Hitchin Town Football Club
Founded 1865, Reformed 1928
Supporters Club Meeting with Cow Commoners
Monday, May 16 2005
Hitchin Town FC Supporters' Club
Meeting with Cow Commoners, Wednesday 2nd March 2005
Present:
Paul Brooker, Chairman, Hitchin Cow Commoners
Peter Cranfield, Trustee, Hitchin Cow Commoners
Frank King, Chairman, Hitchin Town FC Supporters' Club
Chris Newbold, Vice-Chairman, Hitchin Town FC Supporters' Club
Introduction:
FK and CN thanked the CCs for the quick response to their letter and for giving up their time to answer questions. CN explained that he and FK were representing the voice of the supporters at Hitchin Town FC, who have become increasingly restless at the lack of development and maintenance of the infrastructure at the club. There is also a lack of sponsorship from the town's businesses.
This has stretched over a number of years, to the point where the supporters feel "enough is enough". CN said that the purpose of this meeting was so that the people supporting the town's football club might gain a greater understanding of why there is no progress being made in developing the Club's facilities, from the other party involved in any such negotiations.
The Cow Commoners:
PB thought it would be beneficial to explain the set up of the Cow Commoners and their reason for existence within the town. Dating back to Elizabethan times, the purpose of the Cow Commoners was to maintain land which had been registered as common land for farmers to graze their animals. Though legally this remained the case until recent years, the need for land to be held open for this purpose diminished.
In 1880, the land covering Top Field and Butts Close was entrusted under what was known as an "Indenture Of Conveyance" to a body of townsmen who had an interest or special knowledge in the town of Hitchin - either through residence, occupation, employment or otherwise. This resulted in the formal formation of the Cow Commoners' Trust.
It was decided that the land would be used for the benefit of the community. This would be through the provision of facilities for the charitable use for football, cricket or other sports, or for other general charitable purposes. PB and PC said they had been appointed as trustees through their family history of involvement in the trust, and added that they both had prominent professional positions within the town. They stated that they saw their primary responsibilities as trustees to hold the Top Field and Butts Close land for charitable use through sport if it is required. Emphasis was made of the charitable status.
History of Lease to Hitchin Town Football Club:
PB explained the history: When Hitchin Town reformed in 1928, from then until 1977 a lease was granted to the football club on an annual renewable basis. In 1977 a company called Cam Gears Ltd. pledged big support to the football club, and on the strength of this a 21 year lease was granted to the football club. This ran from 1978-1999.
However during much of this time, particularly in the 1980s, the CCs did not know specifically who they were dealing with. In 1999 a new "proper" Commercial lease was drawn up and was made between the CCs, Andy Melvin and Celeriter Ltd. This runs for 14 years, expiring in 2013.
The CCs stated that Celeriter Ltd. is bound to maintain the terms of the lease.
Questions asked by FK/CN to CCs:
FK and CN put a number of questions to the CCs:
Q. Under the terms of the current lease, is there any obligation on the leaseholders to uphold any conditions made in the lease?
A. There are obligations on the leaseholders to comply with conditions relating to the use and maintenance of the leased land and the infrastructure on it.
Q. Why has a lease been granted to Andy Melvin/Celeriter Ltd. rather than to Hitchin Town Football Club?
A. Because the football club does not operate on its own as a separate business concern. According to its company registration (HTFC Ltd.) it exists as a member of the same group as the tenants (Celeriter Ltd.). Ownership of the club appears to be with Celeriter Ltd.
Q. Why was only a 14 year lease granted?
A. Because in 1999 the Trust was not comfortable with tying up the land for longer.
Q. Can an extension to the lease be granted?
A. At this stage no, because in the future we will be operating under a different legal framework. We are awaiting formal affiliation to the Charities' Commission, to whom we will be accountable. In addition, we are awaiting the appointment of five new trustees whose opinions will have to be considered.
Q. Can the CCs revoke the lease mid-term if they feel they have good reason?
A. We have granted a 14 year lease and would hope that such a consideration would not be necessary.
Q. Who is/are Celeriter Ltd.?
A. They are a Property and Asset Development company - the reference to football in their portfolio is minimal.
Q. Under the terms of the current lease, can the tenants/leaseholders:
a) Sell the land to property developers?
A. No.
b) Build permanent structures on it?
A. No.
c) Sub-lease any part of the land to third parties?
A. No.
Q. So, if none of the above can be permitted, either in the short or long term, because the CCs have their obligations to maintain the land for charitable use through sport or other purposes, is there anything that you can see that we as supporters can do to improve our existing, decaying infrastructure?
A. We would reasonably expect ongoing maintenance of your infrastructure, but we would appreciate consultation on any changes to it that you might wish to make.
Q. So is the major sticking point that the current tenants/leaseholders are pursuing an ambition which falls way beyond the scope of what the CCs are prepared to consider for The Top Field land?
A. No comment. We are professional persons who have been entrusted by our families and the people of Hitchin with preserving the designated land for charitable use. This is over a number of generations.
Q. So if any future proposal for development of the football club at Top Field could demonstrate provision of facilities for charitable use, would that warrant your consideration?
A. We will happily consider any reasonable proposal which would recognise provision of charitable facilities. However, we will in future be accountable to the Charities' Commission for their approval of any proposals. With any major development proposals, there would be the burden of proof to demonstrate that there would be any charitable benefits arising from it.
Q. So if the club wanted to be a self-sufficient, self-financing concern, could it achieve this whilst leasing Top Field?
A. We appreciate that there are some fund-raising initiatives that take place to help the Football Club with its finances (e.g. Car-boot sales). If the club continues to operate at its present level of football then we think most people would be happy with that. There has been previous documentation to suggest that the town could not accommodate a professional football club.
Conclusion of Meeting:
FK and CN thanked the CCs for a very open and informative meeting. PB and PC said that they hoped we now felt that they were approachable people and that we had a better understanding of their position. We agreed that we did.