Lewes Football Club: Leading Councillors Recommend Long Lease For Ground

A pioneering football club in Sussex is a step closer to unlocking further investment in its facilities, after hearing its lease on its stadium is very likely to get a long extension.

By securing a long lease from Lewes District Council for the "Dripping Pan" in Mountfield Road – home to the club since its formation in 1885 – Lewes FC hopes to attract grant funding from the Football Foundation, which requires an uninterrupted lease agreement of either 10 years or 21 years.

While any final decision will require a full council vote, council leaders expressed their support for the proposals.

In a statement released after the meeting, council leader Zoe Nicholson said:

“We are pleased to recommend granting this new lease to Lewes FC and wish the club well with its renovation plans which will be a boost for supporters and the town as a whole.

“Like so many areas of society, sports clubs are under great pressure due to the Covid-19 restrictions and need community support now more than ever.”

The proposals had already been discussed at an informal (and private) meeting of the council’s recently-formed policy and performance advisory committee on June 2.

According to papers from that meeting, the committee was supportive of the proposals but asked cabinet members to go further and commit to finding additional ways to support the viability of sports clubs and leisure facilities in the district.

Speaking at the cabinet meeting, the committee’s Conservative chairman Joe Miller said:

“Whilst it is excellent we are supporting this facility there are a number of other facilities across the district … including Wave Leisure, which I note … has been allocated £500,000 in its budget line.

“We think it would be appropriate to simply investigate [giving] any additional support to ensure the viability of sports clubs and leisure facilities across the district, recognising some of the extreme pressure some of these organisations are under as a result of covid.” 

Cllr Miller said the committee had also discussed the possibility of inserting a break-clause into the lease agreement, but heard from legal advisors said this could inhibit the club from securing its grant funding.

This view was shared by the cabinet, according to Cllr Nicholson.

Initially, council papers say, the club had been seeking a much longer lease, with the 25-year lease considered to be a compromise position by officials.

This arrangement limits the reduction in the council’s flexibility of the use of the land in the future whilst still allowing the club to access grant funding, the report says.

Responding to the committee’s recommendation to support other leisure facilities in the district, the council’s deputy leader Cllr James MacCleary.

He said:

“I think this is a good opportunity for us to start looking at that. Personally though, I think it would be worth pointing out that we have committed significant investments in our local facilities across the district.

“As a Newhaven councillor myself, that is a big priority for me and indeed we are currently undertaking a review of how we use Fort View Rec, which is one of the most important leisure assets that we have in the district.

“On top of that … we have used significant amounts of Community Infrastructure Levy funding to upgrade leisure facilities throughout the district and we are seeing things like tennis courts in Newhaven and Seaford completely relaid.”

Cllr Nicholson added that the next tranche of emergency funding from government is expected to focus on sports and leisure activities.

As a result, the leader argued, it would be best to hold off on the advisory committee’s recommendation until the extent of this funding is known.

However, she asked that officers bring forward a report on the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on local sports and leisure facilities.

The Full Council will now be asked to make the final decision on the new lease in July.

Three years ago, Lewes FC became the first professional or semi-professional club to pay its women's team the same as its men's team.

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