PLAYING FIELD LEASE
The Winfrith Playing Field is owned by the Lulworth Estate and leased to the Parish Council (using parishioners’ money). With overarching responsibility for the Playing Field, there is simply too much work involved for the PC alone to manage it effectively – so the operation and good management of it has now been effectively delegated to the PFA (see below).
For some months now, the Parish Council has been negotiating with the Lulworth Estate for the renewal of the Playing Field Lease. Once that business has been successfully completed, the duration of the renewed lease will open-up grant and funding application opportunities. For instance, the FA has many funding streams available for pitches and pavilions etc, but these are dependent upon minimum lease durations of five years or more. The Community Space Project is similarly hamstrung, so we look forward to that successful and timely lease-renewal!
It’s all your money that’s used to pay for the Playing Field’s lease maintenance – so … Go-on… Get Involved!
WN&EK PLAYING FIELD ASSOCIATION FOUNDED
The new WINFRITH NEWBURGH & EAST KNIGHTON PLAYING FIELD ASSOCIATION (PFA) was formally founded on Monday 16th January, in Winfrith’s Village Hall. Its new Constitution was adopted and signed, as was the new Playing Field Management Agreement with WN&EK Parish Council.
All 742 x WN&EK PC secular parishioners are now de-facto members of the PFA and (if aged at least 18) have full voting rights at all future General Meetings.
The newly elected officers of the Association are:
- Chair: Colin Weston
- Secretary: Jim Pettitt
- Treasurer: Charles Smith
- Parish Council Representative: Jon Yonwin (Vice Chair of the PC)
- General Officers are Chris Dowell, Eddie Morrison and John Mustoe. There can be up to nine general officers, so doubtless more will be added as time goes by – there is a lot of work to share-out!
All of the new officers are WN&EK secular parishioners. Although those living outside of the parish are not eligible to be voted onto the committee, they can be co-opted onto it by the other members. We expect the imminent addition of relevant interested parties, such as those involved with Wool & Winfrith FC, which is already a regular user of the Playing Field.
The Association is replacing the Winfrith Playing Field Committee, which current Chair Paul Nelson has worked so hard with for so many years. It will have its own bank account and will be able to generate income from sources such as the pitches, pavilion and events. Its first committee meeting will be on 01stFebruary.
Copies of the formal Constitution and Management Agreement documents are in the link below
These files may not be suitable for users of assistive technology and are in the following formats: .pdf. Request an accessible format.
CHILDREN'S PLAYGROUND
Whilst we work towards renewing the Community Space, we have to maintain the existing Children’s Playground. Every year, we contract RoSPA to undertake a formal safety-check, to ensure that the Recreation Field’s playground equipment is safe for your children to play on. We also conduct regular visual inspections. As soon as something requires repair or replacement, the PC will take the item out of use and then arrange for proper repairs to be made. Petty vandalism (especially to the perimeter fence) is, unfortunately, a regular occurrence and it’s your money we have to use to repair it. If you should happen to notice anything amiss with the equipment, please contact us ASAP, so that we may remedy the situation. In summer 2022 we had to take the toddler swings out of commission, because one of the legs had rotted-away. The leg was eventually replaced and the swings reopened. Summer 2022 also saw a lot of work coordinated by (and mostly personally undertaken by) Councillor Andy Muir. All of the wooden elements of the playground were cleaned of lichen and treated with child-safe wood preservative to extend their life-expectancy as far as possible. We also arranged to replace the bearings in the “Stand-up Roundabout”. The fence was repaired yet again in December, due to petty vandalism.
The annual RoSPA and the latest PC safety-checks are in the document links below:
These files may not be suitable for users of assistive technology and are in the following formats: .pdf. Request an accessible format.
COMMUNITY SPACE PROJECT INFORMATION
To see the latest information about committees and the current funding status, please click on this link: “Community Space“
New Playground - Proposals Information
We have now had a number of proposals and quotations for a new playground in the Playing Field, which were all displayed to the public at our annual Parish Meeting in April. You can see the various design proposals in the links below.
These files may not be suitable for users of assistive technology and are in the following formats: .pdf. Request an accessible format.