Following Government guidelines, the EVRT Trustees have taken the decision to close the KGV building. The 3G pitch and playgrounds are also out of bound, and the KGV car park will be closed. Notices will be posted annoucing the closures.
The grounds remain open for walkers and joggers. Please remember to maintain physical distance of at least 2 metres (6 feet) from others.
went for a walk over the field today playground still being used
Its about time the car park was reopened. Everybody parks in browns lane causing mayhem. Its bad enough on a sunday when the rugby was on. Now its 7 days a week .Before long there will be a accident.
E.R.A WAKE UP
must have hit a sore point no reaction from E.R.A
Hi Martin
The KGV playing fields and hall are run by the Effingham Village Recreation Trust (EVRT) not by the Residents Association (EFFRA). We have asked EVRT to reply to your comment.
Thank you to EFFR for giving me the opportunity to respond to this. We were not previously aware of this chain of communication and were certainly not deliberately avoiding it . I have been trying to get the message over to as many people as I can. We are aware that closure of the car park has caused a number of issues for people and we are sorry for these. The Trustees of KGV – the Effingham Village Recreation Trust (or EVRT – too many acronyms!) were very concerned about the possibility of another Traveller Incursion on the KGV fields that we closed both car parks and added additional security measures. Part of the reasoning was that, as hall, pitches, toilets and facilities were all closed, this would not cause too much inconvenience. Goodness knows why so many people have continued to come to KGV by car, but we cannot be held responsible for them.
We had planned to re-open the main car park a couple of weeks ago, but a resident of Barnes Wallis Close witnessed a Traveller try to break into the main gate, followed a few days later by a break-in on our garage resulting in £’000s of lost equipment – at which the Trustees again raised the threat level and, quite rightly, reversed the decision to re-open the gates. The heightened threat has definitely not gone away and we are absolutely not the only playing fields and similar facility to keep our gates shut.
In the meantime, we have been looking at alternative, long-term security measures and trying to raise funds to have them installed – at a time when we are generating very little income! The good news is the PCC have awarded us a grant of £3,000 and the first installation will be on the main car park, scheduled for 13 July, so not long to wait. It will be a bit longer before we can install new gates at the Scout entrance.
I sorry for the current inconveniences, but I don’t the village will forgive us if we accidentally allow another Traveller incursion on KGV fields and all that went with it. I guess it’s a classic case of being damned if you do and damned if you don’t! Please bear with us for another couple of weeks.
Bob Austin, General Manager, KGV Hall and Playing Fields