To Great Waldingfield Parish Council Meeting yesterday evening...always a highlight of the month!
Having re-elected John Steele as Chairman, and Harry Taylor as Vice Chair, for a further year, much of the business of the meeting (before I left to go and have my dinner) revolved round the discussion of the provision of sporting and play facilities in the village for the young and not so young.
Two young people attended the meeting to request that facilities for football be once more made available in the village. They had put a team together, they said, and had played Acton ‘away’, but had no way at present of playing them ‘at home’. The lads were supported in their request by our admirable new Community Support Officer, Siobhan Hemmett, who has been much in evidence in recent weeks.
All present at the meeting, including Colin Spence and I, supported the idea that a football club should be re-established in the village. Work is already underway on improving play facilities on the playing field. As I have mentioned before on the blog, Harry Taylor and the Playing Fields Committee are working hard on a scheme to replace the existing play equipment and generally improve the area. Provision of facilities for more formal sports events would be a further step in the right direction.
It was thought to be important that any new sports club in the village should be properly regulated and formally constituted. This is essential if the interests of those involved are to be balanced with those who wish to see the peace and quiet of the village maintained. Advice will be sought from appropriate bodies such as the FA and Babergh District Council, whose ‘Be Active’ programme is aimed, among other things, at encouraging participation in sport.
If anyone is interested in supporting this initiative, probably the best person to contact at this early stage is Siobhan through the Sudbury Police Station switchboard : 01284 774100 or by e mail at Siobhan.hemmett@suffolk.pnn.police.uk
