Campaign to Keep Bath Rugby at The Rec

A Message from

Bath Rugby Supporters' Club

and

"Everytime Ref, Everytime!"

We sincerely believe that Bath Rugby should be able to enhance facilities on their part of the Rec. The Club has played there since 1894 and is entitled to call ‘The Rec’ its home. Just as importantly, however, we believe that, although Bath Rugby is a private business, it is an integral part of the fabric of the City and contributes positively to the quality and variety of life in the Council district in many ways.

For the Club to remain at the Recreation Ground and meet Premiership rugby standards, it must increase both spectator capacity and the quality of its facilities.

However, we also appreciate that many local people have concerns over this and any proposed development must be complementary to the existing surroundings. We recognise that The Rec is an important area of ‘green space’ within the city, and that is why we have agreed with Bath Rugby a set of principles to which any proposed development of its facilities should adhere. These principles are as follows:

• That any changes to the current design of the area used by Bath Rugby should be in keeping with the local area and the status of Bath as a World Heritage City.
• That the overall proposed development of The Rec and the future plans of Bath Rugby continue to support the wider community and not just the rugby-attending section of the community.
• Bath Rugby takes into account the needs of all users and its proposed development does not adversely impact on how any other tenants use their space.
• That the Project will be independently funded and not require funds from Council tax payers.

With the reassurance of these principles, we are committed to securing support for Bath Rugby’s proposed redevelopment of its part of the Recreation Ground as we are among the 10,000+ people who enjoy watching Bath Rugby play and recognise that Bath Rugby:

•  run an excellent community programme at the Rec, providing  education, confidence-building projects and player appearances for schools, local clubs, businesses and the general public, as well as for young people who are at risk of exclusion from school.
• is a vital part of the fabric of the local economy,  attracting visitors and as a catalyst that generates regular income for a range of local shops and businesses.
• generates regular positive media exposure, worldwide which is of great benefit to the tourism economy.
• is a successful, professional sports club contributes positively to civic pride, identity and community spirit.

Bath Rugby Supporters’ Club (www.allez-bath.co.uk) and ERE (www.bathrugbyere.co.uk), the unofficial supporters website, have offered their support to Bath Rugby by organising a petition giving people the opportunity to demonstrate support for the following statement:

“We, the undersigned, believe that the presence of Bath Rugby on the Recreation Ground is an integral part of the fabric of the City and contributes positively to the quality and variety of life in the Council district in many ways. We further believe that Bath Rugby should be enabled and encouraged to develop and improve the facilities on the Recreation Ground in a way that is not only to the benefit of the residents of Bath and the wider community but in keeping with the covenant in the Trust Deed, and that any building should be of a quality and scale that complements and enhances its environment and the status of Bath as a World Heritage City.”

The petition is open to anyone to sign. However, in the interests of ensuring a fair and representative petition, we are asking people to provide their postcode and to declare whether they are regular attendees of Bath Rugby matches. 

It is possible that the Charity Commission will simply judge it unlawful for Bath Rugby to develop the Rec further and this would bring an end to Bath Rugby on the Rec and in Bath. 

However, it is more likely that their judgment will take into account arguments relating to the broader public benefit of allowing and enabling Bath Rugby, as the key Recreation Ground tenant, to pursue its aim of providing expanded and improved facilities for spectators and meeting Rugby Football Union rules regarding the capacity and quality of facilities.  

We will also be encouraging the media to publicise the campaign aims and the opportunity for people to express their support. We will publish on our websites facts about the Recreation Ground so that people are able to make an informed decision regarding their support or otherwise for this campaign.

However the current permanent footprint is too restrictive in terms of the quality of facilities and the ground capacity for the Club to remain in this situation indefinitely.

Previous designs have been rejected on height of building considerations, but the new arena designs are currently being developed by internationally -renowned architect HOK (www.hok.com) and will be available in the near future for public consideration in a full consultative exercise.

Quite simply, demonstrate that you want Bath Rugby to remain on the Recreation Ground. That is why we have organised a petition. That is why we are encouraging people to sign the petition and to write letters.  

We would encourage all those people who share our view of Bath Rugby's importance to the city and the region to sign our petition and make their support known to the Charity Commission by participating fully in all consultations relating to the future of the Recreation Ground.

We would strongly urge B&NES residents to contribute to the official questionnaire which will be circulated by the independent consultant and will be one of the most important elements of the Strategic Review.

Please note that this is quite separate and additional to the petition circulated by BRSC/ERE and printed in the Bath Chronicle.

If you agree with our campaign to support appropriate redevelopment of Bath Rugby’s facilities on the Recreation Ground you cannot afford to remain silent.

Therefore we urge you to:

• Sign the petition.
• Write to The Bath Chronicle, The Bath Recreation Ground Trust and your local Councillor.
• Contribute to the official consultation exercise/questionnaire, which will be circulated by the independent consultant carrying out the Strategic Review

• At present the key decision-maker regarding the future of the Recreation Ground is the Charity Commission, which is the statutory body charged by the Government with the regulation of charities in England and Wales.

• In 2002, the High Court declared that the Recreation Ground was subject to a charitable trust for which B&NES was the sole trustee.  In line with this ruling, B&NES set up a cross-political-party Trust Board of three Council Members.

• The role of the three Recreation Ground Trustees is to protect the interests of the Trust – not the wider interests of the Council.

• In 2004, the Charity Commission required the Recreation Ground Trust to review the role and objectives of the Trust so as to enable the long term future of the use of the land.

• The Recreation Ground Trust has committed to deliver a ‘Strategic Review’ to the Charity Commission by December 2006.  This Review will make recommendations for the future governance of the Recreation Ground which directly affect Bath Rugby.

• The Strategic Review is currently underway and is being carried out on behalf of the Trust by Jeff Bishop, an independent consultant.

• Bath Rugby has a lease on an area of the Recreation Ground granted in 1992 for 75 years which has been declared legal and robust.  This establishes Bath Rugby’s right to maintain the current facilities and continue playing rugby on the Recreation Ground until 2067.

• The Charity Commission has not yet ruled on whether it believes it would be legal, under the terms of the Trust, for the Recreation Ground Trust to grant a lease on the additional area of the land that would be required by Bath Rugby in order to develop its facilities.

• Part of the current temporary East Stand falls outside the area of the long-lease and is therefore subject to a regular short-term licence and planning applications by Bath Rugby to the Council.  

• The current permission runs to May 2007.

Please write to one or all of the following with your support or your questions: