Baldock Town FC could be 'coming home'
A new agreement could pave the way for it to return to home turf
A new agreement, for The Arena football ground, in Baldock, could pave the way for the town’s football club to return to home turf.
Baldock Town FC moved to The Arena in the 1980s, but had to surrender the lease on the ground to North Herts Council in 1995 after running into serious financial difficulties.
Hitchin Town Community FC Ltd has leased the ground from the council since 2007 and, according to council officers, are “in dialogue with Baldock Town FC about a shared aspiration for the club to return to Baldock”.
Hoped-for improvements at the ground have been stymied by confusion over how much rent the current tenant should pay to the council following five-yearly rent reviews, which has led to “substantial” arrears being built up.
The council’s cabinet has now agreed to write off those arrears, set a new rent level and correct anomalies around subletting the ground.
North Herts Council’s executive member for enterprise, Tamsin Thomas, told colleagues at a cabinet meeting yesterday (Tuesday, 24 June) that the agreement would enable Hitchin Town Community FC Ltd to “make investments in the pitch and wider facilities, which are sorely needed”.
She said: “The Arena football ground and associated facilities are let to Hitchin Town Community Football Club Ltd under a fifty-year lease expiring in 2045.
“They are a not-for-profit company and operate multiple community activities from the ground.
“These include a college programme, coaching clinics and holiday camps, schools programmes, a disability football programme and a community action campaign.
“There have been unresolved issues with the lease that have prevented the ground from being developed.
“The uncertainty of treatment of the rent balance has until now prevented the club from progressing with their financial plans, which include the ability to apply for grants to invest in the facilities.
“This, in turn, is having an impact on the range of teams that can use the pitch, with particularly more senior teams not able to use it.”
And, Cllr Thomas added, the new agreement would “assist Hitchin Town with their ongoing discussions with Baldock Town FC to hopefully return them to playing at The Arena”.
Baldock Town FC, which re-formed in 2003, currently groundshares with Arlesey Town at their Hitchin Road ground.
Council officers said clearing up the rent issues would “enable Hitchin Town Community FC to progress replacement of the pitch and helps in the joint wish to get Baldock Town FC back to playing at The Arena”.
Patch repairs of the pitch have happened when needed, but officers said “there are tears and holes in the surface, and other areas where the existing pitch hollows and dips where the substructure has subsided”.
A replacement pitch will cost £250,000, and it is hoped would lead to extra bookings and income for the ground’s tenant.
The leader of North Herts Council, Daniel Allen, said “it is vital to keep The Arena functioning well” because “it brings so much to Baldock and to North Herts as a whole”.
His cabinet colleague, Mick Debenham, said “the prospect of seeing Baldock Town back in Baldock is obviously brilliant”, and thanked Hitchin Town for their care of the ground, preventing it from going “to rack and ruin”.
Ian Albert said he would “encourage” Hitchin Town and Baldock Town representatives “to continue those discussions … about the importance of bringing Baldock Town to The Arena”.
He continued: “Both Cllr Debenham and I are long-standing Barnet supporters. We know about not playing in your hometown.
“I think this is really important and I would actually be delighted to see that arrangement … happen in the coming seasons.”