Rumours have been flying this weekend around the future plans for Yarnfield’s Wellbeing Park, a grassroots football facility used by many Stone teams, the owners have issued the following statement about the future of the park.
The statement sent to A LIttle Bit of Stone is below:
Change of Guardianship of Wellbeing Park 31/5/2021
Following many discussions with various stakeholders, we can now officially announce the immediate plans for the future of the site.
Please ignore any rumours or misinformation. We are not selling the site for housing.
The site remains OPEN for football and Wellbeing.
The original deal for Staffordshire FA to acquire the ownership of the land began 2 years ago. A deal was agreed for Staffordshire FA to take control over all aspects of the site whilst the funds were concluded to take full ownership for the freehold and develop the site from end of May 2021.
Unfortunately, through no fault of either party involved, the deal has collapsed due to the devastating effects of the pandemic. The financial ability to purchase the facility and furthermore continue to subsidise the operating costs is not available anymore. This includes funding for new clubhouse and changing buildings.
This then left ourselves, as owners of the land, to find an alternative solution quickly. A supportive solution was put forward to the current groundsman. We had offered him a 1 year FREE rent deal, with a 1 month notice get out clause for him. This was under the one condition that before next season we hold a meeting with ALL the stakeholders and teams for a pricing policy review. Unfortunately this was not agreeable by him.
Therefore to avoid complete closure of the site, we can announce that Stone Old Alleynians, the most senior club on site to continue with their 2 adult teams using stadium and facilities with an initial 12 month agreement at an
increased rent. SOA will be taking control of all costs and maintenance on site for the stadium pitch, training area and communal toilets/housekeeping.They are prepared to adopt Little Dots at Alleyne’s Academy School. They are also willing to engage in conversations with SDFC ladies section to use the stadium pitch.
The Academy 4 Wellbeing business and building will also continue.
However at present there has not been a deal agreed to continue with the outer pitches for junior use after the end of May 2021.
The wider junior pitches are not included in this and no suitable deal for maintenance or management has been found as of yet.
It is therefore imperative that any junior teams wanting to continue on the site need to make direct contact with SOA to arrange a solution at sustainable and commercial rates.
We thank Bob Askey and his management team at SOA for stepping in to pick up the responsibility and manage the costs from here on.
We thank all those at Staffs FA for trying their very best to make this deal happen. Nobody could have planned a global pandemic. And a special thank you to all those over the years who have helped keep the doors open for all this time and take care of the facility.
We, the owners are still open to selling the site (either fully or in part to protect the future of football on the land) but have no expectation of that happening in the immediate future.
And to put the record straight for any who do not understand the commercial pressures of such a facility. In the 27 years of its existence the site has never created an income or a profit to the owners. It has been a football
journey and legacy we are very proud of. We tried our very best. We bought the land, developed it from fields and subsidised it for decades. The financial losses are significant and all we wanted was for a sustainable
financial model. SOA have been able to provide a way of keeping some of the legacy going and we trust them to make the best decisions moving forward.Thanks
Bob & family
