FOREST Council Leader Tim Gwilliam is reassuring residents that the authority’s ambition to develop Five Acres for leisure and community uses goes beyond their current plans for the site.

Cllr Gwilliam has responded to points raised in recent consultation about the development, carried out by Gloucestershire Rural Community Council (GRCC) on the council’s behalf.

In a statement, he outlined the council’s priorities in the first instance including what will be funded by the £9 million secured from the Government’s Levelling Up Fund last year.

He explained that the funding was secured for the district and parish council-owned land at Five Acres, as the council had a short time to apply and had to demonstrate “certainty” that it could deliver on its proposals.

“Accordingly our LUF bid was specific in developing dryside sport and leisure facilities through the repurposing of the Speedwell building, an additional four court sports hall, refurbished tennis courts and 3G sports pitch”, he said.

“Having successfully secured funding for the site, we cannot divert those monies to any other project.

“The LUF is also time sensitive so we have to get on with those elements and that is where officers’ efforts have, quite rightly, been concentrated.

“But again I stress that doesn’t diminish our ambition for the wider area, but successful delivery of what we have funding for now gives us something to build upon.”

Cllr Gwilliam says the council does have an ambition to deliver a swimming pool at Five Acres in the future, but that the costs of borrowing funding from the Public Works Board would be significant.

He added that grant funding cannot come from lottery or sports grants because of the proximity of other pools in Lydney, Cinderford and Monmouth.

“These costs currently make borrowing the money for a pool unviable and any proposal would simply not receive Council Support”, Cllr Gwilliam explained.

“One of our key corporate priorities as a council is to Deliver great services through achieving financial sustainability.

“To achieve this all our ambitions for the district, including anything at Five Acres, are that they should at least ‘wash their face’ in financial terms.

“That means, we have to be able to afford them and not increase the cost to the public.

“We will continue to explore all available funding streams and grants to support our ambitions for Five Acres. But our delivery in respect of the current funding has to take priority.

“Being able to deliver what we planned will put us in a better place for any future funding submissions.”

He added that the council aims to work with local partners, including the local school trust, to attract funding for the development of the existing athletics track.

He also explained that the demolition of some of the former college buildings was a priority for the council because they were “all in an extreme state of disrepair”.

“They presented a serious risk to the Council in the event that someone got into the buildings and hurt themselves”, he said.

“Homes England avoided this risk with 24 hour security and fencing.

“The cost of such security to the Council would be completely unviable.

“It was therefore imperative that the risk, from buildings that were not fit for purpose and were to be demolished, was removed as quickly as possible.”

Residents have also questioned the council on the provision of performance space at the site, following the loss of the former Forest of Dean Theatre.

Cllr Gwilliam said: “It is our aspiration to deliver the very best sports hall we are able to with the funding we have.

“We hope that will also enable the hall to be a multi use venue that may also be used for performances in a similar way to the old Forest of Dean Theatre.

“This will be cost specific and the current rate of inflation and building cost rises are not helpful but we are hopeful we can deliver such a hall.”

He added of the immediate future of the development: “In the coming months the Planning application that will be made will have on it only the things we have secured funding for, that being the dryside sports, regeneration of Speedwell, tennis courts and 3G pitch.

“Please be assured that our ambition does not stop there, but we do have to deliver what we said we would when asking for the Levelling Up funding.

“Further additions and planning applications will be made as we secure funding and tie down proposals, it will be a fluid and developing regeneration.”

Cllr Gwilliam’s update can be read in full on the council’s website, at news.fdean.gov.uk.