Published: Thursday, 7th August, 2008 10:00
Finding funds for Sol Joel pavilion
By Adam Hewitt
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An exclusive peek at the planned new pavilion
SPECIAL funds for the huge new Sol Joel pavilion have not been squandered because they never existed, Tory councillors said this week.
The new pavilion for Sol Joel park off Wokingham Road has been in the pipeline for more than eight years since Earley took over the site from Reading Borough Council.
But it is an expensive project, with cost estimates ranging from £400,000 to more than double that, and the Lib Dems claim money they put aside for the project when in power has been wasted.
Lib Dem activist and Hillside ward candidate David Hare said: “They’ve decided to go ahead on this very ambitious project which is outside the financial resources of a town council. The costs keep growing, and though the Lib Dems had put some money aside, it all got spent when the Tories came to power.”
The Lib Dems recently put out a leaflet saying: “Have the Tories built a new Sol Joel Pavilion? No. The Tories have spent all the Sol Joel pavilion money and now want to borrow money to pay for it.”
But Tory Cllr David Chopping, chairman of the committee handling the plans, and the initial brains behind the scheme, called the charge “completely spurious”.
He said it was at his urging that the town council took on the lease from Reading Borough Council eight years ago – Reading provides the ground at a nominal rent, on condition that the pavilion be replaced.
Cllr Chopping said: “I said around that time that if we’re going to spend money on the pavilion, maybe we should save money first, putting funds aside for the future.
“But I was told then that town councils weren’t allowed to save money in this way – which is important, because it meant that in reality nothing was saved in the way the Lib Dems are claiming.
“When we took control of the council four years ago, the pavilion was a priority, and we decided to go for something grand which would last 80 or 90 years and be a self-financing community facility which the people of Earley deserve.”
He added: “Now the car park is extended and we’ve put in new play equipment, and we have planning permission for the building. The next stage is the funding.”
The new pavilion will include en suite changing rooms, an office, and a garage and storeroom for the groundsman, with a clubroom on the first floor with a balcony and eating area. The new building is designed to encourage residents and sports teams back to Sol Joel after years of decline and under-use.
Planning officers at Wokingham Borough Council approved the scheme earlier this year, and their report said: “It would seem that once the pavilion is built it will almost certainly gain a momentum of its own with further groups wanting to use the facilities.”
Town clerk Philip Truppin said the bids for funds were ongoing, and added: “We’re still awaiting some more information from the potential users and the other funders, but the Football Foundation bid is progressing.”
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