PLEASE HELP THE COMRADES SECURE THEIR FUTURE AT BROADWATER

 

The board of Spartan South Midlands Premier Division side Berkhamsted Football Club have recently issued the following statement about the future of the club's Broadwater ground. 

"At a public meeting this week via Zoom, the chairman of our landlord, the Berkhamsted Sports Ground Charitable Association Limited (BSGCA) outlined a potential plan to sell Broadwater stadium for housing development in order to partially finance a new sports hub as part of a property development proposal known as "Bulbourne Cross" in Bourne End.

BSGCA is working with a property development company from Sussex called Thakeham, and leaflets describing this proposal are being sent to homes in Berkhamsted. In summary, the "Bulbourne Cross" proposal is to provide over 2,000 houses in three settlements, 1,100 of which would be built on Green Belt land, effectively extending Berkhamsted east as far as Bourne End, almost joining Berkhamsted to Hemel. 

Another 800 new houses are proposed on another site on that side of the town, but not shown in the leaflet is a further 100+ housing units proposed to be built on the football ground site at Broadwater right in the centre of Berkhamsted. 

 The Bulbourne Cross proposal and building housing on Broadwater do not feature in the recently published Dacorum draft Local Plan. The consultation on that plan closes in just seven weeks and the Thakeham/BSGCA team are belatedly seeking to have their proposal included into the plan.

It is not our preference to have Berkhamsted FC moved out of town to a site in Bourne End. Football has been played at our current scenic ground in the centre of Berkhamsted for roughly a century and has been enjoyed at that location by generations of Berkhamsted residents. 

The directors of the club wish to see that continue, long beyond our current lease expiry date in May 2023. We also believe that sports facilities for Berkhamsted residents, notably tennis and cricket as well as football, belong in Berkhamsted and not next to MacDonalds in Bourne End. 

The Bulbourne Cross proposal envisages 400 car park spaces at their sport facilities site, which illustrates the unhealthy travel required by siting sports grounds outside Berkhamsted. 

Anyone travelling by train will note the proposed sports site is nearer to Hemel station than Berko station." 

How can you help?
If you oppose the Bulbourne Cross proposal and the building of housing on Broadwater, please send an email to stevenpdavis60@btinternet.com. The football club will pass any such views on to Dacorum Council in bulk.