Issue 103 - October 1997

Plan to facilitate Lottery applications.

John Buchan, chairman of the national development committee, reported that a 'facilities plan' for development projects worth more than £1 million is being drawn up at the behest of the Sports Council Lottery Unit. A consultant will be appointed from a list provided by the Sports Council and paid for by a grant from the Sports Council. Regional chairmen were asked to compile a list of regional and club schemes likely to be proposed 'within the next few years'. The implication is that schemes may be phased over a period of time.

The requirement of the Sports Council has come about because of problems such as the application for funds by three courses in close time proximity - Bedford and Cambridge which are both in the same ARA and Sports Council region, and the new proposal at Caversham, near Reading. Martin Brandon-Bravo, president, said that the Bedford course's timetable cannot be met unless decisions are made soon and that the ARA were unable to prioritise between the courses without a facilities plan.

There was a strong view expressed from Ian Fisher, Mike Walker and David Chick that the procedure would be an expensive waste of time on the grounds that the regions should be deciding what they wished to do and that the consultant was likely to know less of the requirements of rowing than the ARA. Buchan pointed out that he and his committee did not have time to do the work - 'it will take just as long to brief the consultant', argued Walker - and Rosemary Napp, National Manager of the ARA, reiterated that the procedure is a requirement. Large applications to the Lottery run the risk of running into mud until a Facilities Plan exists.

Neil Thomas said that there could be advantages in using consultants to 'analyse the need and cure the hit-and-miss initiatives of clubs. But much hinges on who does the work. Who's it going to be?' Buchan said that the ARA will choose the consultant, the people on the ground must advise, Cambridge and Bedford are a problem which the regional council must solve, and the ARA will control the shape of the facilities plan. Fisher said 'We'll be supping with the devil' and requested his dissent be recorded in the minutes.

© Copyright Regatta Magazine, 1997.