Before 'The Hub', the huts built for the American Army  

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 Underhill Park Re-opened 
  on Monday 11th August 

  A statement regarding the situation at Underhill Hub  

This is a sad day for everyone who has been involved with the Hub at Underhill. Please be assured that we are working hard to ensure that the Hub stays open into the future for the whole community.

If you have a booking with us, we will be in touch with you asap (if we haven't already). If you have any queries or concerns, please contact us on info@go-underhill.com.

Thank you sincerely from us all for your support,

The Trustees of MCA.

2025 July 05

Statement re Underhill Closure

It is with deep regret that the volunteer directors of Underhill Management Company (UMC), in agreement with the trustees of registered charity Mumbles Community Association (MCA) as 100% shareholder, have taken the decision to put UMC into voluntary creditors liquidation.

The decision has been taken based on current and future liabilities, in particular business rates.

Underhill was given a staggeringly high Rateable Value (RV) of £100k by Valuation Office Agency (VOA) in August 2024 which resulted in business rates bills amounting to over £93k for 2 financial years – 2023/24 and 2024/25.

As owners of the asset, MCA thought that it could receive charitable relief on these bills. However, as Underhill is operated by UMC, a private limited company, it is not eligible for charitable relief, even though it is wholly owned by a charity.

UMC was granted 40% Retail & Hospitality Relief but, whilst this reduced the overall amount owed to £56k, this was still too high for the company to be able to pay.

UMC was set up as a private limited company to allow the construction of Underhill. This structure was required by HMRC so that MCA could reclaim nearly £600,000 in VAT on the £3.2 million construction cost. Without this VAT reclaim, MCA would have needed to raise an extra £600,000 – on top of the already difficult £3.2 million target. Without it, the Underhill Hub and All-Weather Pitch (AWP) would not have been built.
At the time of the 2019 agreement with HMRC, no one anticipated the impact this setup would have on business rates. The situation worsened when the Valuation Office Agency gave Underhill the £100k Rateable Value.

MCA has been following the VOA’s process to challenge the RV, starting with a Check Case. This has just been completed and has led to a reduction from £100,000 to £74,500, which is still way above any comparable premises in the area. With three years of backdated rates now due, UMC still faces over £67,000 in bills.

There isn’t enough time to complete the next stage of the VOA appeal process before the rates are due.

As a result, MCA trustees and UMC directors have reluctantly decided to place UMC into voluntary creditors’ liquidation. A liquidator is being appointed to manage the closure, and the last day on which the Underhill facilities will be opened by UMC will be Saturday 12 July.

After 12 July there will no access to the main Hub, changing rooms or AWP.

MCA is now working with funders to find a new operator or owner for Underhill. The goal is to reopen the facilities for the community as soon as possible.

 UMC Directors, MCA Trustees

We would like to thanks all of our customers for their support over the last 2 years.

A Short History of the Go Underhill Project:

Go Underhill is a major plan by the community in the Mumbles area to transform Underhill Park, developing facilities which are fit for the modern day

Leading the way and making it happen

The transformation of Underhill Park is being undertaken by a registered charity, Mumbles Community Association, which was specifically set up to deliver the development and take on the long term operation of the Park for the benefit of everyone.

The project is led by the charity’s Trustees, who include representatives from Mumbles RFC and Mumbles Rangers, as well as a number of individuals, all of whom are freely giving their time, skills and energy to make it happen.

The Trustees are supported by a Steering Group which includes a wider representation of clubs and individuals who are all passionate about delivering the transformation of Underhill Park.

The charity behind the development is Mumbles Community Association
Full details can be found at 'GO Underhill'.  Website -  https://go-underhill.com 

A Short History of the Project:

In January 2022 we were thrilled to announce that the construction contract for Phase 1 works had been let, and work got underway on 17 January. 

The construction contract awarded to T.A.D. Builders Ltd. covered the refurbishment of the existing Pavilion, the building of four new changing rooms and the new Community Hub & Café.  

T.A.D. Builders Ltd.’s Commercial Director, Delwyn Jones, said:
T.A.D. Builders Ltd. were delighted to be a part of this community project, and able to assist Mumbles Community Association to achieve their vision by transforming the green heart of Mumbles so it is fit for the future.

In May 2023, after many years of fundraising and planning, the new developments to the chnging rooms and Pavilion at Underhill Park, were handed over to Mumbles Community Association (MCA) by T. A. D. Builders Ltd and the new cafe, community space and public toilets, will now be fitted out and opened in the summer of 2023.

Funding:

Mumbles Community Association, the charity behind the development, had managed to secure almost £377,000 from The National Lottery Communities Fund towards the build, plus £250,000 from the Welsh Government Community Facilities Programme (CFP) and £25,000 from WRU, MCC’s original grant offer of £875,000 proved to be the game changer which eventually allowed the project to be formally tendered in September 2021. 

The last, but very important, element of phase 1 of the Go Underhill development is a new floodlit all-weather pitch (AWP). This can only be delivered once the main buildings have been completed since the existing changing rooms need to be demolished to free up some of the space required to accommodate the new pitch. 

Whilst MCC has removed its formal commitment to grant £325,000 to towards the cost of the AWP in order to provide the additional funding needed to enable the construction contract to be let, the Council has reaffirmed their commitment to exploring future options for funding this element of the development. With all parties working together, it is hoped that the full funding for the AWP can be secured in time for work to start on it soon after the new buildings have been completed.

Chair of Mumbles Community Association, Simon Tse, said:

“After so many years of MCA Trustees and our wider support team working on the plans for Underhill Park, securing all the permissions needed, and trying to pull together the resources to make it happen, we all have a huge mix of emotions right now.
“We are ecstatic that we’ve been able to let the construction contract, even though this is not as comprehensive as we had hoped for. We are relieved that we are finally going to see the first part of the plans delivered, grateful to all our funders but in particular to Mumbles Community Council, and so excited for the people of Mumbles. 

“If I’m honest, I think our team of volunteer Trustees is also a bit exhausted by the extended and convoluted processes we have had to go through to arrive at the starting line. But that feeling will soon be replaced by exhilaration as we start to see things finally taking shape in Underhill Park.

“And with our professional team looking after the build, the charity Trustees will be focusing our energies on raising the funding for the final two changing rooms and a new all-weather pitch, as well as starting to plan for MCA taking on the management of Underhill Park.

“The efforts made to get to this point have been incredible and I can’t thank everyone who has been involved enough. This development truly will be by the community, for everyone.”

Go Underhill anounced - 

Ambitious plans... but we're well on our way

To achieve a transformation of the green heart of Mumbles we need to be ambitious,

so the plans for Underhill Park have been developed to reflect what people want to see happen, and that’s quite a lot!

Our list includes:

• Modern public conveniences which are well looked after and can accommodate everyone’s needs

• New accessible changing facilities for sports teams, so they don’t have to turn up in their kit, ready to play, because the current facilities are so poor

• Ancillary facilities to support the teams with a room for first aid/ sports physio

• A new floodlit All Weather Pitch which will extend playing time and offer training facilities for other sports

• Outdoor play facilities for younger children

• A place to meet and socialise – for sports clubs, supporters and the community in general

• State of the art gym facilities to make it easy for people to keep fit and healthy

• Improved car parking and access to it

A Phased Approach

To help get things done, the overall project has been split into phases.

Within the first phase, incremental plans were created to enable us to move forward as the necessary funding was secured, or to prioritise elements for which we have been able to secure grants.

The most critical elements we’ve achieved so far are…

Preparing for the developments:

• Check out the progress images from the building project, shown by month from Jan’22 to date!

• Work on construction of the Phase 1 buildings commences – Jan’22.

• Contract for Phase 1 construction let to T.A.D. Builders Ltd. – December’21

• Four completed tenders returned for Phase 1 construction works – November’21

• Invitations to tender for the building works on Phase 1 of Go Underhill are sent out – September’21

• Following the signing of the tripartite lease agreement between Swansea Council, Mumbles Community Council and MCA, final preparations get underway to put Phase 1 building works out to tender – July’21

• Applications made for some minor material amendments to the Planning approval, and to be released from planning conditions – March/April’21; Approved August’21

• Full professional team appointed to develop Phase 1 to tender stage – July’20

• Planning submitted to City & County of Swansea for new changing rooms, refurbished Pavilion and new All Weather Pitch – July’19; Approved November’19

• Agreement reached with the Somerset Trust for a Deed of Consent to release MCA from the restrictive covenant placed on the Park.  This will enable us to carry out all the developments proposed in the Development Plan with any income generated being used for the community benefit – July’19

• Tenders received for All Weather Pitch and surface water drainage works – June’19

• Agreement reached with City & County of Swansea for Mumbles Community Association to lead a transformation project and subsequently take on the lease of Underhill Park – July’18

• Planning approved by City & County of Swansea for Community Hub building, which helped establish the principle of developing in the Park. Support in preparing the planning application was provided by Tom Kinver of Kinver Kreations Ltd – October’16

Securing the funding:

• Swansea Building Society donate another £40k, giving a magnificent £50k in total  – Feb’23

• Sport Wales’s Pitch Collaboration Group approve a grant of £250k towards the new AWP – Jan’23

• Swansea Council awarded MCA £330k in match funding towards the costs of the new AWP – Dec’22

• Individual and company donations totalling over £50k secured between January and April’22 – please see our Funding page for details

• Mumbles Community Council grant an extra £40k and reallocate the £325k committed to the AWP, enabling MCA to let the construction contract – December’21

• Public donations of over £1,250 received at the Cracker 7’s event  – August’21

• Mumbles Community Association signs up to AmazonSmile as a way of generating on-going donations – June’21

• £250k grant awarded to Go Underhill from the Welsh Government’s Community Facilities Programme – June’21

• Mumbles Community Council sign a legally binding grant agreement for up to £1.2 million to develop Underhill Park – March’21

• £10k donation received from a local business man – Dec’20

• Dawsons estate agents donate £5,000 to Go Underhill – Nov’20

• Almost £490k awarded by The National Lottery Communities Fund to build the new Community Hub & Café – Oct’20

• Mumbles Community Council decide to enter into a Community Partnership with MCA to support delivery of many of the Phase 1 elements – May’20

• Iconic local buinsess, Joe’s Ice-cream, announce 10k donation to Go Underhill – Feb’20

• Plans for crowdfunding and fundraising developed – from April’19 and ongoing

• Bids submitted to a range of grant funding bodies – from April’19 and on going

• Support funding of £150k/annum for 2 years allocated to the project by Mumbles Community Council, subject to matching the contribution from other sources – April’18

Working together

The organisations which are involved in Mumbles Community Association or are working with us on Go Underhill include:

Mumbles Rugby Football Club

Delivering opportunity to play and support Rugby in Mumbles since 1887, with Junior, Youth and Senior teams

Mumbles Rangers Football Club

An FAW Gold Accredited Club with boys and girls teams at all ages from Under 6 through to Under 16, Youth, Seniors and Ladies

Mumbles Community Council

The local community council for the area, committed to representing the people of Mumbles, supporting local organisations, improving the street scene and the environment, and providing enhanced services.

The Council are fully behind the plans for developing Underhill Park. 

Also working with

• Swansea Cricket Club

• Friends of Mumbles Parks 

• City & County of Swansea

• Mumbles Traders Association

• Mumbles Development Trust

• Newton Athletic Football Club

A HISTORY OF MUMBLES support this project -

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