New Ground Forum - 8th April 2025
For those of you unable to attend Tuesday's Forum, by way of summary, having solved the Viability argument (with Warwick District Council (WDC) having signed off the report), we received formal confirmation from Bloor Homes last week, that they 'have regretfully decided to withdraw from the promotion process, for commercial reasons.' That means they're no longer progressing their Planning Application. Clearly, this is a major setback for the Club after some 4 years of Bloor Homes working on the scheme.
Bloor's have committed to make all work undertaken to date available for the Club / a third party to 'pick up' at no cost, including the Viability Assessment work, and WDC have granted a Planning Application extension, should one be necessary. It should be noted this is in no way normal industry practice, and demonstrates perhaps an acceptance from them of the predicament they’ve left us in. We must now re-group, and consider our options.
While hugely disappointing, it's not necessarily all down side. Following the continued delays, we have had meaningful dialogue with both Private and Public Sector interested parties which gives us the confidence an incentivised developer could move fast on this, should they have the resources to do so (and that be the course of action the Club decides to take).
The slides have been emailed to members and can also be viewed through this link: New Group Update Apr 25, these outline the potential next steps for the Club to consider, including some Pros and Cons for each. There will be an opportunity for 'consultation' on the options in advance of a Special General Meeting (SGM), to support a more informed vote; details to follow.
Paul Fountain, Chair, Kenilworth RFC.
Paul Fountain, Chair, Kenilworth RFC.
