Following the Parish Council Statement earlier this week and the subsequent concerns expressed by residents we would like to offer further clarification to the village about the future of the Pavilion
Following the Parish Council Statement earlier this week and the subsequent concerns expressed on social media and directly to Councillors we would like to offer further clarification to the village about the future of the Pavilion.
We make the following points:
1. The Parish Council are committed to continue the sporting and social use of the Pavilion regardless of who is managing/in occupation of the facility. We have already spent over £40,000 on the fabric of the building this year and provided funds for the all-weather Cricket pitch and scoreboard. The Pavilion is not going to be sold, and the land will remain playing fields. The Council had a rental valuation carried out in September 2025.
2. There has been no tenancy agreement in place since John and Alison took over. One should have been signed before anyone was allowed to take occupation but this was not done. None of the Councillors currently in office were involved in that decision.
3. Between May and October last year most of the Council changed personnel and we started negotiating with John and Alison to get an agreement signed. Contrary to some assertions we acted in good faith and presented several drafts which were rejected
4. In October 2025 our Solicitors sent a final draft to John and Alison asking them to do one of the following:
a. Sign the lease agreement offered,
b. Appoint legal advisers with whom the Council Solicitors could negotiate or
c. Hand back the keys and vacate.
We set a deadline of 11th November for John and Alison to do one of those three things. As everyone is aware they chose option c.
At no point did we refuse to negotiate. We wanted John and Alison to remain in place and for their legal representative to talk to ours to iron out any further issues – some of which resurfaced in the comments on social media. We are not contract lawyers and neither are John and Alison. Having negotiated for over a year we needed to bring this to a conclusion. We saw no point in further direct discussions and instead considered that the details of any contract should be led by both parties receiving full and proper legal advice and for any detail/wording to be negotiated and agreed by professionals.
All the Parish Councillors are local people, and we are as committed to the continued success of the Pavilion as anyone. However, we have a wider responsibility to all villagers and taxpayers to make sure the assets we hold in trust for them are properly and legally constituted. There is no reason why these two sets of interests need to be in conflict.
John and Alison’s decision to walk away is a decision they have made. The lease terms we offered would have allowed their business to continue exactly as it had previously. Any points of clarification could have been dealt with by legal representatives, and we remain puzzled as to why John and Alison were unable to accept this. For them to then suggest the Council has acted unfairly is upsetting and simply not true.