In December 2017 Great Harwood Rovers Football Club signed a 25 year lease and became the custodian of this fantastic new sports facility under a lease arrangement with the landowner and our new landlords; Great Harwood Agricultural Society. In doing so we fully recognised that the site would be made available to other the community groups and that the public had rights of access in a similar manner to our former location at Lyndon House.
In the period since the site opened there has been widespread use by local people, walking and exercising their dogs. There has been access since the start of 2018 via “kissing gates” at both entrances to the site
One key issue we are currently working to address with the Council is ensuring that people with mobility issues can access the site when the main gates are closed, whilst at the same time preventing access by persons who may cause damage to the site by misuse. This is proving to be a difficult issue to resolve and we would welcome any constructive comments on possible solutions.
Since the turn of the year we have invested significant time and money to maintain the site to national standards, and accordingly we must maintain security of the site to avoid incidents of vandalism and wilful damage similar to those that have unfortunately occurred in recent years to our colleagues at Whalley Juniors F.C and Langho F.C. Maintaining the site to these standards is our intention throughout our tenure so that we continue for the long term to have a facility the town can be proud of.
From mid-August the site will be used by our 27 football teams and over 300 playing members, including boys, girls and adults. Later in the year the changing room/pavilion should be completed and at that point Great Harwood Rovers would welcome enquiries from local community groups and schools regarding the possible use of the site for their organised events.
As a grassroots Football Association Charter Standard Community Club that tries to operate in as professional a manner as possible Great Harwood Rovers and its officials will not be engaging in any form of discussion via social media or other unofficial channels. Great Harwood Rovers would welcome constructive dialogue with fellow community groups and would welcome any approach for discussion via the usual channel of the Club Secretary.
Kind Regards
Club Trustees, Mark Pickup, Andrew Counsell and Tony Jones
