Background

In the summer of 2021 the Edington Parish Council were approached by representatives of Grassy Creek, the parent company of the Three Daggers, to discuss the possibility of a land swap to enable Three Daggers to increase their car park provision and the size of the beer garden whilst giving the village an opportunity to improve the village playfield facilities. Grassy Creek had purchased part of the field to the north of the existing playfield and were considering the best way forward to achieve the desired outcomes for both Grassy Creek and Edington village.

The parish council held an open meeting to which all villagers were invited in September 2021 in the Priory Church to enable villagers to find out more about the proposals and offer their views on it.

At the subsequent parish council meeting the council considered all of the views expressed and then took the decision to enter into negotiations with Grassy Creek to identify what was planned and what the benefits to the village would be. A sub committee of the parish council was established and its members have been working on the scheme. These negotiations have been ongoing ever since with various delays including Covid and a change in personnel in the Grassy Creek negotiation team.

In subsequent discussions with Grassy Creek the parish council sought to negotiate safeguards and benefits for the village and these included a Multi Use Games Area (MUGA) as an enhancement to the village play facilities, a restriction on the use of the land transferred to prevent development not in accordance with the plans outlined by Grassy Creek, the limitation on external events and the prevention of access to land to the north of the field. These have all been agreed in principle.

It was also agreed from the outset that there was to be no cost to the parish council for any of the project and this has been agreed. All of the legal fees, planning fees and any other costs incurred by the parish council as part of the project will be met by Grassy Creek.

The parish council estimate that the addition of a muga to the playfield facilities has a monetary value in excess of £80,000 if the parish council had been able to raise the money to purchase one.

Based on the above we consider this transaction as a whole to be a valuable contribution to the villages future.

At a recent meeting of the parish council the sub committee presented the summary of the discussions and the full council voted in favour of moving forward with the project as they felt that it brought a significant benefit to the village and helped to ensure the future of the Three Daggers complex.

Concerns raised by villagers at the public meeting and in correspondence about the proposals included:-

Comment	Response
Number of events proposed by Three Daggers	The number of events permitted is regulated by Wiltshire Council and this at present is limited to five events per year. Should Three Daggers wish to apply to increase this number they will inform the parish council when they make the application giving the parish council sufficient time to notify Wiltshire Council (as the licencing authority) of any representations that the PC may have in connection with that application.
Possible extensions to the Three Daggers facilities	The agreement requires Grassy Creek to discuss with the parish council any possible development and then submit a planning application to Wiltshire Council. The parish council will consider the application and seek to achieve a balance between residents’ concerns and the reasonable business development needs
Grassy Creek to discuss with the PC that the car park should be screened with plenty of hedge screening to prevent the cars from being seen	The car park will be surrounded by a one metre high bund that will be topped with hedging, thereby ensuring that there will be minimal visibility of vehicles outside of the car park
Once the land is handed over and the transaction is completed, please remember there is nothing to stop planning applications for alternative uses. No mention of having legal covenants put in place to restrict future development by the Parish Council to preserve the village green space.	The agreement requires Grassy Creek to discuss with the parish council any possible development and then submit a planning application to Wiltshire Council. The parish council will consider the application and seek to achieve a balance between residents’ concerns and the reasonable business development needs
I am concerned that the Pub owners have given themselves a direct line of access from the B3098 to the rest of the north side of the field, in the event that they decide to purchase that. If in the future their plans changed for the pub, they would be able to easily apply for putting a little road through there and put building some houses on that part of the field in future.	The parish council have secured a one metre wide strip across the northern edge of the site that will prevent any further development into the land to the north of the playfield/car park.
Our concerns would be a noise issue should the Daggers look to expand their events business as they had plans on doing with marquees on site, and would therefore ask that that be considered with the proposal with a time limit set, say 11pm/midnight latest, for such celebrations and perhaps a limit of how many are allowed to take place over the summer (I.e. perhaps one a month, and definitely not every weekend!) as otherwise we’ll be affected too much along with our neighbours.	All external events must comply to the requirements of the TENS (Temporary Entertainment Notices) that will have been issued by Wiltshire Council
Will the existing play equipment be taken over by Three Daggers	All of the existing play equipment will be retained by the parish council

Comments made by villagers in favour of the proposals included:-

• An improvement in the playfield facilities
• Providing support to the only public house, shop and restaurant in the village
• There will be a very significant financial benefit to the Three Daggers (they themselves state that without the change their future would be in real financial doubt), then the village should also see a significant benefit
• The extended car park will be beneficial for the village. It will result in less cars parked on B3098 which is very congested in this area and will make it safer.
• The addition of a multi-purpose unit for older children would be good. Children need access to an outdoor space and the large play equipment helps in the development of children’s gross motor skills and social skills, not to mention the health benefits; few families have the space in their garden, or the money to provide such equipment, for example the slides and the climbing apparatus make the play field such a valuable village asset
• The village cannot afford to lose the Pub and Farm Shop or Edington could stagnate like some other villages have and the employment opportunities offered lost. So many village facilities have been lost over the years – The School, the Nursery School, The George, 2 shops, a bakery and at one time the future of The Lamb (now the Three Daggers) was in doubt. The Post Office would also have been lost if Pauline had not taken it on. If a village is to thrive then facilities must be retained and enhanced whilst being sympathetic to retaining the character of the village; this proposal gives the opportunity for this to happen.
• Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the proposals in relation to the playfield. I will not be attending the meeting so here are my comments.
• I live in Charlton Hill and my house very much overlooks the Three Daggers and the playfield. So you will understand that the proposal gave me pause for thought.
• I do however think that the proposal is in the best interests of the village and therefore support it.
• I am sure that consideration will be given to the landscaping of the site and would ask that for everyone’s benefit as well as mine that the car park is screened by hedge and trees.
• We are aware of concerns expressed by some residents on social media relating to this proposal but these do not appear to have any real basis in planning, social or economic terms and instead seem based on bias and conjecture. We urge the Parish Council to help secure the social and economic sustainability of our village by supporting this proposal.

The parish council when considering the various points raised had to consider the best options for the village as a whole whilst ensuring where possible that villagers concerns were addressed and to that end the negotiations were undertaken.

The present

As of June 2024 the parish council have now reached the completion of the first phase of the negotiations and will soon enter phase two where it is in a position to instruct their lawyers to start talks with the legal team of Grassy Creek to draw up the necessary documents to allow the project to move forward. At the same time as this is taking place there will also be the start of the planning process whereby plans will be submitted to Wiltshire Council for the change of land use from agricultural land to playfield for the parish council and for change of use from agricultural land to car park for Grassy Creek. There will also be the planning application for the construction of a MUGA for the parish council and the car park for the Three Daggers.

The future

Once the lawyers have completed their work and the necessary planning permissions have been approved the project will move into its third phase, namely the construction of the MUGA and car park along with the moving of existing playfield equipment to new locations within the field. The exact date that this will happen is dependant upon the above processes being completed and the planning permissions being approved.

The muga we will be having will not have side fencing to reduce the visual impact in the area, it will only have a goal/basketball hoop at each end, final design to be confirmed.

Proposed plan of the area