Chairman's Report for the 2007 Annual General Meeting of:

Hillside Rural Activities Park

At the AGM last year I proposed the following objectives:

1. To facilitate and help Leake Tennis Club to apply for and secure the funding necessary to construct the new tennis courts.

2. To finalise the design of the Scouts and Community Sports Hall in conjunction with the Hillside Scouts Group and then to secure funding.

3. To help Knayton Football Club, Leake Cricket Club and Borrowby Show relocate to the new site during 2007.

4. To help HRAP establish the income necessary to sustain the ongoing operational costs. This will involve attracting other clubs to use the existing facilities as well as attracting new user groups such as pony club, badminton club etc.

5. To finalise the design of the children's playground and then to secure sufficient funding to complete the construction in phases. We will also need to put into place the management controls to ensure that the playground is maintained and inspected as required.

6. …And finally, my own personal objective is to identify and recruit my successor once the main capital phase of the project has been completed.

I am pleased to report that most of these objectives have been achieved. Taking the objectives in turn:

1. In October we started construction of the new tennis courts for Leake Tennis Club. Funding for this has been secured from Foundation for Sport & the Arts, Awards for All, Hambleton District Council, the Lawn Tennis Association and Leake Tennis Club themselves. We still need to raise funds for the acrylic paint for the playing surface which we hope to apply in spring of 2008. The tennis club can then relocate to the HRAP site.

2. We have finalised the design for the Scout and Community Sports Hall and on 24th May 2007 received planning permission for the building. This has been achieved in conjunction with the Hillside Scout Group whom I would like to thank for their continued support on the project. The fund raising for the building suffered a major setback in August with a rejection by the Big Lottery Fund of our application for £350,000 from their Community Buildings Programme. This leaves a massive hole in our plans which we will find difficult to overcome in the short term. We are investigating the feasibility of constructing the building in phases to enable us to deliver the scout store and the groundsman's store in advance of the rest of the building.

3. We have achieved several major milestones with

• Borrowby Show taking place on the site in July 2007 despite the wettest summer on record

• Knayton Football Club relocating to the new football pitch

• Leake Cricket Club are relocating to the new cricket pitch and barring a day of non-stop rain would have played the annual Knayton vs. Borrowby match

4. We are now raising income for HRAP from the user groups with invoices being issued to Borrowby Show and Knayton Football Club for the first time. In addition we are now in discussion with the Pony Club regarding hosting an Area Event in 2008.

5. The design of the children's playground is now largely completed thanks to recent input from local children facilitated by Carolyn Mullins. The first phase of the playground was put into service on Wednesday 27th July 2007, the day we held the first Borrowby Show. Phase two is due to be installed during November 2007. A major funding application to the Big Lottery Fund is pending for the remainder of the equipment. Following a recent mailshot, we have secured two volunteers from the community to help with the monthly inspections of the playground.

6. Of the 6 objectives I set, the only one I have to report no progress on is to recruit my own successor! ______________________

Other achievements and milestones to report include:

• Completion of the connection of the water supply to the site. We have installed a distribution system to provide water to the cricket square and to several locations around the perimeter of the showfield.
• Completion of the electricity supply to the site boundary.
• Thanks to a very generous donation we have been able to buy a second hand tractor equipped with grass tyres. This has been used to cut the grass with a Rollamo cutter bought by Borrowby Show with a donation from Borrowby Parish Council.
• The first scout camp has been held on the scout field.
• Grants have been secured from Awards for All and Hambleton District Council for a cricket pavilion.
• We were successful in our discussion with HM Revenue & Customs on the VAT status of the Scout & Community Sports Hall. We have been advised that the cost of the building will be subject to zero rate VAT. In addition all works required to make use of the building possible are also subject to zero rate VAT. This means that we have been able to reclaim the VAT on the cost of the access road, car park and footpaths, and on the cost of the electricity and water supplies.

 

The main objectives for the coming year are as follows:

1. To respond to the failure to secure Big Lottery Funding for the Scout & Community Sports Hall with a plan to obtain funding from alternative sources. This will no doubt require changes to the way the building is constructed and may result in elements of the building being deferred until such time as funds are secured.

2. To complete the construction of the tennis courts and then to help Leake Tennis Club relocate in the Spring of 2008.

3. To complete the installation of the cricket pavilion and the relocation of Leake Cricket Club in the summer of 2008.

4. To work with the sports clubs and their governing bodies to develop coaching programmes to encourage participation in the sports by children and young adults.

5. To complete the construction of the children's playground, hopefully with the assistance of the grant from Big Lottery Fund; Playful Ideas.

6. To establish the Park as a venue for other activities, generate revenue and thereby to demonstrate the sustainability of the whole project.

7. To address the issue of the barn and explore options for us to secure ownership.

We had a set back during the year when our Treasurer, Roger Kingdon had to resign his position through illness. I would like to take this opportunity to express our thanks to Roger for being an invaluable source of advice, help and encouragement and to wish him a speedy recovery.

Richard Morrice has joined us as Treasurer and brings to our team a great deal of project management expertise gained in property development.

As a footnote, I would like to thank everyone who has helped with the project so far, those involved directly, those members of the community who have contributed time to our work and money to our funds and the staff of Hambleton District Council who have given us such invaluable support throughout.

Moray Finch 8th November 2007 Chairman, Hillside Rural Activities Park

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