The club’s Kilnwick Park development is finally heading for completion after East Riding of Yorkshire Council’s most recent commuted sums allocations saw Pocklington RUFC given £120,000 to complete the project and bring the site into full use for all sections of the club.
The grant will enable the club to erect match quality floodlights at Kilnwick Park and complete the remaining couple of unfinished changing rooms. Two changings rooms were fitted out last year, before work was put on hold as the club reined back on all but essential expenditure to survive the lockdown. But the other two changing rooms and shower areas have been left without fittings since then. The plan is that the pavilion facilities and floodlighting scheme for the main pitch will both be ready for use in time for the 2021-22 season getting underway in September; with Dan Boddy, who has project managed the Kilnwick Park development since ‘KickStart Kilnwick’ was launched in 2015, agreeing to steer things to conclusion.
Commuted sums is the amounts given to the council when developers negotiate a lump sum cash payment in lieu of including playgrounds or recreational space into their new estates. Monies are then redistributed to improve community leisure infrastructure. And the extensive housebuilding around Pocklington in recent years has seen major amounts given to sports across the board.
The background, aims and history of the Kilnwick Park project can be found on the KICKSTART KILNWICK page within the Information tab on this website.
Picture shows, L to R, Chris French (resources manager), Andrew Winn (junior vice-chairman), John Bryant (club chairman), Rob Laycock (ERYC) and Chris Clegg (junior chairman) receiving a cheque that is "big" in more than one way! Photo: Les Stubbs Photography.
