Post by kentrebel on Nov 16, 2012 11:35:56 GMT
Lifted from NonLeagueDaily.com
Ryman League Division One South outfit Crawley Down Gatwick is embroiled in a bitter dispute over the rent it pays for its ground.
The club have been told they face a 110 per cent hike in their rent – and say the increase, combined with other difficulties, could mean relegation from the Ryman League.
The club currently pay an annual fee of £2,700 for use of facilities at the Haven Centre, in Crawley Down.
But the committee that runs the community centre has decided the club is paying "peanuts" and is now demanding £5,600 a year from the start of the 2013/14 season.
The football club's chairman, Brain Suckling, suggested the fee was being increased to meet a funding gap at the struggling community centre.
"We were given notice about a year ago that the Haven Centre wanted to increase our rent. At first they wanted to treble it but now they want to eventually increase it to £5,600, which is more than double what we pay now and is the last thing that was on the table," Mr Suckling said.
"There have been many words spoken but no real answers. The football club are the only hirers of the Haven Centre who have seen their rent increased. Phillip Coote [Haven Centre committee chairman] thinks the club is awash with money, but that is not the case.
"It is viewed that the Haven Centre desperately needs this money and thinks that the club can afford it.
"But we can't afford that sort of increase and it would not be fair to increase the membership for juniors and youths to meet the rent."
On top of the rent for use of the ground, the club pays another £6,000 a year to Mid Sussex District Council to use the pitch itself.
The rent for the ground includes use of the changing rooms, as well as storage space for equipment, and covers electricity, heating and hot water costs.
But the club is facing relegation from the Ryman League for failing to comply with league regulations, involving structural issues – including new pitch side toilets – and missing documentation.
Relations between the football club and Haven Centre committee chairman Mr Coote have now deteriorated.
Mr Coote was this week adamant that he just wanted to steer the community centre through tough economic conditions.
"My job is to make sure the Haven Centre is put on to a sound economic footing so it can remain for years and years and years," he said.
"The football club has got away with paying peanuts for the facilities it uses and that is the reason why we have been discussing the rent.
"I have been accused of being a liar, have been physically threatened and verbally abused. I am not a liar; the football club are masters of their own destiny."
To be honest £100pw including utilities seems like a hell of a deal to me and it looks like the same old same old of all of a clubs money going on players rather than facilities
Ryman League Division One South outfit Crawley Down Gatwick is embroiled in a bitter dispute over the rent it pays for its ground.
The club have been told they face a 110 per cent hike in their rent – and say the increase, combined with other difficulties, could mean relegation from the Ryman League.
The club currently pay an annual fee of £2,700 for use of facilities at the Haven Centre, in Crawley Down.
But the committee that runs the community centre has decided the club is paying "peanuts" and is now demanding £5,600 a year from the start of the 2013/14 season.
The football club's chairman, Brain Suckling, suggested the fee was being increased to meet a funding gap at the struggling community centre.
"We were given notice about a year ago that the Haven Centre wanted to increase our rent. At first they wanted to treble it but now they want to eventually increase it to £5,600, which is more than double what we pay now and is the last thing that was on the table," Mr Suckling said.
"There have been many words spoken but no real answers. The football club are the only hirers of the Haven Centre who have seen their rent increased. Phillip Coote [Haven Centre committee chairman] thinks the club is awash with money, but that is not the case.
"It is viewed that the Haven Centre desperately needs this money and thinks that the club can afford it.
"But we can't afford that sort of increase and it would not be fair to increase the membership for juniors and youths to meet the rent."
On top of the rent for use of the ground, the club pays another £6,000 a year to Mid Sussex District Council to use the pitch itself.
The rent for the ground includes use of the changing rooms, as well as storage space for equipment, and covers electricity, heating and hot water costs.
But the club is facing relegation from the Ryman League for failing to comply with league regulations, involving structural issues – including new pitch side toilets – and missing documentation.
Relations between the football club and Haven Centre committee chairman Mr Coote have now deteriorated.
Mr Coote was this week adamant that he just wanted to steer the community centre through tough economic conditions.
"My job is to make sure the Haven Centre is put on to a sound economic footing so it can remain for years and years and years," he said.
"The football club has got away with paying peanuts for the facilities it uses and that is the reason why we have been discussing the rent.
"I have been accused of being a liar, have been physically threatened and verbally abused. I am not a liar; the football club are masters of their own destiny."
To be honest £100pw including utilities seems like a hell of a deal to me and it looks like the same old same old of all of a clubs money going on players rather than facilities
