ALTON and District Sports Council has bounced back in positive and determined fashion after making it clearly understood that members remain determined to influence the mix of facilities proposed by East Hampshire District Council (EHDC) for Alton’s new sports centre.

However, following Alton Town Council’s decision to support the implementation of a new sports centre for the town, despite the facilities mix, Alton and District Sports Council has executed a considered change in direction in a bid to get “the very best outcome” for the town.

In a message to members following the town council’s extraordinary full council meeting on July 13, Alton and District Sports Council chairman Joe Walters warns against complacency. While the current debacle over the new sports centre is “a problem of EHDC’s own making”, having signed off a legal agreement over the facilities mix with partner Everyone Active but without consulting with the public, Mr Walters points out that “it is now up to EHDC to clear it up”.

While the district council has offered an olive branch, with the setting up of a project development board to take the project forward, the fight to get a sports centre that is future proof and fit for purpose remains, and Mr Walters is urging local clubs and sports people to consult with their sport’s national governing body in a bid to make crystal clear what is being offered by EHDC has been checked and is in line with advice from the relevant governing body.

While waiting to receive an official invitation from East Hampshire District Council to join the project development board, the message is unequivocal: “Alton and District Sports Council is changing direction, not standing down.”

Writing on behalf of the organisation, which embraces sports clubs and individuals from Alton and the surrounding area, Mr Walters has sent a letter to town council leader Matthew Bayliss “cautiously welcoming” the outcome of the meeting and in particular the formation of the project development board, “albeit that the contract for the internal facilities mix has already been signed”, and restating the sports council’s view that “there may have to be some substantial variations to the contract if EHDC is to deliver the bare minimum, required by Sport England”.

In his letter, Mr Walters points out that “the town council considered it essential that the facilities mix offered in the new sports centre should be equal to or better than those currently offered, to meet the demand that would be required by the expanding town’s population”.

Of immediate concern, according to Mr Walters, is that “given that the peak holiday season is upon us, and that artificial turf pitches (football) have been unexpectedly withdrawn three months earlier than planned, it would suggest that EHDC’s timeline is being relentlessly pursued or even accelerated with little regard for the users, or to leave any manoeuvre for change that might come from the project development board.

“To state the obvious, time is of the essence, and we would welcome any information concerning the project development board, and if Alton and District Sports Council are invited to attend as suggested at the Alton Town Council meeting. In the meantime, it would show good will on East Hampshire District Council’s part if they were to delay or postpone any further planning or preparation until the project development board has met and hopefully agreed the way forward.”

Mindful of the fact that, “out of desperation and necessity” Alton and District Sports Council has, in the matter of the new sports centre, “been operating outside its constitution” – its mandate is to support, advise and promote sport, and not to act as a watchdog on behalf of the electorate of the town or district councils.

“The intention is, with immediate effect, to “revert back to our mandated roll, and entrust Alton Town Council to assume their responsibility and, on behalf of their electorate to press EHDC to obtain the very best sporting, recreational and leisure facilities for a rapidly-growing town.”

And Mr Walters added: “In the anticipation of having a representation on the project development board, we look forward to supporting and advising both Alton Town Council and EHDC, and promoting sporting matters for Alton, and its surrounding villages, in the future.”