May 2025 Finances – Several people have recently asked for further information about our expenditure on the campus development project to date. We are today publishing an up-to-date summary of income and expenditure, which we hope will answer some of your questions. This is the same table that we are submitting to East Suffolk Council as part of our application for additional funding from the ESC’s Community Infrastructure Levy Fund. This is to cover inflation increases since 2021, when the original CIL award was made. We have also shared these figures with Suffolk County Council. You can see the table here
April 2025 Anne Smith asked - “Why, over the last 13 years, and in view of the lack of progress, has Campus never gone back to the people of Halesworth to honestly explain the situation and ask those people what they would like Campus to do next?”
Since the original referendum in 2012, there have been several surveys of Halesworth residents, asking them what they want for the future of the town – the Neighbourhood Plan survey and the Halesworth Hub survey, for example. These confirmed that improved sports and leisure facilities continue to be needed. Also, research by the District Council, for their sports and leisure strategies, shows a continuing shortfall in playing pitch capacity in Halesworth, which coincides with our priorities for the first phase of the Campus development. Yes, progress has been much slower than we’d like, but there has been a great deal happening ‘behind the scenes’ that has been necessary before construction starts.
April 2025 Anne Smith asked - “Why did Campus never involve the people of Halesworth, prior to their discussions with Castlemeadow Care, and make them aware that the sale to Castlemeadow Care would mean the loss of the vast majority of the school field?”
Some readers may not know about the original plan. Working with (the then) Halesworth Playing Fields Association, the proposals were for Castlemeadow Care to buy (most of) Dairy Hill for its health and care development, and to focus sports facilities on The Campus. When this plan unravelled in 2016, we and our partners looked to see if it would be possible to carry on with the vision by leaving Dairy Hill for sports and selling part of the campus to Castlemeadow Care instead. Early in 2017, we did put out a statement on social media, jointly with our partners, setting out our new proposals. We also put a public notice in the local press, seeking representations (as we were required to do by charity law), about our intention to sell some of the campus to Castlemeadow Care. Since then, we have acquired at no cost an additional field which is very slightly larger than the piece sold to Castlemeadow Care.
April 2025 Anne Smith asked - “If your latest CIL application is rejected by SCC, what is the next step?”
Our top priority is the all-weather pitch, which we are legally required to provide as the first call on the money from the sale of land to Castlemeadow Care.
April 2025 Anne Smith asked - “Should Campus fail to progress their plans for sports provision, would Castlemeadow Care still have the right to build on the school field, as per the plans passed?”
We are confident that work on the all-weather pitch will be able to start soon as the conditions of planning are close to being discharged. The first thing to happen will be the removal of the pylon from the land by UK Power Networks. This work has been booked and paid for, and the contracts are being signed currently. Other elements of the scheme will follow as funding allows. But to answer your question, theoretically, yes, as far as we are aware, Castlemeadow Care would be able to go ahead with their development without reference to progress on the campus.
