To receive a presentation from the rugby club in response to the planned move to Braywick for Maidenhead United Football Club.

Steve Bough gave a presentation on behalf of Maidenhead Rugby Club. He felt that the main reason why Maidenhead United wanted to relocate to Braywick was for financial benefit through the development of business based facilities at Braywick, rather than focusing on sporting facilities. The rugby club had a few discussions with the football club but there had been little detail. The rugby club had a number of concerns covering numerous issues with how the proposed stadium would work in practise, Maidenhead United said that these issues would be addressed in the planning application. It was not clear how many times the stadium would be used a year, although it was estimated that there would be the loss of around 8 to 10 rugby pitches. Maidenhead United had referred to the site as the new ‘Braywick Park Sports Hub’, Steve Bough felt that there already was a sports hub at the site and no additional sports facilities would be created at the park as a result.

Steve Bough outlined some of the benefits which had been communicated by Maidenhead United, however, this was at the detriment to the land used by Maidenhead Rugby Club. The new stadium would use around 9 acres of the park, this followed a pattern where land had been lost to Braywick School and the leisure centre in recent years. Between 8 and 10 protected rugby pitches would be lost as part of the development, where over 160 young children enjoyed playing rugby. The club was expanding and already had to carefully manage the space it had well. The football club had informed the rugby club had it could pay to rent the stadium, this was an additional cost that the rugby club could not afford. Steve Bough concluded the presentation by outlining why the rugby club was against the proposed move and development by Maidenhead United.

Councillor Baldwin expressed concern about the further loss of space at Braywick Park, he understood the use of the pitches from Maidenhead Rugby Club and why they were also concerned about the lack of space at the site.

Steve Bough said that the park was vitally important to the rugby club but was also regularly used by local residents for a variety of purposes. The open space would disappear if developments on the park went ahead.

Councillor G Jones asked if it was correct that Maidenhead United needed a new stadium to comply with EFL regulations.

Steve Bough was not aware of this, they needed a minimum capacity and the current average attendance was around 1,200. Facilities were present at York Road and the current stadium could be upgraded. However, Steve Bough said that the football club lacked the space at York Road for the business elements of the plan.

Councillor G Jones asked how many rugby pitches were used and owned by the rugby club.

Steve Bough estimated that it was between 17 and 20 pitches, there were over 600 children that played at the rugby club.

Councillor Singh commented that it was concerning to hear that there had been a lack of dialogue with the rugby club, the plan was for the council to lease the land to the football club and Councillor Singh felt that there should be a full consultation. Councillor Singh asked if the rugby club felt that there would be a solution before the planning application was submitted.

Steve Bough said that there had been little communication since the football club had first announced the proposal. There had been a meeting last month which had been focused on use of the new stadium for the rugby club to replace the lost rugby pitches. However, there was no exact details on the amount of usage the rugby club would be allowed and there had been no consultation done.