Council to discuss plans to make 3G pitch at Whitby's Eskdale School an asset of community value

Whitby town councillors have been asked to approve a proposal to register a synthetic 3G outdoor pitch as a local asset of community value (ACV).

If councillors sign off on the proposal at a full meeting on Tuesday, January 8, the plan will go to North Yorkshire Council for approval.

In addition to the 3G pitch at Eskdale School, the surrounding area including the car park and access would also be registered as an asset of community value.

ACVs are intended to help protect local assets and those successfully registered cannot be disposed of without owners letting the local authority know that they intend to sell the asset or grant a lease of more than 25 years.

It also means that owners wishing to sell would have to wait until the end of a six-month “full moratorium” period if the council received a request from a community interest group to be treated as a potential bidder.

It follows a previous unsuccessful bid by Social Enterprise International (ESI), which has been working with Eskdale School and 170 of its students teaching them about “social and eco businesses”.

“ESI decided, as a locally-based not-for-profit company with a proven record of working in Whitby, that they were eligible to submit a request to make the pitch an Asset of Community Value,” according to a town council report.

However, North Yorkshire Council reportedly dismissed the request over a clause in ESI’s constitution which indicated that “its overall objectives were international and not local”.

Representatives of ESI will attend Tuesday’s meeting to respond to any questions raised by councillors or members of the public.

Town councillors have been recommended to approve the proposal and submit a bid to North Yorkshire Council.

The meeting will take place at the Pannett Art Gallery at 6pm on Tuesday, January 8.