Easton Cricket Club to Close

With deep regret the remaining members of Easton Cricket Club decided at their AGM this month that the club should close and be wound up.

This is due to the falling number of available players in the village, and the lack of members who are willing and able to form a functioning committee to manage the club's affairs.

The cricket club has long been an important part of Easton on the Hill's sporting and social life and this decision is highly regrettable but apparently inevitable. If anyone, even at this late stage, believes they could gather support and manage a "rebirth" of the club, they should contact Josh Ford; joshua_m_ford@msn.com

The Club owns the Pavilion building at the Playing Field as well as a number of other assets (mowers, fixtures and fittings etc), and the remaining few members now have the sad and not inconsiderable task of disposing of them and managing the remaining funds.

If anyone believes they have a legal, personal claim to any of the assets, they should also contact Josh as above.

The Parish Council have a lease with the club to use the Playing Fields and this will now lapse. Discussions within the Parish Council's Playing Field Management Committee will take place to prepare a plan for the future of the pavilion and playing facilities when the Cricket Club has gone. This will cover things like utilities, insurance, licensing, and maintenance. Various options are available, including a broader, longer term rental agreement with the remaining sports club using the Playing Fields, Wittering Premiair FC. When a plan has been developed this will no doubt include financial and legal commitments from the Parish Council and so will require debate and decision making at a full council meeting in the future, to which, as ever, members of the public are welcome. Ironically, the installation of mains electricity will take place in June, to make the pavilion more usable.

In the meantime the grass will continue to be mown, (thanks to Peter Nottingham) but the wicket will not be maintained, so although casual games of cricket could still take place, they should avoid using the wicket.

On a related matter, a consultation on future developments for the Playing Field will shortly take place - every household will get a questionnaire to complete to get your views on what, if anything, the Parish Council should invest in next; a MUGA, a Pump Track, or other ideas, and how these might be funded. There will also be a stall at the Gala to get feedback. We are at the same time taking professional advice on how to remedy the car park and we will no doubt have some other expenditure on the Pavilion to take into account.

Tim Nicol

on behalf of the Parish Council and Cricket Club