community rooms, GP surgery, library, football pavilion and council facilities.

Public consultation has now started on the plans with consultation material and feedback forms available in Southborough Library throughout November. Feedback to date on the café and toilets has already been fed back to the architect with potential changes being made to improve upon the design. Plans for the designs can be found here. http://www.southboroughcouncil.co.uk/southborough-community-hub/

The project is being resubmitted after coming in over budget and costs have been saved through predominantly cutting back on generous areas of circulation space which delivers little in terms of tangible benefits to the scheme. The Southborough based architects have also made changes to ensure the new designs give a form and shape which are more traditional. They have also managed to create a larger square between the Hub and the housing by pushing the facility further north thus increasing the size of the public realm and accentuating the building.

Cllr Ian Kinghorn said “I am delighted that we have secured this grant from the Premier League and the FA Facilities Fund. The work put in by the football club has been invaluable and I hope this new facility will serve them and the town well in to the future. It has also been one of our main objectives to get the open space protected and this will now also be done. Moving forward I urge anyone who has not already had a look at the plans for the new facility to do so and send in your feedback for us as soon as possible and we are already making changes based on the feedback we have had to date.”

Paul Thorogood, Chief Executive of the Football Foundation, said: “Since 2000, the Football Foundation has awarded 380 grants worth £13.1m across Kent County FA towards grassroots sports projects worth £24.5m and it is great to hear that Kent County Council and Southborough Town Council will be the latest beneficiaries.

“Funding from the Premier League & The FA Facilities Fund, delivered by the Foundation, will help to develop fantastic new facilities for the local community. Made possible by investment from the Premier League, The FA and the Government, via Sport England, the Fund is supporting the grassroots game by improving access to high-quality football facilities across the country.”

Jonathan White
07988 375334

2^nd Floor Invicta House
Maidstone
Kent
ME14 1XX

Jonathan.white@kent.gov.uk

Following the Consultation on the development of the Southborough Hub, the results were analysed by an independent Company.

To view their report, please click on the link. Southborough Hub Consultation Report

Equality Impact Assessment

To see the latest update click the link.

Please note – Minutes with a ‘d’ beside them indicate that these are draft and may be amended at the next meeting.

Redacted minutes of the Southborough Hub Project Board Meetings – It is necessary to take out any commercially sensitive information.

29.06.2015 05.08.2015 09.09.2015 05.11.2015 19.01.2016

01.03.2016 04.04.2016 05.05.2016 07.07.2016 21.07.2016

06.10.2016 07.12.2016 24.01.2017 13.03.2017 15.05.2017