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REPORTS

Report of the Council on the building of an indoor cricket school at Fenner's

The COUNCIL beg leave to report to the University as follows:

1. In 1999, the England and Wales Cricket Board conferred on Fenner's the status of a University Centre of Excellence following a competition to select six such centres throughout the UK. This status is essential to the continuation of first-class cricket at Fenner's. To retain the status it was decided to improve the facilities by the provision of an indoor cricket school.

2. The freehold of the Fenner's ground is owned by Cambridge University Cricket and Athletic Club Limited (CUCAC) and the University holds a lease of the land for a term of 99 years from 1 January 1971. The Executive Committee of CUCAC has agreed a proposal under which CUCAC and the University will jointly transfer the freehold of part of the north-east corner of Fenner's ground to Hughes Hall for a consideration of £1m which will be used as a contribution towards the cost of the cricket school. Hughes Hall is to build a new residence block on the freehold area to be purchased. Contracts have been exchanged and the sum of £1m is held in an interest-bearing escrow account pending completion of the transfer.

3. A planning application was submitted jointly by the University and Hughes Hall for the cricket school and residence block and approval was given in November 2000. The City planning authority decided that the University's need for a cricket school at Fenner's justified the loss of open space to the new residence block and attached a condition to the planning consent saying that no work on the residence may commence until the contract for the building of the cricket school has been let.

4. The original design of the cricket school was based on additional funding from a lottery bid, but the bid failed. As a result, the design has been revised to meet a much-reduced budget. A new planning application for the revised cricket school was submitted on 4 March 2003 and the City planning officer responsible has indicated that he would recommend it to the planning committee for approval.

5. The cricket school will offer approximately 640 sq.m. of useable space and this will allow for three practice lanes. Internally, the lanes will be divided by netting suspended from tracks and so it will be possible to open out the area to give flexibility of use. The roof will contain a large polycarbonate north-light and the north-facing elevation will be formed using a translucent cladding system to provide high levels of natural light without glare. Natural light will be supplemented by artificial lighting to maintain appropriately high levels of evenly distributed light. The floor is to be of special construction for cricket. Very low level heating will be provided. The structural frame is to be of steel with fair-faced concrete block-work infill panels. The block-work is to be clad with American white oak on the exposed external elevations. (The east elevation is screened by Leylandii trees. It will be possible to clad this elevation in the event that the Leylandii trees die or are removed in the future but the cost of this is not included in the current budget.) The roof is to be of barrel vault construction and covered in profiled steel sheets.

6. The project budget is £1.105m plus VAT and this assumes a start on site during summer 2003. Some part of the VAT may be recoverable. The Vice-Chancellor has agreed to meet any shortfall in funding from his Special Purposes Fund.

7. The Director of Physical Education is very aware of the need to contribute to running costs of the new cricket school and he is developing the possibilities for income generation. A full business plan was prepared as part of the Lottery bid. Running costs and income generation figures will be assessed as the design progresses and will be reported to the Planning and Resources Committee of the Council and the General Board.

8. Drawings of the proposed scheme are displayed for the information of the University in the Schools Arcade.

9. The Council recommend:

I. That approval is given for the construction of a cricket school at Fenner's.

II. That the Treasurer be authorized to accept a tender for the works in due course within available funding.

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Cambridge University Reporter, 19 March 2003
Copyright © 2002 The Chancellor, Masters and Scholars of the University of Cambridge.