There is a large but positive change coming to the parish that the council would like to update all residents on, but first we must provide you with some historical context.
The Saxilby Memorial Playing Field (also known as ‘The Rec’) was donated to the village in 1920 and formed the village’s official war memorial, following the end of WWI. It was decreed in the accompanying indenture, that a group of residents, known as trustees, would manage and control the field, looking after all aspects of the field, from maintenance through to activities and sports taking place on the field. From 1920 until 2007, this arrangement continued with little to no input from the parish council, other than grants to the trustees occasionally, to help cover costs.
By January 2007, the trustees and the then Sports Association, felt they could ‘no longer afford to run’ the memorial field and community centre and were also ‘unable to get the volunteers they needed’ and in March 2007 they asked the parish council to step in and to take over the day-to-day running and maintenance, which the council has done for the last 15 years.
In that time, the council has maintained the field and building, upgraded the facilities on the site, with the new play area and wheeled park being two prime examples, as well as giving the library a new home in the community centre in 2012 to ensure the village still had a library. The council has also maintained regular room hires in that period, as well as running the Pavilion Bar up until the fire and Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
As with all things in life, time moves on and the Memorial Field Trustees - who have maintained a watching brief over the site for the past 15 years, and have been consulted on the things the council has invested in on the site, such as the play area and wheeled park - have now approached the parish council, looking to resume more control of the fields and buildings under the terms of the original 1920 bequest.
The parish council has taken legal advice to investigate the various options, as well as having taken into account the feelings and views of residents through monitoring of social media comments and conversations with residents.
The council feel that now is the right time for the trustees to resume full control of the care and maintenance of the grounds and buildings for the enjoyment and benefit of the village, and for the council to step away from the general running. This decision was ratified at the Annual Parish Council Meeting in May 2022, and we are aiming to complete the full hand back to the trustees by the end of October 2022.
This decision places the council in a position to be able review the Saxilby with Ingleby Neighbourhood Development Plan (which was made in 2017 and will be updated later this year) and the results of our Big Community Survey (carried out in January 2021) and invest further council time and taxpayer money into some of the other projects which parishioners have told us are important to them.
These will be more achievable when we no longer have the costs of the Memorial Field and buildings to cater for. This will enable the council to proactively start on projects such as a new play area at Westcroft Green, which will benefit residents and other much called for projects.
The council would like to wish the trustees well with their plans to build on the improvements the council brought to the Memorial Field over the past 15 years, and we look forward to the field and facilities going from strength to strength, while we continue to focus on delivering the things the community has us asked for.
If you would like further information on the future of the Memorial Field and the trustees plans for the area, please contact the Memorial Field Trustees via saxilbypublicrecreationground@gmail.com.
All residents will recieve an hand delivered copy of this statement in the coming days.