A borough council in Nottinghamshire will be giving a loan to help build a new sports pavilion worth almost £1m following financial difficulties. The village sports building will replace one which fell into a state of disrepair and will feature a kitchen, a bar, changing rooms and two club rooms.
The old pavilion in Costock Road, East Leake, was built in the 1970s and houses East Leake's Bantams football team as well as the the village's rugby and cricket teams. It was in an "advanced" state of dilapidation and the community came together in a bid to get a new one built.
A new pavilion is set to cost £970,000 and so far £22,000 of a £30,000 target has been raised by the village in a fundraising effort, but the East Leake Parish Council says the project hit a financial snag amid rising construction costs due to the coronavirus pandemic. Therefore Rushcliffe Borough Council approved a loan of £250,000 so the project would not be delayed.
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Rushcliffe Borough Council’s portfolio holder for finance and chair of the East Leake growth board, councillor Gordon Moore, told Nottinghamshire Live: "We’re very pleased to support the parish council with this short-term loan that could help kick start the next part of the process with the new pavilion.
“The council always aims to support the local community and partner organisations and in this case to assist with the continuation of this excellent project. It’s vital we assist our communities wherever we can with the creation of modern facilities than can help maintain health and wellbeing opportunities and in this case a further meeting and function location too that could be an important hub to bring local people together.”
Since 1996 the East Leake Playing Fields Charity (ELPFC) has managed the site, while loaning a portion of it from the parish council, and it was agreed a new building was needed to meet the needs of a village which has seen the number of houses grow by more than 1,000.
The parish council will repay the loan once it secures the cash via a number of funding initiatives. Chairman Kevin Shaw added: "The parish council are extremely grateful to Rushcliffe Borough Council to agreeing this short-term bridging finance to assist us through a temporary cash flow problem.
“The loan will be repaid in full upon completion of the formalities in relation to long term finance being arranged through the public works loan board.”
