Re: Brentwood Borough Local Plan 2015-2030 Hutton Football Club

This letter is in response to the LA Local Development Plan 2015 -2030 consultation.

The purpose of this letter is to provide the LA with background information on the work undertaken by Hutton FC within the community and to support the club in their representation to the LA for the need for an area of land to be identified that can support and sustain the club's Leisure and Community activities up to 2030.

Hutton FC is an FA CS Community club providing football activities for youth male and female; adult male and female; and disability activity with a total of 49 teams affiliated. These teams currently participate on a mixture of several council facilities as well as local schools including St Martin's and Shenfield High School. The impact of this is to provide tremendous pressure on the existing leisure / sport / football facilities within the local area of Shenfield and Hutton. This is limiting access for other clubs in the area whilst also creating pressure to overuse existing facilities which is affecting the quality of pitches and increasing maintenance costs. Hutton FC, as a CS Community Club, is also fragmented across numerous sites, creating increased difficulty for the club to maintain and develop club unity and cohesion. There are also significant travel implications - creating road and environmental consequences - for the local area due to the clubs fragmented site locations. The club volunteers are also under increasing pressure to manage the club across numerous sites. As such it is critical for the club's long term development to develop a one site location that can accommodate the club's needs in supporting the local community.

The club has been working with the Football Association, Essex County FA, Active Essex, Brentwood LA and local land owners to try to identify a suitable location. The club is favored to explore a solution to locate facilities to house the football club at Officers Meadows in Shenfield.

For the football club to continue to expand and provide a high level of service to its membership and community residents of Hutton and Shenfield up to 2030, the club need support from the LA in identifying a suitable site location that can meet the club's needs.

As such this letter is to support the club in requesting that the Brentwood Borough Local Plan 2015 - 2030 considers the club's proposal to explore a land solution at Officers Meadow in Shenfield, and subsequent serious consideration to providing a one site land solution to meet the club's needs.