PROPOSED LEASE TO RYDE MARINA BOWLS CLUB

The Council is being asked to support grant funding towards the development of a new bowls club facility at The Esplanade, Ryde, through the grant of a long lease to the Club and an on-going maintenance subsidy for the Club to take on this liability. The details of this request and the terms proposed are set out in the report and this scheme is being recommend for approval.

The Council has considered the possibility of Ryde Marina Bowls Club taking over the ownership of the bowls club and greens by way of a lease for the Club to improve its facilities on several occasions.

The principle of the Club managing and operating the bowls facility has been accepted by the Council previously but details of the lease and improvements had not been worked up. Currently the Club operates the bowls facilities, including the crazy golf facility, for which the Council receives an income of £5,680 per annum. The Council presently maintains the greens at a cost of £21,000 per annum.

The situation is that the existing clubhouse and changing rooms are in very poor condition, are inappropriate in size and life expired. The proposal is to provide a new clubhouse funded partly from the Sports Lottery and the Club's own funds and a grant from the Council. Detailed planning permission has been obtained for the facility to be built on the crazy golf site with the existing building to be removed. A plan of this proposal is attached and the estimated cost of the building is £284,000, excluding fees and VAT for the Bowls Club. A second phase to this development will include the Harbour Master's office/yachtsmen's facilities and kiosk which is currently costed at £211,000, excluding fees and VAT.

In the past the Club has submitted two previous lottery applications, the first in November 1996 and the second in January 1998. They were both turned down as there was not a co-ordinated community development policy.

The Club is currently working on phase II of the latest bid. This is an action plan which has been agreed with the Sports Lottery. The lease is shown at reference 3.4. The Lottery Development Manager has stated that they wish the Club to complete the action plan as soon as possible and are aiming to go to the Lottery Review Panel in July to obtain their reactions to procedures. This will then allow time if further work is required and so enable an award to be made in September.

The Sports Lottery prefer the building work to start this year. If all goes to plan this would mean that the Club would wish to take up the 125 year lease from 1 October 2002.

The Club is putting £33,000 into the project. This is made up of £15,000 capital and £18,000 to equip the building and purchase special wheelchairs, etc. The SRB application was submitted on 7 May 2002.

	£
Club	33,000
SRB	137,680
Sports Lottery	230,935
Total	401,615

To secure this funding the Club is asking for the grant of a 125 year lease with the Club being responsible for the following:

● All outgoings and maintenance and to keep the whole property in good repair.

● To be responsible for all repairs and maintenance of the greens to a minimum standard as required by the English Bowls Association.

● Not to cause annoyance to the occupiers of the Council's adjoining property.

● That during the first 10 years of the lease the public will be allowed access to the greens in accordance with current practice. In consideration of this undertaking the Council will grant to the Club a revenue contribution of £21,000 in year 1, £16,000 in year 2, £14,000 in year 3, £10,000 in year 4 and £7,000 in year 5 and succeeding years, the annual payment being subject to review every two years.

● At all times the public will be allowed access to the greens in accordance with current practice.

In preparing this proposal independent valuations have been obtained as to the premium value for this lease and the sum of premium has been assessed as £20,000 (Twenty Thousand Pounds).

The Council is being asked to make a grant of this sum towards the scheme and because this is a sports and recreation facility the Council is able to make such a grant if it so chooses.

Regarding the level of revenue grant, Officers advise that the Club is starting from a lower base than certainly Ventnor and Totland were (however, Totland are probably at a lower base now) when discussions were first entered into about leasing those particular greens to the Bowling Clubs using them. Ryde Marina Bowls Club have a development which is seeking to increase their membership over a number of years and as that membership increases their need for grant funding to sustain the greens would naturally decrease. The remainder is based on the business plan and they need between £7,000 and £10,000 per annum to continue once they have achieved all of their targets. Officers feel that setting a target at the low end of this number would act as an incentive for them to manage the green to its ultimate capacity. It should also be borne in mind that the Bowls Club is maintaining two greens on an exposed seafront location, which brings with it is own complications in terms of maintenance and development, as opposed to other Clubs on the island which are running one green on more sheltered sites.

By reviewing grant payments every two years, this will identify if the Club exceeds the expectations of their business plans and that they are benefiting from the improvements to Ryde Esplanade, then the Council would have the capacity to reduce its grant still further.

In bringing this proposal forward the local community has been consulted through public notices and planning. All local Members have been consulted along with Sport England and a wide range of Officers. The Club has played a full part in these consultations, and advises that some 25 coaches of touring teams visit the club each year.

The Council will make a long term revenue saving in terms of the management of this site and enable the provision of a new recreation facility by making a grant of £20,000 to the value of the lease premium against attracting a significant inward investment to improve bowls facilities enjoyed by both local residents and visitors to the Island. In addition the value of the existing crazy golf business will be available to the Council to possibly locate elsewhere on the Esplanade.

The documentation of the 125 year lease on the terms set out. As this site is public open space it is subject to the advertising procedures required under the Public Open Space Acts. The appropriate advertisement has been placed in the Isle of Wight County Press allowing 28 days for any objections to come forward but none have been received.

2. That the Council makes a grant of £20,000 to the value of the lease premium, together with the revenue grant set out in the report, subject to the Club securing all funds to build the new pavilion.

3. That given Ryde Marina Bowls Club is successful with phase I of this scheme then phase II of this scheme will be put forward as a bid for capital allocation in the next financial year.

John Metcalfe, Assistant Director, Education and Community Development ☎ 823825