AIGBURTH CC NEEDS OUR HELP
Date: 4th June 2014
......help stop developers trying to build on their cricket pitch.....
Aigburth Cricket Club has had a notice of eviction served on them by their landlord.This is not exactly great news but it is NOT all doom & gloom.
As tenants they do have rights and as such have started a campaign (hence the Echo; Twitter etc) to challenge the landlord.Central to the eviction notice is the fact the landlord, PR Investments; an Isle of Man based company, need planning permission to have Aigburth CC evicted. No planning permission means no eviction. Up to now they have got 3 local counsellors / an MP / the Liverpool Echo / the Liverpool Mayor / the ECB all involved with them. They have also got numerous other plans to put into effect.
Please click on the following links
http://www.change.org/en-GB/organisations/aigburth_cricket_bowls_club
The Echo has done the following piece on the situation
TV celebrity and Atomic Kitten member Liz McClarnon backed campaigners fighting the sale of a historic cricket club.
The secretary of Aigburth Cricket Club, Peter Pearcey, today confirmed they had been given notice by the owners, PR Investments, to quit the ground by November 2014.
They have now launched an online petition in a bid to save it and persuade the owners not to sell.
Liz, who regularly watches games at the club, off Southwood Road in St Michael’s, is one of the petition’s many backers. Her brother, Joe, is a member and Liz said the club was an invaluable community asset. She added: “Aigburth Cricket Club and its venue has served all ages of its community since 1888. “I've lost count of how many times I've been there over the years. As a matter of fact, my mum, Jan, is having her 60th birthday party there this month.“My brother Joe is wicket keeper for Aigburth Cricket Club first team, and, if work permits, I'm there to watch as much as possible. “I've heard that the land could be sold to a company who want to build houses and make a tidy profit, but the sale of this land will be a true loss to the community and future generations.”
Club spokesman Mr Pearcey said the club once had a 28-year lease when the ground was owned by British Rail, but this expired six years ago when the new owners bought the land. Since then they had been renewing yearly, and now intend the fight the notice to quit.
Mr Pearcey said: “At this stage we don’t know what PR Investments’ intentions are but we have been served with a notice to quit by November 15. It’s terrible news.“The petition is addressed to the local council because at the moment the land is green belt.“For someone to build on it, it would have to be redesignated. We don’t want that to happen.”Mr Pearcey added: “It’s been here since 1888. The club has been here through two world wars and now it’s going, potentially. It’s very sad. But we’re going to do everything we can to fight this.”
Liverpool Echo cricket correspondent and club member Jamie Bowman said: "These are tough times for many sports clubs across Merseyside and Aigburth is the latest cricket club to have its future threatened."
Up to 1,000 people have signed a paper petition urging the council’s planning department not to approve any measures that would affect a change of use on the land, while around 450 backed the online petition within 24 hours of it going live online.
Liverpool council said it had not received any planning requests but as with all requests, if they were to receive one, it would be considered on its own merits.
The ECHO was unable to contact PR Investments for comment.
Sign the petition by searching for it at change.org .
The Mi L&DCC is pleased to help Aigburth CC in any way it can, the more signatures that are added to the petition the better their chances.
The petition is two pronged; one online the other on paper. Each one has about 1k signatures on it after 2 weeks.
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