Newsletter – March 2018

Firstly, all of us at ARC would like to wish you and your families a very Happy Easter and hope you enjoy the spring break, despite the weather. 

Palmers Field Lease Update

It’s been another busy month for ARC and the main news is that we have received a draft lease from Aldbourne Parish Council.  We sent the document to our solicitor, who is advising us on all legal matters connected with our plans for the proposed development on Palmers Field. As we’ve mentioned in previous newsletters, our solicitor has extensive experience with this type of project and is also very knowledgeable about charities as well as funding. His input is invaluable to ensure the long-term future of ARC’s proposal for Palmers Field.

This is a very important stage for ARC because we have to be certain that any lease will comply with all our charitable commitments, which have been laid down by the Charities Commission. We also need to be sure that the terms of the lease will not affect our ability to raise the necessary funds to achieve our aims and commitments.  Our solicitor has raised some points in the lease that we need to discuss with the Parish Council, and we hope to arrange a meeting sometime in April, so that we can agree terms of a lease that will satisfy the needs of Aldbourne Parish Council as well as ARC. We hope to have more news for you in our next newsletter. 

Drawing Up Plans

Meanwhile we are continuing to have invaluable meetings with various sports and recreational groups in the village, which is helping us put together a design brief. The initial design brief will be going to a group of carefully selected RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) who are specialists in this type of project. They will be tasked to come up with some outline concepts that we can then put forward to everyone for consultation. This will take a little while, but we want to be absolutely sure we end up with the best project, at the best price and a building(s) that best suits the sports and recreational needs of Aldbourne.

This is certainly looking to be a very exciting year for ARC, so we look forward to keeping you up to date at every stage of our progress. Again, we’d like to thank to all our supporters for all their continued commitment; we really appreciate it.If you have any questions or suggestions, please do get in contact with us at, info@ARC-Aldbourne.org.uk and let us know if anyone else would like to receive this newsletter every month. Also, don’t forget we are active on social media so please do follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

Many thanks again

Malcolm Pryce, 

Chairman, Aldbourne Recreation Centre