New Year 2019 update on the new ground

Progress on the new ground is coming on a pace.

The 9 a side pitch work has been completed ahead of schedule and is now in an over wintering maintenance period with the possibility of it being playable late spring.

There is still work to be done on the drainage system with a stop flow valve needing to be added to the outlet to prevent backflow and potential waterlogging occurring in one corner.

A path to the new playing facility from the industrial estate has yet to be put in place and a temporary bridge over the eastern ditch will need to be built. We will need to arrange for some temporary toilets to be put in place before we can facilitate any games on the pitch.

Work on the nature reserve has started and the clearance/dredging of the pond has surfaced some interesting bits of old car, a child’s slide and much other discarded rubbish.

The amount of litter and general rubbish is absolutely astonishing. However, with the dredging and the setting out of the paths and general bramble clearance the whole site is beginning to look a lot better and is promising to be a brilliant asset for the local community.

The rest of this vast area is now the focus for the next couple of years and we are now working very closely with the Council, Kent FA, the Football Foundation (the funding body of the FA) local Architects Blink and Project/Bid consultants from Consult QRD.

We all met in mid- December to discuss this final phase of the project, the procurement of contracts, build design, funding and business plans. The discussions were very positive with good progress. The Football Foundation are helping with our consultancy costs which clearly indicates their desire to see this project succeed.

All our partners are putting a lot of faith in us. This is a massive project which will cost a considerable amount. We have already raised over £150,000 through grant money and fundraising for the first two phases and we have teams of Trustees searching out more grants and club sponsorships. Teams will be set some targets for fundraising over the next year too which will help with our other bids to show how engaged everybody is with the project and which is something the Football Foundation and the FA like to see. They themselves will be looking to provide a huge investment in this project.

For the club these are exciting times, we can see the progress already on the ground and we will see more over the coming 12 – 18 months.

The target completion date for the site is 2020