Thatcham Town Council extends Browns Sports Field lease to Thatcham Town Cricket club for further 50 years

Thatcham Town Council has extended its lease with Thatcham Town Cricket Club for the use of its sports field.

But the decision split opinion when it was discussed in an extraordinary meeting of full council recently.

The lease was due to expire in September 2041.

But a 50-year renewal came after Sports England responded to a planning application for a flood basin on the same site.

A flood attenuation basin is planned for the northern end of the site in response to flooding risks in the area.

This isn’t the first flood basin in Thatcham with others popping up around the town.

Sport England initially objected to the flood basin plans fearing the loss of playing field space.

Councillor Owen Jeffery (Lib Dem, Thatcham Central) said: “That makes me feel very uncomfortable because 50 years is a very long time.

“It is certainly going to see me out, I think it is going to see a few members of this council out.

“Fifty years for a piece of land which was in effect semi-gifted to this council.

“I think a 50 year lease is way over where we need to be.”

But councillor John Boyd (Thatcham Colthrop & Crookham) said: ”What we are hearing here is terms about leases but we are not really getting the full impact of what’s going to happen to Thatcham Cricket Club.

“This proposed alleviation scheme is the one that has really impacted our community.

“We [TTC] have been very proactive in our flood alleviation schemes.

“We formed the Thatcham Flood Forum, we hired in technical help to get our plan put together.

“But the impact on Thatcham Cricket Club which is the 14th oldest club in England so I do not think it is going to go anywhere in the next 50 years.

“The impact it’s going to have is considerable.”

The council agreed to extend the lease for the Browns Sports Field for a further 50 years – to 2074.

This comes with a 15-year notice period and a caveat that the primary use of the site must be for cricket.