We agree with the requirements of Policy BEX11 in that the land at Sidley Sports and Social Club should be allocated for playing pitches for formal sport. This land, which has been unused since 2013, offers an opportunity to provide additional playing fields, the need for which is identified in the recent Playing Pitch Strategy for Rother and Hastings. The town of Bexhill is in desperate need of facilities to support the local football clubs who currently compete in the Southern Combination Football League. As part of the national non-league pyramid clubs must meet strict ground grading requirements - this particular ground actually met the ground grading requirements for step 5 & 6 when it ceased being used in 2013. The town now has no grounds which meet these requirements or are able to meet the requirements.

Bringing this site back to use would enable the town to provide facilities for its football clubs to be able to progress and compete within the non-league pyramid and meet the ground grading requirements. These cannot be met by our club who currently play at Little Common Recreation Ground as permission will not be granted to make the improvements required as the Recreation Ground is public open space and cannot be developed any further. The opportunity to bring this ground back to use and provide a pitch and facilities which would enable ground grading requirements to be met could prove vital in order to provide Bexhill with a facility that meets the clubs' needs to be able to progress and will also provide excellent opportunities for those living in the town.

Our club has for many years prided itself on providing opportunities for the youth of the town to participate in organised football training and matches and currently has fifteen youth teams (under 6's to Under 18's) which feed into our two senior and Under 21 teams. As a club, we can no longer progress at our home ground at Little Common Recreation Ground and have been threatened with relegation due to our ground grading (this will be enforced at the end of the 2017/18 season by the FA) - this will have a catastrophic impact on our club and on the town as a whole as there are no facilities in the town that can currently sustain Step 5 & 6 football. Members will therefore leave and travel to the neighbouring towns of Hastings and Eastbourne in order to compete at the highest level possible.

We will therefore support any proposals which allow land to be safeguarded for playing pitch purposes in order to develop a facility that would meet the strict ground grading requirements of the Football Association and allow local clubs to not only progress but also provide the best sporting opportunities for those living within the town of Bexhill.