Rugby, cricket clubs secure 99-lease to transform clubhouse!

Welshpool’s rugby and cricket clubs can start the process to transform its ageing clubhouse into one that is fit for the 21^st century and beyond after securing a 99-year lease from the Town Council.

Last Wednesday, senior officials from the rugby club made an impassioned plea to the local authority to change its mind on the length of lease it was willing to provide the clubs for its clubhouse which was built in 1982 and is totally inaccessible for disabled users.

Councillors were told that “stairs lead everywhere” and one councillor even said it was like “travelling back to the 1970s” in terms of its disabled facilities when he visited.

They want to transform the clubhouse with a project that would be phased and cost in the “hundreds of thousands”.

However, to access funding they would need a 99-year lease that extends well beyond the current one in place that finishes in 2035.

MyWelshpool understands that the Town Council had originally denied the request earlier in the summer and opted for a 10-year lease instead, but once the councillors heard directly from the club officials last Wednesday in the chamber, a change of heart followed in confidential session when the issue was discussed.

Sadly, because it was behind closed doors, we don’t know the nature of the discussions but we have seen a draft copy of the meeting minutes which state: “RESOLVED: To extend the existing lease by 99 years to expire on a date in 2125.”

The 99-year lease had been proposed by Cllr Nick Howells and seconded by Cllr Morag Bailey.