Access row leaves scout group worried for future

Cub leader Kate Butler (left) and Liz Jones, chair of First Effingham Scouts, have raised concerns about the group's future

Scout leaders say they are worried about their group's future in a "long-standing" dispute regarding access to what they describe as their purpose-built headquarters.

First Effingham Scouts have been based in a building on the King George V playing fields in Effingham for 65 years.

But they are now concerned about proposed changes to a licence relating to the use of the building put forward by the Effingham Village Recreation Trust (EVRT), the charity which looks after the playing fields.

EVRT chair Paula Moss said an agreement needed to be found that was "fair and equitable to all parties" and that gave "fair and reasonable access to other members of the community" as well as the scouts.

First Effingham Scouts are based in the King George V playing fields

Both sides say they want to engage in mediation on the matter, which has seen the vehicle gate giving direct access to the headquarters locked and the scout group not given a key until they sign up to a protocol for the times when it is open.

Kate Butler, cub leader, said with vehicle access prevented, cubs and scouts had to be dropped off and cross a busy road to access the site, or face a walk across the playing fields.

She said the group wanted to put in place an agreement that was fair for the scouts, reflected "the 65 years we have been on the site and the investment we have made in the headquarters to ensure that we can continue to run an exciting programme".

The scout group said it was concerned about the length of the seven-year licence being proposed, and an "entirely different model for running the hall".

They claim this would offer terms to the scouts which were "the same offered to any group who want to hire out facilities" and provided "absolutely no commitment or certainty for long term usage".

'Will have to consider our future'

Liz Jones, chair of First Effingham Scouts, said: "Our fundamental concern at the moment is that EVRT are rewriting history and ignoring 65 years of our existence here at King George V playing fields."

She said the scouts had been there since 1978, invested "many times over" and rebuilt the building in 1994.

"If we don't have a place to meet regularly, to store our equipment, then sadly I think First Effingham Scouts will have to consider its future," she added.

Ms Moss argued that the terms being offered were "an improvement on what they've benefitted from so far".

"If they want to continue then they can continue for as long as they want to but we do need to have an agreement that is fair and equitable to all parties and that gives fair and reasonable access to other members of the community," she added.

As a charitable trust, she claimed EVRT was required to make sure the facility was available to all members of the community.

"We can't give it to them exclusively and that just needs to be resolved," she added.