Quarry Park

Funding improvements

The Scout HQ, which stands on land leased from the Parish Council, has been greatly improved in recent years, but there’s more work planned. This will require substantial expenditure. Grants are available, but there are 2 problems :

• the Scouts are too close to the end of their current lease to apply for the amounts they need,

• and permission from the council is required for non-scouting activities. This could be refused, so they cannot state that the building will be open for community use. An updated lease under discussion removes the permission clause and would enable access to funding that requires the building to benefit the community.

Finding a solution

The Scouts, and most Parish Councillors, feel that they have reached an amicable compromise which helps resolve these two problems whilst protecting the interests of neighbours and the local community, and they await comments from their solicitors.

Residents raise concerns

At a meeting last month to discuss the lease local residents were able to raise their concerns with both parties, and these focused particularly on anti-social behaviour and traffic.

It’s a sad fact that anti-social behaviour happens all over the village, including Quarry Park where there has been damage to both the Parish Council’s equipment and the Scout HQ. Neither party wants to do anything to encourage it.

Traffic is undoubtedly a problem on the one road leading to the Community Centre, Martinshaw School, Quarry Park, and the Scout headquarters. Residents in other areas will shout “me too.” At weekends football will result in parking problems at Stamford Park, and on weekdays there is traffic congestion and parking on roads serving local schools and Druck, including normally quiet residential streets.

A resident described the difficulties experienced by an ambulance on Forest Rise. This is an unacceptable situation, and one that has already occurred elsewhere in the village, where an elderly patient had to be carried to an ambulance in the middle of the road because of commuter parking.

Dealing with the challenge

The challenge is how we deal with these issues. Residents will not want the situation to get any worse and ideally would like an improvement. Talking may generate helpful suggestions that a lease won’t. Do we restrict activity that might cause problems, or do we try and regulate them in some way?

There is no silver bullet - as a community we have to decide how we manage them. In this case, if the changes to the lease lead to increased problems and complaints, the Scouts can be required to remedy them.

The view of the Scouts is that they have a huge investment in their facility which they need to protect, and they also want to be trusted to look after their neighbours. “We hope we’re a good neighbour,” said Acting Chair, Paul Chick. “If we are not, come and talk to us : we are a community based organisation run by volunteers.”

They will be very selective about what activities will be permitted. He said that a condition that no event would go beyond 11pm, with 30 minutes to clear up, was quite acceptable, and there would be no booking for the type of party that might generate excessive noise or behavioural problems. The only exception to a 11pm curfew would be New Year’s Eve.

A concern about a clause in the current lease that allows Druck to use the Scout car park has been resolved - it will be removed when the lease is renewed.

Serving the village for nearly 75 years

Paul added that the safety of young people and members is always the first consideration of the organisation. “Our motivation is scouting for young people of the village, which has been going on for nearly 75 years.,” he added.

With so many ways in which young people can go off the straight and narrow, the commitment of residents who run organisations such as the Scouts is appreciated by the community, as indicated in this case by the fact that demand is such that they have to maintain a waiting list. But, like most community initiatives, appreciation needs to be accompanied by consent, and organisations have to work hard to maintain good relations with their neighbours.

Lots of work done, but funding needed to include  toilet upgrade with accessible and disabled facilities 

In recent years around £45,000 has been spent on essential maintenance and improvements at the Groby Scout headquarters. This has been financed by grant funding from Leicestershire Scout City Districts fund, the Thomas Herbert Smith Trust, and other local government grants, allowing  the members subscription fees to go towards the current running of the group.

Volunteers have completed the decorating, painting, and sealing jobs to try to minimise costs, but always ensure that anything which requires technical skills is carried out by professional contracted companies to ensure the safety of the youngsters. Access to additional funding will allow the upgrading of the toilets to today’s standards to proceed.

The work already completed includes -

    • Asbestos management, including inspection and removal

    • electrical work, including rewiring, fire and intruder alarm upgrades, flood lights, CCTV, kitchen water heaters and electric cooker

    • replacement doors and windows

    • a new flat roof

    • new stairs to lower stores.

Planned maintenance/projects

    • Major project to completely reconfigure the end of the building, including toilet upgrade with accessible and disabled facilities

    • insulate and provide new ceiling below new flat roof

    • car park lighting and replacement heating system

    • more electrical improvements

    • replace internal doors, guttering and drainage pipework.

August 2015

                            Time limits on parking at Quarry Park?

The improved parking facilities at Quarry Park were provided for the benefit of residents visiting the facilities including the new Multi Use Games Area. It was perhaps inevitable that with Martinshaw School and GE Druck within easy walking distance the car park would attract the interest of those not visiting the park. 

It has been estimated that at one point 50% of the spaces were taken by GE Druck employees. In order to discourage all day commuter parking a new 3 hour maximum parking period is being considered with the possibility of penalties for those who stay longer. The management of Druck are said to be be fully supportive of such a move and have confirmed they will be continuing to try and find solutions to keep more employees from parking in the village. The renovations following the 2014 fire have allowed the company to create a further 35 on-site parking spaces.

The issue of vehicular access to Martinshaw School is likely to be a growing problem. The County Council has plans to substantially increase the number of pupils at the school and this will inevitably lead to an increase in vehicle movements. The additional pupil places are largely needed to accommodate the anticipated growth in pupils travelling from outside the immediate catchment area, including Ratby.

An updated Travel Plan will need to be submitted and agreed by the County Council with the aim of reducing vehicle emissions, single occupancy vehicle use and reducing vehicular travel at peak times. Encouragement should be given to more car sharing, public transport use, cycling and walking. The use of IT substitutes for real travel is also suggested but not fully explained. There should be measurable outcome targets which are subject to regular review and monitoring. Whether this will reassure residents that the traffic situation will not deteriorate further remains to be seen.

Although the school site is relatively large the County Council plan appears to make no provision to take radical steps to deal with the congestion caused in the area, and it seems that they made no contribution to the substantial cost of improving, or the ongoing costs of maintaining, the parking facilities at Quarry Park.   

August 2014

Consultation on New MUGA closes September 5th

The proposals for the development at Quarry Park have gone through a number of changes. A swimming pool was mentioned, a community facility, and now a more modest but realizable proposal for a Multi Use Games Area.  At one point the project seemed to be underway and the construction of the new car park was the first stage. But when the grant funding upon which the project depends was not forthcoming a reassessment and consultation before submitting a new grant application became essential.

December 2013

Planning permission granted

Groby Parish Council has now planning permission for the construction of new multi use games area(MUGA) with floodlights and additional car park on Quarry Park. The facility, which will be open from 9.00am to 10.30pm, will be enclosed by  3 metre high sports fencing. Although there will be four 8 metre high floodlights  no dwellings will be affected by light pollution. 

The application says that it has been designed to meet Sport England specifications and encourages a wide range of potential sports including soccer and handball. It will serve both the community, the scouts, local football clubs and Martinshaw Primary School.  It includes a new car park so car parking provision will not be affected.

When proposals for a more ambitious leisure project were put forward local residents expressed concern about the traffic problems that might be created because of the narrow access roads from Ratby Road.  Although some members of the Parish Council still have concerns about traffic others believe that additional volumes for this smaller facility will not create problems, particularly as it's use will not co-incide with the daily peaks caused by parents on the school run to Martinshaw Primary.  Leicestershire County Council, the Highway Authority, has raised no objection to the proposal, though it considered there should be secure parking for cycles and/or buggies.

From time to time the issue of pollution on the site has cropped up but the Borough Council has raised no objections and not recommended any conditions.  “The site began operation as a granite quarry in the 1830's/1840's and ceased operation in the 1920's,” a Borough Council explained in his comments on the application.  “in the 1950's the site was used as an ex Ministry of Defence materials store.  Tipping of household waste began in the early 1960's and much of the waste was domestic ash.  Due to local objection the depositing stopped and totalled only roughly 2 metres deep as far as the neck of the quarry.  The coal board filled the site with colliery spoil to the current gradient.”

He adds that after a land drainage system was installed the site was capped with a 200mm deep clay cap by the Parish Council who seeded and planted the site.  Although landfill gas monitoring has detected no gas he concludes that it cannot be ruled out and the developer should be aware of the history of the site.   It is not considered that the development will be affected by the historic use of the site.  As a precaution burning should not be undertaken on  site, digging depth should be kept to a minimum and  should be undertaken carefully in case fill materials are disturbed.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

 You can view the planning application and supporting documents online by searching on the Borough Council website (the reference is 13/00798/FUL) or by following this link.  You can also view the application at the Parish Council offices.

July 2013

Multi Use Games Area plan moves ahead

The plans for improvement to the facilities at Quarry Park have taken a step forward with the Parish Council agreeing to proceed in princple with a quote for £176,000 for the proposed work.  The larger development has been dropped in favour of a Multi Use Games Area (MUGA) similar to the one illustrated.  The floodlit MUGA will be around 18m by 37m with a 3m high fence which will keep balls within the games area and provide security.  

The project will include changes to the parking arrangements, an overflow car park and the relocation of the outdoor gym equipment.  In addition to soccer and basketball the facility will probably enable users to play Street Snooker.  “It's the latest  idea that a lot of places in London have adopted as this can be played by either kicking the football at the snooker board, or throwing the ball at the board thus enabling disabled individuals, say in wheelchairs, to be able to participate alongside able bodied individuals,” explained Parish Clerk Beverley Greenwood.

 The proposed changing rooms and showers have been dropped, reducing the project cost by about £125,000. The latest quotations are under £200,000 which it is hoped will be funded by grants in addition to funds already set aside by the council.  

The outdoor gym

December 2011  If you over indulged at Christmas and gained a few pounds in weight that you now wish to lose there's some good news. You don't have to sign up to a 12 month contract with a gym, just pop up to Quarry Park. New outdoor gym equipment similar to the Millennium Green facilities has recently been installed and it will cost you nothing to use. Each exercise machine carries a label explaining how to use it safely, so if you need your specs for reading don't forget to take them. January also sees the long awaited meeting at the nearby Forest Rise Community Centre to discuss the proposed community building planned for Quarry Park. The Parish Council hopes that as many potential stakeholders as possible will attend. The meeting is on January 18th and starts at 6.30pm. The Parish Council had hoped to arrange a public meeting two years ago but this had to be put on the back burner to enable the council to focus on more pressing issues. In May 2009 at the Annual Parish Meeting Cllr Len Smith gave an overview of the scheme. Since then the proposed swimming pool has been dropped and some members have visited North Muskham near Newark where a similar community facility has been built, to a large extent by grant funding. It is hoped that by using this scheme as a blueprint costs at Quarry Park can be cut back to reflect the new financial situation that followed the banking crisis

                         Business plan for Quarry Park?

Sept 2011   The Groby Parish Council working party on the proposed community facility and scouts building at Quarry Park has agreed that there is a need to produce a business plan which would involve existing and anticipated stakeholders and at some time in the future to establish a management forum consisting of all stakeholders.  

Although the report of the working party does not spell out how comprehensive the plan should be or it's scope there are a number of features a plan would normally cover, so it might include such things as  -

• the aims and vision of the project

• the backgound to the proposal

• the timescales

• consideration of the location options available

• an assessment of the venues currently available in the village

• the current shortfall in facilities in the village

• as the project is for a community building the impact that a new facility might have on the viability of existing facilities might also be considered

• who might be expected to rent the new centre

• the projected turnover, and annual running costs 

• the impact on  Council Tax bills

• the development costs and funding sources

• how the centre will be marketed

• the management structure and how the day to day running may be organised

• benchmarks and performance measures to monitor the success of the project.

The working party, which will hold a further meeting on September 26th at the Scout building, feels that concerns about traffic problems on the narrow access road to Quarry  Park can be mitigated.  

It is hoped that overall costs can be reduced by using as a  model for a more modest new building  the successful community facility constructed at North Muskham near Newark.  North Muskham project team was very successful at accessing grant funding of over £450,000, with a further £55,000 coming from the parish council and £75,000 from local fundraising and donations.   Fund raising is more difficult now but Groby Parish Council hopes to be able to use professional fundraising expertise from the North Muskham project to improve their chances of success.

Access road repairs

August 2010   The condition of the access road to the parking area at Quarry Park was discussed at the August meeting of the Parish Council.  It was agreed that remedial work costing about £6000 was needed, half of which would be met by the County Council as the road is extensively used by parents taking children to the Martinshaw Primary School.