www.communityvoice.ie - All the top news stories from Dublin 15

€7m sports centre plan fails

The €7m sports complex planned by an alliance of local soccer clubs and the FAI for Hartstown Park, first revealed in last month’s Community Voice, looks doomed to failure following the withdrawal of a number of clubs from the alliance.

The West End Sporting Alliance comprising six soccer clubs which use the park was established with the assistance of the FAI and had engaged a consultant to draw up plans for submission to Fingal County Council. However Community Voice has learned that two of the main clubs involved - Huntstown Villa and Hartstown United - have now withdrawn from the project.

The project was initially proposed by Verona FC who wished to sell their clubhouse premises on Grove Road. Under an option agreement made between the club and Cosgrave Brothers, the owner / developer of Westend Retail Park, the club would have received €2m for their existing premises and had offered to put this money into the new complex. The deal also envisaged Fingal County Council selling the two pitches on Grove Road to the developer.

In a recent letter to the FAI, Huntstown Villa say that following meetings and discussions between members and the committee of the club they are withdrawing from the project.

Acting club chairman Tony Lawless also told the FAI that “at our initial meeting assurances were given to Huntstown Villa FC and all clubs that should any Hartstown Park user/club no longer continue to explore the concept, then the whole concept would be terminated. We expect this to happen immediately,” he said in his letter.

Mr Lawless also claims that concerns and issues raised by the club had not been addressed and that “Verona FC have not been fully forthright about their finances, meetings, activities and submissions that have taken place prior to meeting Huntstown Villa FC concerning the proposed concept.”

The club also had concerns on the effect of the new complex on existing community facilities in Huntstown.

Another local club, Hartstown Utd, voiced similar concerns. According to long-time club secretary George Wilkins they were also worried on the impact of the proposal on facilities at Hartstown Community Centre. “We spent three years working to develop an all weather pitch at the centre. It is dependent on funding from our club’s use and if these funds were transferred to the Verona project then it would have a serious impact on our community centre,” he said.

Following these developments the FAI now appear to be distancing themselves from the project. According to Richard Fahey, director of club licensing and facilities development at the FAI, “this proposal was being made entirely by Verona FC and that the FAI’s only role in it was to facilitate the discussion between the clubs which I hope and feel that we have done in a fair and transparent manner.

“While it was pointed out at the beginning of the process that the likelihood of the proposal being accepted by Fingal County Council would be highly unlikely unless there was a united front from the football clubs, it will entirely be up to Verona FC to decide where they would like to take their proposal following Huntstown Villa’s decision not to support it.” said Mr. Fahey.

Responding to the story in last month’s paper, a spokesperson for Fingal County Council said the council is currently putting the finishing touches to a draft masterplan for Hartstown Park which it is hoped to present to councillors at next month’s council meeting. “With the agreement of the elected members, this draft masterplan will then go on public display as part of the public consultation process,” she said.

According to the spokesperson, “while Fingal County Council are happy to engage with and work with all bodies, groups or organisations in order to provide community-based facilities, it should be noted that any suggestions, proposals or submissions made as part of the public consultation process must be considered in the context of how they could serve all members of the community, and not simply a specific group. Council facilities must be equally available to all members of the community.”

Meanwhile Verona FC are trying to salvage the plan and a meeting with all local public representatives to discuss their proposal is scheduled for their clubhouse on Tuesday evening 8th June.

Verona has been struggling to maintain their facilities for some time now and it is understood that a large mortgage on their premises is proving difficult to service. The club entered into a 15 year option agreement with Cosgrave Brothers four years ago under which it receives a payment of over €40,000 per annum and which guarantees the club a sum of €2m if it sells its premises to the developer.

However the plan is dependent on Cosgraves also obtaining the adjoining seven acres of football pitches owned by the county council and a spokesperson for the council pointed out that it cannot sell without seeking public tenders so, even in the event of the council deciding to dispose of the land, there is no way a sale to Cosgraves would be guaranteed.

Bearing in mind that Cosgraves are one of the developers currently negotiating with NAMA, the prospect of them being able to buy the land seems remote. In addition Green Property - the owner of the Blanchardstown Centre - is one of the few “cash rich” developers in Ireland at present and they would be likely to outbid anyone else for the land should they become available.

However Community Voice understands that the likelihood of the county council agreeing to such a sale is remote. Public outcry at the prospect of seven acres of public open space being sold for retail development and lost to the area would be immense.

Ultimately the project looks doomed to failure as a result of the inability of Verona and the FAI to persuade local clubs to participate. As Tony Lawless succinctly puts it in his letter to the FAI, “our club has a fantastic and close relationship with our community centre and all the other participants in the community. We value this highly. We now expect the FAI/Verona FC to keep good its word that this concept will now cease.

If we find Verona FC use indirect or any other means to try and gain an advantage in Hartstown Park we will resist and oppose this strongly.”

Community Voice, Media House, Church Avenue, Blanchardstown, Dublin 15
Phone +353 1 822 1432 - Fax +353 1 640 4444
info@communityvoice.ie